While Jack and Jen were still on vacation, we all flew from the jungle to a town called Juliaca near the southern tip of Peru. There, we hopped into a collectivo bus that took us from the airport to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca (an hour’s trip). Here are a few shots from that trip:
We were able to walk around Puno a little bit, and saw some interesting sights:
Since we really only had one day to see the sights (we were on a tight schedule to make sure that Jack and Jen got back to the States), we booked an all-day tour with our hotel to see the Uros Floating Reed Islands and Isla Taquile. It turned out to be a good choice.
We started our day off early and traveled by boat out to the Floating Islands. Not only did we see some really cool boats, but we saw some of the people who live there moving around on their way that morning:
And here are the islands we saw as we traveled around:
Then we visited one of the islands (I think it was called CCapi Nativo, but I’m not sure), and learned about them. The people there have lived on the islands their entire lives, and most want to continue the traditions that their parents, grandparents, and other ancestors. The islands are pretty well-supported – not only do the kids go to school (they row or get rowed – check out the photos), there are even solar panels on them! Check out the details:
After that, we headed to Isla Taquile, an island known for its fine sewing (by both the men and the women). We walked across the island, and had a great lunch in the main town along the way. The walk took about two hours, and we saw a few cool parts of the island. Check them out here:
And then we returned to our hotel and found dinner. The following morning, we met Jack and Jen for breakfast, then hung around Puno and rested for a day before heading across the border to Bolivia. We were delayed because of a Bolivian border strike that made crossing it impossible during the week. That wasn’t the first border strike we encountered on our trip, and it was only the first of several travel difficulties we would encounter in Bolivia…
