PUNO, LAKE TITICACA & BEYOND

Monday May 3rd

Arrival at Puno

By the time our train had reached Puno it was late in the day. This city is the capital of the Puno Region of south eastern Peru next door to Bolivia.
It is on the edge of Lake Titicaca, the world's highest commercially navigable lake. 3,860m).
It's also regarded as the cradle of Inca civilisation.
We were promptly loaded onto a bus where we had to wait while hats, cameras which had been left on the train were retrieved. The trip to our hotel was a long one, not so much in distance, but it was peak hour and the traffic was incredible.
When we reached the Hotel Eco we only had time for a few puffs of oxygen, dinner, a glass or two and finally to bed.
Tuesday May 4th
Having travelled by bus, train and plane, it was now time to take to the water. We were to spend the day exploring the islands of Lake Titicaca, in particular the remote islands of Taquile as well as the famous reed islands of the Uros people.
The people on Taquile speak a language called Quechua and they have a remarkable social system.
For example the inhabitants wear different clothes according to their social status. Also the colors of their caps vary according to whether a person is married or single.
There is no electricity on the island , but they produce the most beautiful textiles and clothes. The women make the yarn and do the weaving. The men do the knitting.
We were told that men and women are ready for marriage when he can knit her a hat and she can weave him a belt.
If a couple has lived together before marriage  and later on applies for divorce, they must provide a reason why. The theory is that if they lived together before marrying they knew each well enough to know what they were getting into.

Bow of a reed boat

Floating reed island

But the most fascinating part of this trip was to see the Uros Indians who live on floating islands made from the  reeds. The reeds, totora, grow in the lake shallows and the Uros interweave them to make islands on which they live. So if you have a row with your wife or neighbour you can just cut through the reeds and push your part away.Everything is made of these reeds including huts, boats and many implements. They're also a source of food and medicine. I did notice a battery operated radio in one hut but that was not made of reeds.
There are now no pure  blood Uros Indians. They've intermarried with Inca Indians and other groups, but they still preserve Uros culture.

While we were there we were encouraged to try on local clothing. I did this but it was apparently such a terrible sight that the others gave it a miss.

I go native

Wednesday May 5th
Early next morning we were back on our bus. We drove around the shores of Lake Titicaca headed for the Bolivian border. Our destination was La Paz, capital of Bolivia with a stopover at Copacabana.
It may have the same name but this Copacabana has none of the glamor and glitz of the Rio version. It has a country town atmosphere, and a proudly Indian culture. It's also the main inland beach resort.

Moorish style cathedral

En route we passed through many delightful little villages, all with elaborate churches. In Copacabana itself there was a great Moorish style cathedral which houses the famous Dark Virgin, patron saint of Bolivia.
 The statue is in a niche in the church and can be rotated so that she can overlook the main part of the cathedral or a small chapel which to get to, you need to climb about three flights of stairs. Just as well she's a miracle worker.
The story is that if she is removed from the cathedral there will be massive storms on the lake.
The next part of our journey took us out on the lake again. This trip involved two immigration checks crossing both the Peruvian and the Bolivian borders.
We crossed Lake Titicaca This time aboard a catamaran heading to La Paz, the Bolivian capital with a stopover on another island, Sun Island. This is supposed to be where the Inca empire began and there are many ruins and remains of Inca gardens and steps. And of course the inevitable sellers of souvenir pottery, carpets, scarves etc. Very tempting!

Lakeside seller

Cute baby llama

 We also got  up close to llamas, especially a baby llama which seemed unfazed by the tourists and their cameras.

Finally we boarded our catamaran once more, eventually arriving at the small port of Chua. From there we were driven by bus, once again through heavy traffic to our hotel, the Presidente.

La Paz - Bolivia

Thur May 6th

Traffic in La Paz

La Paz sits at an altitude of 3636 metres, but we didn't worry too much about breathing. The fumes of the traffic was so dense we just had to hold our breath. I don't remember how long it took from the airport to our hotel, (The Presidente), but the traffic was horrendous. Drivers just seemed to go where they liked regardless of whether or not there was space to get through.It was a relief to reach the Presidente which turned out to be a really good quality hotel. And so to dinner and bed.

On the next morning we boarded a bus for a tour of the Moon Valley. Travelling through the southern residential area of the city and eventually we reached the most remarkable valley. It really was like the surface of the moon, with huge crags and pinnacles of rock eroded over thousands of years. It’s not actually a valley at all, just a wasteland of eroded pillars of earth.

Flute player - Moon Valley

And to add to the atmosphere, high up on a rock was a man playing a South American flute. If you can imagine a didgeridoo player atop Uluru, then you’ve got the picture. Quite eerie!

From here we returned to La Paz through the old colonial quarter with its cobbled streets and many  churches.

La Paz

 While the others went to the witches market, I went off to buy yet another suitcase. The suitcase issue had become a joke. I kept buying new suitcases only to find they were too small, too heavy or whatever. At last I had success and found the right one and as we walked away with the shiny new suitcase, my handbag fell apart.

Back at the Presidente we all met again for what was to be our farewell dinner. Some of us were heading back to Lima and home and some of us were heading off for a cruise of the Galapagos Islands. I was doing the latter with friends Rod and Ann and Malcolm. 

Rod's farewell speech

Our last dinner was at a German restaurant in La Paz filled with other tour groups doing the same thing. The meal was great and so was Rod’s summary of the tour in which he picked up on every little slip that Alex had made during the three weeks.

On the following morning we flew out to Quito in Ecuador and spent the day exploring  the land of the Otavalenos, a people famous for their textiles and traditional crafts. We drove through terraced farmlands to the little village of Calderon where they make traditional figurines out of colored dough which they then bake and varnish.

Otavalo people

May 8th

 From there we went on to the town of Otavalo where we spent the next few hours wandering cobbled streets thronged with Otavalo Indians with long braided hair and wearing traditional blue ponchos. The market here is filled with ponchos, scarves, blankets, belts and wall hangings as well as classical Indian jewellery. We called into an Indian village called Peguche where the local artisans weave at home. We were allowed into one Indian house to see them at their work.

Local weaver

From ancient crafts it was back to modern times and the city of Quito. It is a beautiful city and like most areas of South America, it is full of churches.  I wanted to go inside one but discovered that tourists were expected to pay. There was a baptism ceremony going on inside, so much to the embarrassment of my companions, I announced that as a Catholic I wanted to go in and pray. They couldn’t refuse.

The down side was that once inside I could either stay for the whole ceremony or look around and then sneak out without my subterfuge being discovered. I took the chance and snuck out.
May 9th

Another day, another flight!  This time the flight took us from Quito to Guayaquil from where we were change planes and fly to Baltra airport in the Galapagos Islands.

After an uneventful flight we disembarked and had the rest of the afternoon to look around, before joining our boat, the Motor Yacht “Millennium”. That gave us the chance to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station which is where a team of international scientists carry out continuous biological research and conservation projects. Among these projects, they are involved in tortoise breeding, saving many kinds of tortoise from extinction.

Giant Galapagos Tortoise

We were quite shocked at the number of people and the amount of tourist tat for sale. The place seemed to be over commercialized, but as we too were tourists we couldn’t really criticize.

That evening we joined the MY Millennium for our five day cruise around the islands.

There were only a few people on the cruise, and I thought I’d really struck it lucky when I found that I had a cabin all to myself.

Our boat at anchor

That however was short lived when a little later I returned to my cabin, having spread my stuff out all over the place, only to find a tall Dutch lady of about thirty settling in too.

Recovering from the shock we introduced ourselves and got along beautifully.

In the next few days our little vessel cruised from island to island in almost perfect weather. Very few of us were seasick despite a bit of a swell sometimes. There was one night that nobody felt much like eating and retired early but otherwise it smooth sailing.

Each island featured something different in bird and animal life as well as plants and environment. We walked the trails around each island, coming across iguanas, (maritime and land), pelicans, and scores of different bird species. 

Wildlife

The land iguanas are yellow and black and they are huge. Some of the islands featured  lava pools and caves and inlets. There were sandy beaches and black lava beaches, and of course the famous giant tortoises. The most famous of these is “Lonesome George”. He is about eighty years old and is the last of his race. He now lives at the research station but there are no females left living so they cannot breed from him. They think they might be able to mate him with another breed of tortoise; close to his or possibly clone him. But that’s technically very difficult. Poor George!

All around these islands you can see the evidence of evolution in microcosm. For example on some islands where there are no tortoises, you see cacti which are of normal height and breadth. But on islands where there are big tortoises, the same cacti grow very tall with no low branches. They have evolved that way so they are safe from hungry tortoises.

Cacti

There are  sea lions on many of the islands and they are relatively tame. They simply haven’t learnt to fear humans.

On one day we went snorkeling and when I came up for a breather, there right up close to my face was a sea lion with big brown eyes looking at me. He’d come up for a breather too.

Sea lions are not always friendly. They are big and they fight, or at least the males do.

We saw the so called bachelor colony where the males battle for supremacy. Winners get to mate with the females. Losers stay in the bachelor colony until they can beat another sea lion for the right to mate.

Sea Lion mother and pup

There were visits to more islands teeming with seabirds roosting on cliffs and anywhere they could nest; frigate birds and blue footed boobies and many more.

When you see how these creatures have adapted to their varied environments, quite independent of their neighbors on other islands, you can understand how Charles Darwin came up with his remarkable theories.

Marine birdlife

This cruise around some of the most fascinating islands in the world, brought my South American adventure pretty much to an end.

The last Galapagos day was spent in the capital of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.  Capital or not it is really just a small village albeit the oldest settlement in the archipelago. And it was from here we were to fly back to Quito, Ecuador.

Our last night before going our separate ways, was spent in a lovely old boutique hotel, the Patio Andaluz. It’s a listed heritage building in the old colonial part of the city. The hotel is over three hundred years old and a stone’s throw from the Presidential Palace.
May 14th

I was booked to fly to Madrid to join Damien, Fritha and Anthony, so I headed off to the airport before Rod, Ann and Malcolm. I was still there when they arrived a few hours later. And many hours later I was still there as my plane was held up because of a mechanical fault.

All the English speaking passengers had connecting flights so they were put on another plane and I was left in the airport with 200 or so angry Spanish speaking passengers. Can you imagine the ranting and raving while I sat in the corner not knowing what the hell was going on.

Eventually a Spanish woman who spoke English came over to me and explained that if they did not get the plane fixed LAN Airways would put us up in a hotel for the night. At least I had some information.

However they did get the plane fixed and we flew from Quito to Guayaquil, only to find the passengers who had left earlier waiting there.  So then they joined us and we all flew to Madrid. We were four hours late and so missed the dinner we had planned with Damien, Fritha and Anthony.