Category: Peru Ecuador 2016

Islas Los Uros and Isla Tequile – Tuesday and Wednesday October 25-26, 2016

Tuesday morning we left at 7 am for the trip  to Islas Los Uros and Isla Tequile in Lake Titicaca. 

Our first stop after about a 30 minute boat ride was one of the Uros Islands. There about 100 of these floating islands constructed of reeds. Four to ten families live on each island. We got a demonstration of how the islands are built. I also got to try on some local clothes. 



The reeds used to build the islands are highly buoyant.  The white bottom part of the reeds is edible and apparently contains fluoride which means the Uros people who live on the islands have very good teeth. 


We bought some embroidered cushion covers and had fun exploring the island. The ground felt kind of squishy when you walked. 


Next our boat took us another two and a quarter hours to Taquile Island. Everyone else on the boat was on the island for about an hour but we had decided to spend the night in a home stay. Duke stayed here on his last trip and remembered it fondly. The island has about 2,500 residents and there are no cars or other motorized vehicles. It is a beautiful peaceful spot. We had to climb up over 500 stone steps to get to the main square where the people in the restaurant arranged a family for us to stay with. 


Staying with Silvano and his family was a wonderful experience.  He visited the U.S. five years ago as part of a group promoting indigenous crafts. We enjoyed a great dinner and conversation about life on the island. His two boys played chess while we talked. 


This morning Silvano’s wife showed us how she weaves textiles. On Tequile the women weave and the men knit. Silvano and his wife showed us some of their work. 


Duke has received some comments about his new hat looking a bit battered so he decided to do an upgrade with a woven hat band. 


Tequile has wonderful flagstone paved paths. We spent time both yesterday and today exploring the island. Everyone was friendly. These kids asked to have their picture taken. 


Puno – Monday, October 24, 2016

Today was a rest day in Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca. We are staying at the Terra Viva Hotel. This morning we went down to the artisanal market on the lake shore and did some shopping. Duke bought an alpaca sweater vest and we also bought a table runner. 



We also bought tickets to go out to Isla Taquile tomorrow. We are planning to spend the night in accommodations on the island and return on Wednesday. Which means we probably won’t have internet tomorrow night. 

This afternoon we napped and did a bit more shopping. I bought some baby alpaca yarn. 



We had an excellent dinner at Restaurante Giorgio Eirl. We started with shrimp soup. Then Duke had alpaca and I had trout. 



Chivay to Puno – Sunday, October 23, 2016

Sunday morning we got a taxi from our hotel into Chivay. While we were waiting in the square for our bus a couple of cute young boys asked if we wanted pictures with their lamb and baby llama and baby alpaca. We said no but then Duke got into a conversation with them and we decided to take a picture. 


To get from Chivay to Puno we took a tourist bus. It is the first time we have done that on this trip. We had a guide and we stopped for a snack, a sandwich and coca tea. 

The trip was six and a half hours. We went through the Aguada National Park and saw lots of wild vicuña. Back in 1976 vicuña were put on the endangered species list. They were hunted for their wool. There were only 6,000 left. Now there are 350,000. 


Tonight we are in Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca. I think this is the highest altitude we have ever spent the night except perhaps on the hike up Mt Whitney many years ago! We are at 12,580 ft. 

Colca Canyon – Friday and Saturday, October 21-22

We made it! Friday we hiked down 3,500 ft to the bottom of Colca Canyon. We stayed in a small cabin, had dinner and shared a beer by the pool and Duke went swimming. You have to buy tickets to hike in the canyon. Each ticket costs $21. 





Saturday we hiked back up again. We spent the night in a hotel near Chivay. The hotel clerk warned us to let the water run for five minutes to let it get hot.  When the water got hot the showers sure felt good. 

Arequipa to Cabanaconde – Thursday, October 20, 2016

This morning we caught a bus leaving Arequipa going up into the mountain.  Arequipa is at about 7,800 ft. We went over a 16,000 ft pass eventually ending up at the town of Cabanaconde on the edge of the Colca Canyon. We are at 10,780 ft tonight. The mountains, the villages, the terraced fields, and the road were all pretty amazing as you can see in this picture taken from the bus window. 


We are staying at a nice hotel called Kuntur Wassi. Our room is round!


We had a great dinner tonight. I had alpaca medallions with a quinoa risotto. 


And Duke had alpaca with Andean herbs. 

 Colca Canyon is 3,182 meters (10,440 feet) deep which makes it one of the two deepest canyons in the world. From where we are the hike to the bottom is about 3,500 feet. Our plan is to hike to the bottom tomorrow,spend the night and hike back out on Saturday. That means no internet for the next couple of days.