Visiting Lake Titicaca
Visiting Uros Island
Lunch and hike on Taquile Island

Lake Titicaca

Visting Uros Island

Early mornings in Puno in June are very cold and normally below freezing.  This is where packing all the scarves and gloves really paid off. A covered motorboat took about 40 of us to the Uros islands.  The boat had a fairly clean bathroom on board for emergency use.

Uros islands are a collection of about 80 islands, totally made of grass and roots of a plant that grows in the Lake Titicaca.

We got an introduction to their history and lifestyle from our guide and the island chief.  During the invasion of Spanish colonial army in Peru about 400 years ago, after hearing the destruction of the Incas, some inhabitants of Puno made these islands with the grass and blocks of roots and started living on these floating islands.

These are completely man made with all natural materials. They rebuild these islands every 4 years and move to a new one, living about 8-10 families per island.

The people of Uros live off fishing for trouts, frogs and turtles, trade them on the mainland for quinoa and other grains and vegetables.  Selling locally made handicrafts to tourists is also an integral part of their livelihood.

We took a boat ride in the lake in one of their beautiful grass boats and the local women sang a farewell song as we left.

Lunch and hike on Taquile Island

After a couple of hours on the Uros Islands, we got back on our motor boat to head to Taquile Island.

We reached Taquile island about 11 AM where we were informed about a challenging 45 minute hike up the island to our lunch.

At that point, the empty stomachs left us with no option but to hike and with a lot of energy to get there as soon as possible!

The kids absolutely loved the hike. It was slightly challenging for people with mobility issues or very young children who may need to be carried. Any kind of strollers or wheelchairs would have to be left behind.

The view throughout the hike was breathtaking.  We were surrounded on all sides by the brilliant blue waters of Lake Titicaca and snow laden mountains of Peru and Bolivia.

Our reward at the end of the climb was a delicious lunch, amazing views and an introduction to the life of people on Taquile Island.  We were first treated to a simple but wonderful lunch of quinoa soup and grilled fresh caught trout. It was hands down the best meal of our entire trip.

After the lunch, we were treated to a display of local customs and traditions. The picture below shows a woman being wooed by a young man in a traditional dance when he has decided to take a wife.

After the wonderful lunch, the group set out on a hike across the island where the boat was to pick them up after a couple of hours. Some of us, who were too old, unable or unwilling to take that hike,  walked back to the boat in the company of the captain of the boat.

The kiddos and the rest of the group enjoyed a nice hike across the island.  Rianna got to hang out with some sheep and cows. They walked on cobblestone pathways and over rocks and dirt, and over some pretty challenging sections to get to the village square and finally reached the other side of the island about 2 hours later.

We were blessed with a picture perfect day with clear sunny skies and around 55 degrees Fahrenheit around mid day.  Even with that beautiful weather, we had to keep the sunscreen slathered on to keep off sun burn.

The boat came around the island with those of us who had gone back after lunch.  And just like that, our visit to Lake Titicaca and the islands of Uros and Taquile was over and we headed back to Puno.

We get back to our hotel around 4:30, and went out to find some early dinner.  Within a block from our Qelqatani hotel, we found a Cafe Buho, a German cafe with European and Peruvian fusion food.  We had an delicious burger, quinoa soup and roasted potatoes for dinner. It was great to warm up with hot food and some coffee before heading out to the airport to catch our late night flight back to Lima.

Crashed out after a long long dayAs we look at this picture of the kids crashed out in the back of the car on the way to the airport, we are in awe of what they had handled in their stride, at just 8 and 10 years of age.

The kids were absolute troopers and we didn’t once feel that we wished we had waited another couple of years to make this trip.  They were up for everything that the trip threw at them, waking up at 5 AM, quick meals and long hikes, unfamiliar language and food and always being on the go.

Also see: Traveling to Peru with kids