The Island of Amantani

Next we travelled about three more hours out on Lake Titicaca to a real island, filled with 2,500 Quechua speaking people. The ride got a little rough, but fortunately I´d taken my new favorite drug of choice, Bonine, and didn´t turn green for a minute! Next a bunch of local housewives boarded the boat and each of them took 3 to 4 travellers into their homes for the night. I was assigned a woman named Beatriz whose husband was off in Puno picking up her 19 year old daughter who was studying tourism at the university. Meanwhile I got to chat with Beatriz and her 13 year old daughter. She cooked a bunch of typical dishes which included lots of potatoes, quinoa, barley, carrots and onions. And we talked about her very clear choice to live on the island rather than following the footsteps of her siblings who have gone to live in Puno and Lima. She likes how peaceful it is--there are no cars and very limited electricity. (The electricity that does exist is produced by solar panels--a delightful jump into the 21st century!) I wandered around taking pictures, distributing balloons to small children and chatting up a variety of the island´s residents. After dinner there was absolutely nothing to do -- the cobblestone streets were pitch black so I went to sleep. The next morning Beatriz invited me to play dress-up in some local clothes and then we took pictures. After that it was time to get back on the boat for one of the roughest rides I´ve ever experienced (thanks to Bonine I survived beautifully) and onto the island of Taquile.