Uros Floating Islands, Peru

Border has been crossed, we are officially in Peru, adios Bolivia!! So we landed firstly in Puno. A small town on the Peruvian side of lake titicaca. Peru claims to own 60% of the lake, and boast that Bolivia only owns 40%... not sure if thats really true. Nothing much to Puno, also just sort of a landing point for people entering and leaving Peru. Apparently, we have also hit rainy season... yay. Which is why its so so so gray in all of my pics... tear. Ok, snap out of it. Its still damn beautiful. So Peru, Puno. The main attraction in Puno is out on the lake, the Floating Islands of the Uro people. These islands are man made, and litterally floating in the lake, made out of blocks of mud and layers upon layers of reeds. The theory is that they were created way back in the day when the spanish conquerers came to take over (thanks again for that) and the indians did not want to abide by their laws, did not want to change their religion, and did not want to be their slaves.... shocker. So they went out onto the lake, and created their own community, that could easily be moved around to escape the spanish. Way to go!

Since then, it has become a way of life. The people on these islands lived a very seculded life for many many years, subsiting on a diet they found in the lake, mostly fish, and a small amount of crops that they are actually able to grown on the island, like potatoes. Until recently. Lack of food, and need for medical attention, as well as the church planting itself on one of the islands has brought these shy people out of their shell, a bit. Though some islands continue to live in seculsion, the majority have opened themselves up to tourism. Offering visits to their islands, boat trips in their reed boats, dinner at the island resturant, and even more resently, the offer of an overnight stay in your own private reed hut.
Pretty awesome. Erin and i did the day tour, and hopped on a boat in the morning after breakfast. We landed on the island, where of course, it was raining. This friendly bunch had set up a tarp under which we sat on reed benches, and were given a detailed lesson on island life. How the islands are made, how the houses are made, how often the reeds have to be relplaced (every 3 years for the house, every year for the reed ground that covers the whole island). Also how they cook, what they cook, some typical problems (lack of money, rhumetisim at a young age because its so wet on the islands all the time). All facinating, i could write a book just about these people. Anyways, after the talk, we were invited to view the inside of their homes, 6 people in one small room in a hut. Recently they have recived some Solar panels, allowing for some lighting to be put in the huts, i saw an occasional radio or tv as well. Cooking happens outside in a very protected area, to prevent setting the whole island on fire. Then we took a quick jaunt through the neighbor hood a reed boat, visited another island where we saw how they grow potatoes, and then over to the main island were the school, church, soccer field, and medical center are floating near by. Of course, i felt obligated to buy something... they had pretty stuff! Then it was a rainy ride home. Pics are : 1. the view from the first floating island of another island, the big fish is the island look out, each island has different one, a swan, a donkey ect. Pic 2 is of a reed boat, pic 3 is the post office, i hear service is pretty quick :) and the final pic is of the islanders singing and dancing for us as we were boated to another island. super awesome day.