South America Highlights

I'm very glad we took the six week trip across South America. It had it's moments & made me quite ill at times, but it was worth it no question. As with any trip, you learn from your mistakes & do it different next time. There were some fantastic highlights though & below are a short list.

Ballistas Islands - wonderful wildlife.

Huaccachina - Buggies & Sand boarding

Arequipa - Beautiful white city & volcanoes

Colca Canyon - Condors & other wildlife life plus the deepest canyon on the planet.

Machu Picchu - Lost City & spectacular valley setting

Lake Titicaca - despite all it's tourist traps & the dreadful home stay

Uyuni Salt flats

Bolivian Southern Desert - Amazing lakes & surprising array of wildlife.

Santa Cruz - Wildlife at the Butterfly Park

The Pantanal - Mind blowing array of Wildlife

Bonito - Rio da Prata & Abysmo

Iguazu Falls - Incredible water falls & butterflies

Ilha Grande - Rain forest Island and amazing wildlifeRio de Janeiro - View & Animals at Christ the Redeemer

I know it looks very much like a nature expedition, but I've got to be honest, South America is very much like a big scenic zoo. People in general don't interest me that much and nature has much more to offer, particularly in that vast corner of the globe. If you want action, go to New Zealand; if you want a culture shock, go to Asia; if you want to see old buildings, go to Europe; if you want to see wildlife & spectacular scenery, the Americas & Africa are your place.

If you ever get a chance to go to South America, don't pass it up. Its something you won't regret & a trip you'll never forget.

Visit Uros Islands & return to Puno

South America Day 20
Home Stay Exit

I woke up early coughing again the next morning (annoying the crap out of Kerri). We decided to get dressed and pack up our gear so that we would be ready to go as soon as we could.

The last night had been very uncomfortable with the language and cultural boundaries. The underlying issue I talked about before was more about us invading their homes. They seemed not to be too worried because we bought food supplies as gifts for them. I just sensed that it was weird for them that us rich westerners were staying in their simple houses. Having said that, they seemed to be prospering from the billeting because they'd added a whole new building to their house complex (below). I still couldn't wait to get out of there. I milled around outside (above) and admired the view. What else was I going to do?

Finally! Breakfast. It wasn't the Weetbix and milk we're accustomed to back in Oz, but it did the job. I just couldn't face the eggs which I'm sure were a big thing for them to offer us. They were just boiled eggs, but I just wasn't feeling well.
The kitchen/dining room had a plain earth floor and a fireplace in the corner. It was pretty basic. Again it was all pretty weird with the language barriers a big problem. The Dad was pretty friendly and smiley, but the mum was a bit on the cranky side.

The wait was excruciating, but finally it was time to grab our stuff and head back down the hill to the boat. We were so relieved. The kids were all friendly as kids the world over are, but the rest of the experience wasn't my favourite part of the trip. It was just plain awkward.

Uros Islands

After escaping the peninsular people, the boat took us close to Puno amongst the reed beds in the bay. Centuries ago some of the people of Puno took to living amongst the reeds to flee from invaders. They created floating islands using the buoyant reeds. These Islands are called the Uros islands.

The island we visited was Khantawi Island. The tourist operators share the tourists (and their money) around the different islands. Not so many years ago these people were still living a simple life as fishermen & weavers bartering with the people of the mainland for grain, meat etc.

We were 'treated' to a demonstration on how the islands were created & maintained. It was all very rushed & tacky but the message got through. They just pack the floating reed on top of each other & as they rot they sink allowing room for more fresh reeds on top. You can see a piece of an island in this photo. You can see the fresh reeds on top & the rotten reeds below almost looking like soil for the most part.

I'm not sure how it helped, but they put some live fish in this small bowl as part of the demonstration. These are the fish they catch in the lake. The problem was that the sun must have heated the water up or the bowl was too small. Either way it killed the fish. It was just a bit odd.

The Uros island men go out to fish (or go to the mainland to do regular jobs these days) while the women stay on the island making crafts. Above is one of the local craftswomen. I think she and her sister have been buying too many pies with the money they fleece from the tourists. The average Peruvians are scrawny folks that struggle to get enough nutrients to keep from fading away to a shadow. Not the case here let me assure you. More on the result of fleecing below.

 The problem with fleecing the tourists is this. Instead of the traditional way of life continuing (which the tourists come to see) the excess money they fleece from the tourists goes into all the western mod cons. The folk we'd stayed with the night before didn't have stereos, flat screen TVs or solar panels.
It's a shame to see, but if I were in their shoes, I'd probably do the same thing. Why wouldn't you make your life a bit more interesting & comfortable? It was just a shame that she was so proud to show it. It does spoil the illusion of the traditional lifestyle.

 Despite the touristy feel to the Uros islands, the local artisans are pretty good at their craft. Their rugs are very colourful and well made. Kerri ended up buying one off one of the pie eaters but I'd have to say it was somewhat in the high price bracket for what it was. She loves it so that's all that matters (so do the cats BTW & that's why it's now in the cupboard out of harm’s way)

With such small islands they've had to adopt an odd way of keeping animals. Pictured is a hole in the island where they have a smaller island to stop the guinea pigs getting away and a fish pen stocked with some sizable table fish.

Just to top off the tourist experience, we boarded this reed raft that looked very Egyptian, but apparently authentic. The island men paddled us for a lap around a couple of the islands & set us back on the island next to our cruise boat. Of course the lap wasn't free.

 As we were heading off for our hot lap, the crew left on the island gave us a send off dance & song. Unfortunately the song was a very corny English sailor song that I can't recall off hand (I think I'm trying to block it because it was too traumatic.) Points for effort, but someone needs to tell them to try a traditional song instead of an English one.

Waterbirds

The only other comment about Lake Titicaca is the bird life among the reed beds. The reeds are a haven for water birds & we saw plenty. Pictured above is a pair of Andean ducks. I like their blue bills. Below, a grieb of some sort.

Below are two more species of water birds. The black headed gulls we had seen in Canada, but the Crested Ducks are new.

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca and Peninsular Home Stay (Day 19)

We awoke the next day to light rain. I'm never one to complain about the rain because I see precious little of it (particularly in Perth) but I was worried about it spoiling a nice couple of days out on the lake.

Above and below was our transport to the lake. It was all very touristy, but it was the most fun we'd had in days! The drivers turned it into a race. By the time we reached the port a couple of kms away, the rain & clouds were gone & it was shaping up to be a belter of a day.

 

 

 

Lake Titcaca

We climbed aboard our cruise vessel and started out through the reed beds toward the open water of the lake. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3827m above sea level. It's quite large as well and forms a section of the border between Peru and Bolivia. Our boat wasn't very fast, but we had all day to take in the view so we were in no rush.

 

Along the way we saw people in small boats harvesting reeds (above) and others tending fish farms like the one below.

 

The shallow waters near Puno allow the locals to simply drive stakes into the bottom of the lake and string fish nets between them. It's not the same as the fish farming in the western world because they catch the wild fish and rear them until they're big enough to sell. No captive breeding here. Just as we were about to make it outside the bay where Puno sits, we had to perform a rescue mission on a stricken boat that had broken down and was drifting aimlessly. It was all a bit hap hazard, but you have to let the locals do it their way. We dragged them close enough to shore so that they could hop off without drowning. Our good deed for the day.

Taquile Island

 

Our first stop for the day was Taquile Island. After a short wonder up the hill we reached a nice spot where we could look over Lake Titicaca.

 

Taquile Island has a slightly odd society. It's a commune of sorts (Community Collectivism it's called technically). It's not like the communism of China or some of the eastern block countries. Nobody is forced to be there and people from the mainland are able to come to live there. Everybody has a job to do and they all rotate their jobs every 6 months. It seems to work very well and the locals seem to be a happy bunch which is proof that the system works. It's a shame the rest of the world can't play so nice together.

 

We had a prearranged lunch on the island. It was quite nice and with a great view over the lake. After lunch we set off in the opposite direction from where we had come from to jump back on our boat.

 

Home Stay - The Peninsular

 

That night was the night of the trip I'd been dreading since before we booked the tour. It was what they call a home stay. They set each of us up with a family of peninsular residents.
The obvious issue was the language barrier (because our Spanish was rubbish), but there was another underlying gut feel thing that I couldn't put my finger on until sometime later. (I'll explain below). We were greeted by this welcoming committee whose musical talents weren't brilliant.

 

Considering this lot have a new group in every 2 days, they really don't have a clue how to organize the billeting. The chit chat about who's going where went on for a good 20 minutes. I don't understand why.

 So we thought we would be staying in one of the houses in the village near where the boat dropped us off. No such luck. Most of the group were whisked off somewhere close, but Kerri and I (and I think it was Vixy, Special K, Melissa & Richard) were frog marched up the hill and along the ridge (above) to our home stay places. This was after we'd been told we'd be coming back twice during the evening. I was stoked considering the chest problems I was having.

 

 No sooner than we'd dropped our stuff off in our room for the night, than we were turned around & taken back down the hill to the village. Everyone was already playing soccer & looked like they had been for some time. I gave it a miss being unwell. Volleyball was next. Kerri got involved, but I just wasn't up for it.
The games finished & it was time to hike the 3km back up the hill for the second time.We had a fairly simple dinner with our hosts and before spent some time with their inquisitive children. Communication was dreadful with us picking words out of our translation book & me showing photos of animals & birds from earlier in the tour to try to understand what each one was called in Spanish. It was hard work!

 

After dinner,we were supposed to 'suit up' in traditional dress and go do some traditional dancing. I wasn't about to do that hike again and was crashing badly with the chest infection. The temperature drop with the sun gone wasn't helping. I told Kerri she should go because she was keen enough, but I think she wasn't about to do the hike up the hill again either. We decided instead to get an early night.