Lake Titicaca

This enormous lake covers about 3,000 square miles and sits at over 16,000 feet above sea level, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. Sixty percent of it is in southeast Peru and fourty percent lies within the boundaries of Bolivia. We stayed in the town of Puno, Peru located right on the lake. The highlight of our time was the full day tour on the lake. We were among about twenty other tourists who loaded onto a boat with an open viewing area up top and a cozy, warm enclosed lower area. The tour took us to three different islands. The lake consists of hundreds of natural islands and a growing number of reed islands closer to shore. The reed islands are manmade wonders and are home to a group of people called the Urus. One of these was our first stop after navigating for about thirty minutes away from shore. We were met by the islands inhabitants as we pulled alongside to tie up. It was like entering another world. The people dress in layers of brightly colored apparel and were so friendly. Only a few families live together on an island which they create and maintain. We were given a demonstration of how they make these floating islands, and it was fascinating. These reeds grow in shallower water near shore. The Uru men cut about a two foot high section of the root system which becomes the foundation of a floating island in the making. They stick pieces of hard bamboo-like wood vertically into the root section creating posts. They wrap natural material (I don't remember what they used) around the posts securing individual root sections together. They continue this process until their new island is the size they desire. Once the foundation is complete they pile layers of the long reeds ontop in alternating directions. There are a growing number of reed islands in this one section of the lake. Walking on them is very interesting; the surface is soft and pliable, but provides a surpising amount of support. Upon our arrival to the first reed island we gathered in the center for an informative talk about their way of life. The reeds are used not only for their islands, but for their houses, beds, boats and some tourist handicrafts. Once the reeds dry out they even use them to make their fires for warmth and cooking. They cannot grow any food on their islands so rely on trading fish with other indigenous people from the natural islands or from shore. This is such a fascinating culture to me and I love the bright colors both the men and women wear. After our little orientation one of the men invited us into his house which was about ten feet by eight feet with a pitched roof. We stood with one other couple as he spoke to us in Spanish; the Urus also have their own language. There was a reed bed on the floor, a few items of clothing hanging to one side and a few handicrafts strung across the other side. It was basic shelter. He said that they use plastic tarps on the roof when it rains because the roofs are not water tight. The Urus suffer from rheumotoid arthritis because of the damp and cold living conditions. They conduct everyday life literally about one foot above the surface of the lake. The women make beautiful tapestries by hand and much of they dies used are natural.

After about thirty minutes we all piled into one of the reed boats. These things are beautiful, wide canoe-shaped vessels with artistically shaped bows and sterns. Two men from the first island paddled us across to another reed island. We all reclined and enjoyed the serenity of the lake as two adorable girls about four years-old sang songs in the native languages of everyone. They sang in German, Polish, English, Spanish and more. Pretty impressive and extremely entertaining! Gliding across the lake reclined in this comfy boat was wonderful.

After a quick look around the second reed island we loaded back aboard our tour boat which met us there. We navigated for about an hour to one of the natural islands. Once ashore we walked up some five hundred steps to a plaza where we were rewarded with a spectacular view. The plaza contained city hall, a school and a two-story building containing all kinds of handicrafts made by the islanders. From the plaza and from the roof of the two-story building, you could see the distant shore of Bolivia across the lake.

We continued further up the hill to a tiny eatery where we enjoyed a lunch of sauteed trout. Our guide brought in a young man and woman to describe their attire which is used to designate social and marital status. This culture is totally different than the Urus of the reed islands and is equally fascinating. One interesting custom is that once boys and girls reach puberty they pair up and live together. If they have children after five years of living together, they marry. If they don't have children within this time, they are banished from the island and required to live ashore. Sadly, in the not to distant past they even allowed siblings to couple which created an epidemic of birth defects.

Fortunately, we did not suffer any ill effects from the high altitude. Any type of physical activity at over 16,000 feet above seal level is very strenuous. We stopped as much as we needed during our ascent and drank plenty of water. The anti-altitude sickness medicine we were taking seemed to do the trick.

Lake Titicaca is definately a highlight of our time in Peru. There is so much more I could write about the cultures of the different people. The cultures we are being exposed to throughout Peru are so rich with color and history it seens a shame to only touch on them. So, this is all for now, but stay tuned for more later! The lost Inca city of Machu Pichu is about to be discovered by us.

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

Two volcanic mountain peaks create a scenic backdrop to the pretty colonial city of Arequipa in southern Peru. There are about nine volcanoes in this area, a couple as high as 20,000 feet in elevation with their peaks ice packed year round. Even though we are here at the end of the dry season there is still an impressive amount of glacial ice crowning these higher volcanoes. Most of the buildings in this city are made from volcanic rock which glistens beautifully in the warm sunshine. They are equally beautiful when uplit at night. This effect has earned the city the name ¨the white city¨.


The volcanoes had a special role in the life of the early Indian civilizations that inhabited this region of Peru. The Inca civilization rose to power in the late 1400´s absorbing and conquering other civilizations that had long inhabited this area. All of these cultures worshipped the earth and considered the volcanoes gods that needed appeasing so they would not erupt. The Incas made human sacrifices to these gods and it was considered an honor to be a ¨chosen one¨. In the late 1980´s a team of archeologists doing research in this area were searching for evidence of Inca existence. They hit the motherload when scaling one of the two glacial volcanoe peaks; entombed in the ice was a mummified body of a young girl. They were amazed at the condition of the body. Most of the skin was still intact, as were the teeth, nails and hair. She was determined to be an Inca princess sacrificed to this volcanoe. Her body was still in a crouched position with her arms clutching her bent legs. Her fabric clothing, wrap and purse were also in remarkable condition. She has been dubbed Juanita the Ice Princess, in honor of the first name of the lead archeologist who discovered and recovered her body. Juanita is on display in a museum across from our hotel and as you might expect is one of the most popular tourist attractions of the city. There is evidence that shows that she was a member of a party of Incas who traveled hundreds of miles through rugged terrain to reach the volcanoes peak. This was no easy task considering that they wore only sandals on their feet and had to scale incredibly steep mountains while carrying food and other provisions. It is believed that the person being sacrificed was given a drink to sedate them and then they were knocked on the head with a blunt object which probably resulted in death. Juanita´s skull shows evidence of blunt head trauma. She would have then been lovingly positioned and wrapped for warmth and left with food for her journey to the next world. Amazingly, about a half dozen other human sacrifices have been found in different areas of this volcanoes peak. However, none were as intact as Juanita because portions of their bodies were not preserved in the ice pack. Pretty fascinating stuff!


Another popular attraction in this area is nearaby Colca Canyon. It draws thousands of adventure seekers each year who are interested in trekking, river rafting, climbing and more. It is the second deepest canyon in the world. The first is a neighboring canyon of another name. We took an overnight trip from Arequipa to Colca Canyon. This involved driving for several hours to one of the little towns located in the canyon. This excursion began at an elevation of about 7,000 feet in Arequipa and took us over mountain passes; the highest being just over 15,000 feet! We stopped a couple of times to consume mate de coca, a hot tea made from the leaf of a local plant that is said to prevent the effects of altitude sickness. It looks just like a bay leaf and has a pleasant mild flavor when steeped in hot water. You can also buy candy made from the leaf or, for the hard core, you can stuff a bunch of leaves inside your mouth like chewing tobacco. We opted for the tea and candy. Our entire drive was through the Altiplano, Spanish for highlands, which was mile after mile of undulating hills covered with golden clumbs of vegetation. We drove up and down and around and the only time the landscape changed was when we climbed to higher elevations. Then there were mossy-looking swamp areas fed by run-off from the ice pack. We saw lots of llamas, alpacas and vicunas (a small antelope-like animal with long hair) throughout most of our drive. As you´d expect, there were locals at each stop we made for photos. They were always eager to sell their handmade textiles from the soft hair of llamas, alpacas and vicunas. Bartering is expected and part of the fun. You can buy really nice blankets, hats, scarves, tapestries and the like for such good prices.


Our tour van with a group of about thirty people stopped in the town of Chivay (about 10,000 feet) at th end of our first afternoon. We enjoyed a buffet of typical dishes such as roastd alpaca, steamed trout, chicken, quinoa salad, and yummy soups. Most of the group stayed overnight in this town, but we and our four Swedish buddies continued to a village called Yangay for the night. After dumping our bags in our room about 4:00 p.m. we joined the other four for a three hour trek on horseback. Our guide was an incredibly nice man who led us on foot through the narrow dirt streets toward the hills. The houses are made from mud brick and have thatched roofs. The first thrill was riding across a suspension bridge that straddled two high peaks about two-hundred feet above the Colca River. That wasn´t the last thrill of our ride; we ascended and descended lots of stairs that clung to the sides of the steep hillsides we manuevered. I must say this was the first time I´ve ever ridden a horse across a bridge or up and down stairs! This was a rugged ride and the horses were in good shape. It really was a thrilling adventure that took us off the beaten track through lots of interesting terrain. We rode through fields being worked by local people; some with only hand tools and others with oxen or burros. Every hillside is terraced for growing potatoes, onions, garlic, beans, artichokes, cauliflower and more. These terraces pre-date the Incas and are still in use today throughout Peru. We passed grazing animals and the occasional group of cows, sheep and burros being herded. We went through streams and dry river beds and all kinds of terrain.

The people in this canyon are descendents of the Incas and speak a combination of three different languages; Spanish, Quichua (Inca language) or another language spoken by another pre-Inca indigenous group called the Yu Yu. Our first stop was Yu Yu ruins. We dismounted and left the horses to rest after a strenuous uphill stretch. We climbed further on foot until we reached the archeolgical site. There were several rock and mud mortar structures minus their roofs, which would have been thatched. At one point, our guide casually pointed out an exposed tomb at our feet. It still had human remains inside; two human skulls and a few other bones. Amazing!


On our way back toward town we stopped for a soak in some thermal baths. It was dark by the time we mounted the horses again for the last twenty minutes of our trek back to town. It was very dark, except for the occasional lightning flash, and we had no flashlights or anything to illuminate the way. This was quite unnerving, especially in light of the fact that we were now on a dirt road shared by cars. The road was windy so we just hoped that we wouldn´t encounter an oncoming car on a blind curve. The horses seemed quite comfortable with these conditions, but I was not. You couldn´t see the path and could just barely make out the other riders in our group. I just held on and figured the horses knew the way. At this point our guide was at the rear making sure no one got seperated or left behind; so we couldn´t rely on him to lead us. Well, I´m happy to say that we made it back to town safe and sound. I´d do it again in a heartbeat! The whole excursion was a thrill.


The next day we were up at the crack of dawn. After a hearty buffet breakfast we were picked up by our tour van containing the people from our group that had spent the night in the other town. We headed further into the canyon toward Cruz del Condors to witness these giant birds soaring above the canyon. It is one of the few locations in Peru where these birds nest. We arrived alittle passed 8:00 a.m. and there was already a large number of tourists present. Everyone stood around with cameras ready just waiting for a sighting. There were two lookout points for spotting the birds as they soar over the narrow canyon between two mountain ranges. I had our video camera in hand and Barry was poised with our still camera. Currently, there are only a few of these birds nesting in this spot and there is no guarantee that you´ll actually see them. After waiting nearly fifty minutes disappointment began to overcome me. We were scheduled to remain at this stop for only ninety minutes and the clock was ticking. Then the crowd stirred as the first condor left it´s nest and glided away from the cliff. You could sense the excitement in the air as cameras clicked away and videos rolled. About four different condors soared above us and glided toward us at different intervals. They came incredibly close to where we were perched on the edge of a small plateau. They were graceful and magnificent with their nine-foot wing span. Condors are the largest flying bird in the world and can soar as high as thirty-thousand feet above sea level. Absolutely remarkable! They are not hunters, but scavengers, surviving on dead, rotting flesh. Well, we were blessed with a fourty-minute show before we had to board our bus and return to Arequipa. Watching these condors fly over the canyon was quite a spectacle and I´m so glad we got to witness this.

It seems that our experiences just keep getting better as we travel from one highlight to another along our tourist route. Although much of the landscape in Peru is pretty barren and stark it still has it´s unique beauty. We´re really looking forward to our next stop, Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru and Bolivia.

Blessings and warm wishes to our friends and family.