Joe and Lou's Travel Blog

This morning Innocencia made us pancakes for breakfast and then we headed to the port to catch our boat. We travelled for 3 hours (sleeping on top or inside the boat) to the Uros floating islands. The islands are made by the locals from chunks of the root area of the reed plants that take around 40 years to form. They are gathered and then tied together and layered about a metre high with the reeds. To prevent the islands floating away they are tied to the reed plants. Each island lasts around 30 years. The weather causes the islands to erode over time. Regular relayering of the reeds is required often as well. Reed huts are built on the islands plus some crops and fish farms. Nowadays most of the locals stay on the mainland during the evening. Their way of life is preserved for the tourists which I think is a great thing. Lucho said that Peruvian fortunes run on a 500 year cycle. In the next 7 years they will begin a new great era of 500 years. The past 500 years has brought many bad things, the Spanish conquistadors being one major one, but I can sense a turn around. Tourism has brought a renaissance in the native cultures and with that more appreciation of them. I'm sure that when tourists leave Peru they will remember their homestay in Lake Titicaca and exposure to these special cultures more than a tour of Lima.

After visiting the Uros floating islands and having a ride in a beautiful boat made entirely of reeds (kind of like a big dragon boat) we had a yummy lunch of bread rolls filled with guacamole (did I mention the avocados here are the bomb?!) tomato, cucumber and cheese and headed back to the Puno port.

I'm just about to have a 50 minute massage back at the hotel. After the rigours of the trek I think my body will thank me for it!