9-27 Saturday



I drank coca tea at breakfast because I thought I might be having stomach problems. If I was the coca took care of it.



We were picked up at the hotel around 6:45. We went around to several hotels picking up others. We had a van full by the time we finished.



We departed in a slow motorized boat for the Uros floating islands. these are man made islands where the people live permantely. The islands are interwoven with the totora reed which grows in the shallows of the lake. the islands are constructed of many layers of the reeds. When they rot away from the bottom they are replaced on top. The people must make entirely new islands about every 25 years. The Uros build canoe like boats from the reeds which are used for fishing and transportation. THe water doesn´t come through but it feels squishy when you walk. The islands must be anchored to prevent them from floating away.



The first island we visited wasn´t very big. Only six families or 28 people live on it. If they get mad at each other they might cut the island in two and float one half away from the other.



The tour alternates between the 40 some island to give everyone a chance to sell their wares.



The last island we visited was Taquile Island but it isn´t floating. It was a long hard walk to the top where we had lunch. Then we had to walk over 500 steps down. We thought this island was a bit of a waste of time.



Tomorrow we go back to Cuzco.