We explored Lake Titicaca by private boat with a local guide named Bross, an associate our our main tour leader, Salvador Torres. We began the day’s discoveries with a visit to the Uros Islands where indigenous people make their home on floating islands,” made of reeds that grow in the lake’s shallow waters. The Uros Indians are well-known for their Totora reed boats, called balsas, which are primarily used for fishing are sometimes affixed with sales, also made of reeds. We were met by a representative of the encampment who explained how the unique islands are made.
The women were weaving goods for sale. We were permitted to see their very small living quarters that fit a family of five. It was the oddest feeling walking on the reeds which yields on impact, a bit like a trampoline. We got to meet their pet dog, and their kids who were both playful and curious of the newcomers who were paying the elders a visit. For $5 one of the younger family members readied us for a ride on their boat. Their children climbed the platform and as we were about to leave the port, they sang us a couple of songs as their older family members had done earlier.
From there we made our way to Taquille Island. Once part of the Inca Empire, this island was one of the last locations to fall to the Spanish during conquest of Peru. We had dinner at a family-owned restaurant on Taquille. We had a mishap on the two hour boat ride. The captain of the boat got caught in the reeds and we required assistance. Fortunately, there was a boat nearby that towed us away from the reeds, and we were on our way.
