Lake Titicaca - what a mouthful!

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Well we are safe back on land in Puno after visiting the famous floating islands of Los Uros on Lake Titicaca. We have used Puno as our base to take a trip out to the islands which were, you guessed it… amazing! I’m going to have to try and get my hands on a thesaurus to find some more words for amazing as I have overused it already so far but just can’t help it.

Puno is a cute little town nestled on the banks of Lake Titicaca and is mainly used for people to get to and from the Los Uros and the other islands but still has lots of character and we have enjoyed staying here for a couple of nights. Actually the hostal we are staying in has just taken the number one position on the trip so far. It was the shower that did it!!

Welcome to the Islands
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We set out on our second day in Puno for the Islands on our luxury cruiser (not) and straight away noticed that there was a lot of green algae in the water. We later found out that this occurs naturally but because of pollution has increased over the last decade or so, so much so that birds can actually land on the algae and walk on it like carpet!

The boat ride over to the first island was nice and relaxing, once we got over the smoke coming from the engine and the clear liquid dripping from the engine (petrol), we were wearing life jackets so we were fine and there are no sharks in Lake Titicaca much to Emma’s relief!

Our welcoming Party
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We were greeted by some of the local village women dressed in traditional dress which was great and then given a brief presentation (in Spanish) by one of the villagers about the island.

The first inhabitants of the islands decided to live there due to the warmongering Incas as they thought they would be safe out in the middle of the lake. They came by the idea after noticing that the special reeds in the area floated and began by building rafts and of course the next logical step was to build whole islands out of the stuff!!

On the island
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Basically they make a platform out of the reed and waste material and then anchor it all together then put reeds over the top to form the top of the island. They also make all of their huts and boats etc out of the reeds. It is incredible (worked that one out without a thesaurus) but you would have to be careful when lighting a campfire!

The islands are pretty much just floating souvenir stalls now which is a shame but amazing just the same and hopefully the villagers are making some money out of all the tourists who visit.

A model of the houses
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After the island trip we headed back to Puno for lunch. I have been a bit off colour the last couple of days so have been taking it easy when it comes to food (pasta, bread etc…) but was starting to feel a bit better so thought I would be adventurous and try the equivalent of Maccas back home... an alpaca cheese burger! It was great, Maccas should give it a go!

Tomorrow we are heading off to Bolivia to check out La Paz and (hopefully) the Salar de Uyuni (salt deserts), so until then adios!