Lake Titicaca

Birthplace of the sun, and indeed civilization itself – as believed by the Inca and pre-Inca inhabitants – Lake Titicaca is South America’s largest lake and epicentre of highland culture in this part of the world. At 3800 m elevation and 8400 km² (21 times bigger than Kootenay Lake), it is the highest navigable body of water on earth.

The main draw to Lake Titicaca for us gringos is the numerous inhabited islands where indigenous life continues, for the most part, unchanged for generations. Our three-nights-three-islands mission started with a lancha (boat) out of Puno. First stop was the infamous floating “islands” of Uros. Inhabited by the Uro – an indigenous pre-Inca people who speak a language called Ayamara – the Uro originally began their floating existence to escape their enemies, namely the Inca, and just stayed. The “floating” part of it comes from the construction of “platforms” (or islands) made from a locally abundant, and of course buoyant, large bulrush sedge called totora. Hard to believe, but families dispersed among 74 floating platforms and amounting to about 2000 people have been living for generations upon platforms constructed entirely from totora. About a metre or two thick and with the consistency of a rigid sponge, the platforms need regular reinforcement as they rot out from the bottom. Along with the “islands” themselves, totora is also the raw construction material for everything from housing to bed mats to watercraft. Sleeping in a reed hut on a floating mat of bulrush in the middle of an ancient Andean lake could be the most unique experience we have encountered thus far – surreal at the very least.

A 3-hr lancha ride the next day brought us to Isla Amantani. Inhabited by about 4000 Quechua-speaking residents, the island allows no cars, no machines, and no dogs. All agriculture and construction is done by hand. Silence at last! One of the highlights is that islanders organize homestays for gringos making the overnight journey. A homestay means you stay with a family in their home and get a room with meals for the night. While basic and rustic accom (sometimes a tad too much), it’s an incredible peek into traditional life. Sometimes, pretty much right out of a UNICEF ad campaign (unfortunately).

Sopa de quinoa (quinoa soap) is the local specialty. Yum! After heading out to explore the various pre-Inca ruins and getting caught in a downpour complete with ball-bearing size hail, the sopa was muy rico! In an ironic twist, given all the languages we’re dealing with on these islands, Spanish is the common denominator and everyone’s second language. Makes for interesting dinner conversations trying to convey in our broken Spanish what Canada is like to an indigenous Quechua-speaker from a remote island in a lake at the top of the world. Our phrase book doesn’t cover that.

Day three, and another lancha to another island called Isla Taquile. Same kind of story here in terms of no roads, no cars, no machines, no dogs. Another silent night...not a blaring TV in earshot! Although inhabited again by Quechua-speakers, the islanders have a distinct look and culture. Everyone dons traditional clothing , and is involved in making handicrafts resulting in, according to UNESCO, some of the best handmade garments in the world. In an intriguing twist, knitting is exclusively performed by men – one can only surmise that without cars to fix or lawns to mow, it’s the only job left! J Women on the other hand exclusively spin the yarn and weave. Seems to work for them, and the men proudly go about town knitting their wares.

Day four, back on the lancha and another 3-hr ride back to our base in Puno. And we’ve only seen a small part of the lake! So ya, back to base to regroup for a couple nights. Here in Puno we may have uncovered the single BEST STREET FOOD IN THE UNIVERSE: Saltenas, basically a chicken-pot-pie baked in the form of a turn-over. At 40 cents a pop, I could live on these. They have been my go-to lunch every day. It would also be breakfast and dinner, but Amy doesn’t get as excited as I do over these kinds of things :-)

 

Tomorrow we’re back on the bikes and heading south along Lake Titicaca to the Bolivian border. It’s a bit daunting because we’re steamrolling into the rainy season around here, which at 4000 m or so, means cold and wet. We’ll see how we make out. First Bolivian stop is the town of Copacabana on the south end of Lake Titicaca. No, not the Copacabana near Rio, Brazil...but go on, start singing: “at the Copa, Copacabana...music and passion were always the fashion at the Copa...”. Now just try to get that out of your head. After about a week in the area, we can’t. OK, getting ahead of ourselves here. More on crossing into Bolivia and Copa soon. Chau chicos.