We arrived at Amantani, and took part in the local draft. That is, we were assigned families to stay with for the night. I think ours was the farthest from the dock, and after walking uphill for around 15 minutes we arrived at our house.
There was no electricity, shower or running water, and the toilet was an out-house. But despite all of this, and perhaps because of it, the house had a certain charm about it. For Lizelle, it conjured up memories of Goa, back when she was a wee lass.
our little room on Amantani...
The outhouse toilet...
Our lunch had all the staples of the island - quinea soup, potatoes and cocoa tea. I never knew there were so many types of potatoes. Lunch was simple but refreshing, and soon we were heading for the town square.
We headed for the top of the island - a 1.5 hour hike. It was mostly uphill and quite steep, and our altitude was well over 4000m, but after Colca it was a walk in the park. The scenery was quite nice. Lots of terraced hills, of which I'm admittedly a big fan, and the higher we climbed the better our view of Lake Titicaca became.
The evening was overcast. It doesn't help that the weather in Arequipa is bright blue skies every day - kind of like The Truman Show. Nonetheless, the scenery was spectacular, and we all amused ourselves by climbing over big rocks.
After admiring the sunset, we came down in total darkness, armed with our headlamps.
Dinner was simple, mostly potatoes and rice, then our host family dressed us in local attire for an evening fiesta. I got off easily, but the girls' outfits constricted their entire bodies and they found themselves struggling for breath. We danced the night away (okay, it stopped at 10pm), and we returned home.
On Sunday, we awoke to fluffy pancakes, then headed to the docks and over to another island called Tequile. We started the "half hour" walk to the town square, and an hour later we arrived. :) We had a delicious fresh trout lunch (ahh, the benefits of lake-side living), and headed down to our boat and back to Puno.
the view when descending Tequile (and the highlight of Lisa´s trip)...
The ride was extremely rough. The waves picked up and the skies opened up. Wave after wave, the boat was lifted and then came crashing down. A few times, water found its way into the cabin, and a small leak appeared above Lisa, one of the other volunteers. We knew we were safe when the captain's face turned from terror to relief, but it was definitely an experience. Now I know how Gilligan felt!
We met up with Franny in Puno, who made us all jealous with her photos of the Isla Del Sol sunrise in Bolivia, some of the most breathtaking pictures I've ever seen. The 5 hour journey home was more subdued, although we were rewarded with a nice sunset.
Chris
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