Lake Titicaca, Peru
13 &14 October 2006We spent the weekend on Lake Titicaca, currently pronounced, Lake Titihaahaa by the Andes people. Took a twenty minute, tour boat ride to the floating islands made of reeds (the totora plant). For generations, the Uros people have taken sods of soil and reeds and woven blocks together, stacked the reeds up and across to build three or four meter ground planes. On these man-made floating islands, entire villages live a simple existence without running water, electricity or plumbing. The totora is not only the building material and fuel for cooking, but it also a main staple of their diet, a reed vegetable that we peeled like a banana and ate. The flavour is fairly bland and the texture a softer version of celery. It is a vegetable fiber high in calcium and used for generations to care for their teeth, rheumatism and stomach ailments.
For $5 solaces per person ($1.50) we took a boat ride from one floating island to the next, in a catamaran made of the totora reeds. Our Captain noted that the reed catamaran moved like any other catamarans -smoothly. As we rode, the water fowls included mud hens with red beaks, brown cormorants, night herons and gulls.
Tourism is just a six year old industry, but essential for these people. Located on these floating islands are a school, medical care facility, and gathering space and at least a dozen one room homes. The cooking is all down outside on top of the squsishy reed groundplane. Although, a visit to the floating islands is a bit commercialized, it still is a good example and demonstration of how the Indians lived for generations.
And the times are changing. We peeked into the reed homes where we spotted a TV and a boom box and a single large bed on a reed mattress, clothes hung from the reed walls. Electricity comes from a few solar panels collecting energy for their evening use on the floating island. The Uros people are Indians nearly existent as interbreeding with the other local Andes Indians have mixed them among the populace of Lake Titicaca and Puno. Their crafts remain oriented to weaving, pottery, and painting. The languages spoken on the islands were Quechua, Castila, and Amaru.
We left the floating islands and travelled for three hours across the lake to Isla Amanatani where we would spend the night with an Indian family. At the dock, we were greeted by representatives of the island families. We were fortunate that one home had sufficient rooms and beds to house the entire Amberchan family for the night. Families on the island rotate taking in tourists, who desire a night or two visit on the island. We paid a reputable agency (All Way Travel) who orchestrated the experience and distributed funds among the families, to house and fed us for a day and night. In addition, we brought a bag of apples, oranges and coca candies as our gift to the family. The apples were especially well received by the grandfather and grandchildren.
We hike up about 1000 meters to the Calsin Family home. A gate made of branches of eucalyptus trees opened up into a small pasture (probably for the occasional pig or sheep) and a tiny garden that held a precious peach tree seedling, sweet pea vines, legume vines, nasturtiums, and a few other unidentifiable edible plants. Most of the land for cultivation lay in the terraces and we had no idea how the land was tilled or shared with the community at large.
We ate simply and well. A simple lunch menu was served and included: Quinoa Soup, a plate with potatoes, orcas (of the carrot family), fried trout, lettuce and tomato slices. To complete the meal, we sipped on fresh Mani Tea, an herbal mint tea. Our dinner was similar to the lunch without the fish. For breakfast, we were served two large pancakes with a bit of carmelo syrup and flat bread.
We lived a simple, basic existence, in two rooms upstairs from the family in a mud clay block home. The kitchen was on the first floor, home to a few clay pots and a simple wood burning clay hearth. The toilet facilities were just a little better than a hole, an actual toilet lay above the hole. The "bano" was located on the ground floor and removed, however not detached, from the main house. As Gaby remarked, she has a renewed appreciation for toilets, toilet seats, and indoor plumbing. She has had enough of flushing with a bucket.
The island is at the cusp of getting electricity, although running water is not available. The plumbing for toilets and sinks are being inserted into the homes, but none were connected to a major municipal source. We were not sure if this is a matter of affordability by the individual families or the political dictate of the government. We understand that under the last administration, much progress was made on community infrastructure, but that stopped suddenly with the end of that political party´s reign.
The family (six people- three generations) slept in two rooms on the first floor. The house was built strong and we were enclosed in heavy walls that sheltered us from the bitter winds of evening. The views from the windows in the rooms looked either to the lake or to the terraced cultivated tierra or to the continuing vista of the rising mountain. These were views of beauty to behold. We were warm in our beds set on reed mattresses and we lay under six inches of alpaca wool blankets.
In the late afternoon, guided by little Matti (10) we arrived at the islands soccer field for a talk with our guide who shared with us the culture of the people and the ways of the island. We would climb another set of pre-Inka trails (that is uphill on uneven rocky terrain for 1000 to 2,000 meters). At the top of the mountain, we would walk around the mountain clockwise while we prayed to Pachamama and Pachatata (Mother Earth and Father Earth); also casting them a three coca leaves with respected blessings. A few Andes blanket vendors sold their wares, including a jeweller who made incredible macramé and semi precious stone necklaces. Obviously, Judy climbed down the mountain with no solaces to her name.
As a group, we waited and watched as the sun set on Isla Amantani and Lake Titicaca. We never tire of an awesome sunset.
Matti waited for us at the base of the mountain and guided us back to her home. There we would relax and then enjoy dinner by candlelight. At 8 in the evening, Matti´s mother, Esteph, arrived in our room with a bundle of clothes. She dressed Gaby, Sami and I, in the traditional fiesta garments of the Island women, including wide felt skirts (pudera), white cotton shirts (camisa), all bundled by a woven belt (chumpei), and upon our heads was dawned a dark scarf (chucu) with intricate hand embroidery. John was dressed in a full length poncho and a knitted hat made of alpaca (chuello). We really looked hilarious with our hiking boots, hiking pants and fleece jackets beneath all this. We were warm.
Esteph´s husband (Alfredo) walked us to the Island Community Center where we joined our group of twenty tourist and their host families for a traditional fiesta. Five men played the drums, pan pipes, flutes and sang elaborate Andes tunes. Alfredo took us by the hand and taught us how to dance to the Andes music. The tunes were lively and long. Often, I had to sit out in the middle of a tune to catch my breath. All the folk dancers that we met in August would have enjoyed learning from these Andes dancers. We lasted for a little over an hour and out of pure exhaustion in this thin air, Alfredo suggested we go home and to bed. As we walked back, we were passed by several local couples who were just about to join the fiesta. Obviously, the tourist were only a good excuse for a party. We walked back over the rocky paths to our home for the night under an amazing blanket of stars.
At home, we blew out the single candle in the room to enjoy the stars of the Milky Way from our window. Cast in quiet and starlight, we were reminded how rare it is to live like this, so simply and so innocently. At one point in the middle of the night, I woke to the moon rising on a navy blue sky and it was an awesome sight, a sight that is emblazed in my memories of Isla Amanatani.