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Lake Titicaca – Uros Islands – Day 2

November 20, 2010

We got up around 8:30 to get ready to check out the fishing nets together with Victor. Adrian has already covered how that went. Victor explained to us that fishing is not very good on nights with a full moon, since the fish can more easily see the net in the water.

Our English friends unfortunately disappeared very early in the morning. Martin had eaten something his stomach really didn´t like and had been awake most of the night.

After a great breakfast, better than any hotel breakfast, with scrambled eggs and homemade fresh bread, we spent a very lazy morning on the island. There were now children around and Iseline found a friend in Flor De Maria, one of Victor and Cristina´s nieces:

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The boys checked out the watch tower:

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Viktor took out his saxophone and played for everyone. Both the theme of the movie “Flåklypa” and “morning mood” by Edvard Grieg could be heard on lake Titicaca.

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One of Victor´s brothers claimed that he was a music teacher. Everyone laughed, but in a way that made us unsure if this was true or not. Hélène asked him which instrument, and he answered “saxophone.” Viktor offered him to try his. The man had obviously never held a saxophone before in his life, and we all had a good laugh as he made squeaking sounds with the instrument.

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Then he took out a pan flute, and it became evident that this guy had great talent for an instrument after all. He later fetched a small leaflet with instructions in French for playing the pan flute. Both the boys, but especially Adrian, were hooked. Before we left the island Adrian had learned to play “El condor pasa” on the pan flute.

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We just let time drift by and spent several hours sitting outside on the reed floor talking with everyone. After a while they discussed in Aymara and got up and made some shade for us.

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Here is a full 360 panorama I took of the island from the watch tower (cut in two):

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New overnight guests showed up. This time a couple from Slovenia, Sandi and Lidia. They were very nice and also seasoned travelers. They had been to lots of places and we exchanged stories. Their recent feat was the Inca Trail. They had done the real thing and walked for 4 days, sleeping in tents. They told us about the local sherpas who followed them. They would take down camp after they had left in the morning. Then they would carry everything while running(!) the Inca Trail (no small feat at 4000 meters altitude) so they could have camp ready for the next night before the walking tourists arrived.

Sandi and LIdia had arrived at Machu Picchu the second day we were there. They had been at the sun gate 8 in morning, and yes, Machu PIcchu had been completely covered in fog at that time. We were at the gate about 3 hours later. It´s a small world.

Here they are. They got the full Uros clothing treatment just as we did:

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After lunch and another siesta (I could get used to sleeping an hour after lunch every day) Victor and Abraham taught us how to make mini reed boats, showing us the same techniques they use to make the big ones. Adrian has covered how we sailed them afterwards.

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Late in the day we had a little bit of rain, thunder and lightning. The sky turned from blue to something very different:

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In the evening Cristina opened up and told us the story of their home stay project. It was a great story showing a willingness to never give up that I have seldom seen.

As I have mentioned it was a Dutch couple that put them on the idea 5 years ago. Things were very tough in the beginning and they only got 4 visits the first year. So many things were new to them and they didn´t know what tourists really wanted. The second year Cristina got in touch with a French tourist guide who loved the idea that she could have customers stay overnight at an island.

Cristina was later asked if she could house 16 French at the same time. She tried to politely decline, since they only had built one small house for guests, but the tourist guide insisted and she felt forced to accept. She was quite sad when she came home, but with the help of neighbors and some people moving out of their houses she managed. As they were serving food for all these 16 outside she realized that they did not have any cutlery. Uros traditionally eat with their hands. She was devastated, but the guide calmly told all the French that they would have to eat with their hands for the first time in their lives.

The French were very happy and the guide promised to send more customers as long as they promised to purchase cutlery, decent plates, cups etc. They invested and more French came. Still it was hard to get ends to meet and the family´s major income came from handicraft.

A Canadian woman tried to sell their products in Canada with little success. When she heard about the home stay business she came to the islands to try it. She said she would tell all her university friends about it. Soon after she told Cristina she would be sending 40 students to stay on the island! Cristina asked if they could be split up, but the answer was negative. “No problem” her Canadian friend said (this is were Cristina commented that her friend was very crazy (“loco”), but also very visionary), you can just house 10 in each of four houses, they have sleeping bags. Again, they managed with help from family to make 8 houses available to the Canadian students and housed all 40 of them!

During breakfast with the students one of them asked for an omelette, something the family had never heard about. The message was sent to the kitchen to make an “amulet.”  :-) The Candian friend explained, and from that day they always had eggs ready for visitors.

In general we were very impressed by the quick learning abilities of Victor and Cristina. They adopt and they adopt fast as soon as they learn something new.

The business expanded slowly. She told us that the other Uros thought they were crazy to think people wold pay to stay with them.

The breakthrough came after they asked for help from the ministry of tourism. Cristina was sent to a 5 star hotel in Puno, someone from another family was sent to a 5 star hotel in Cusco. This happened last year, and she told us it was a total eye opener. She felt like on a different planet but sucked in information about what tourists expected. Now I understood where the fantastic food presentation comes from.

She learned that tourists want a restroom, a separate eating area, access to soap, a very comfortable bed etc. She also learned that she should have a separate room as a kitchen and that she shouldn´t use the water from the lake for cooking. She has now switched to using bottled water for cooking, the only alternative. On return she gathered everyone on the island around her and explained. They went to work and amongst other things built the dining house.

Their mention in Lonely Planet is well deserved and of great help to them, business is now really improving. We could see from their guest book that they seem to have 3-5 visits a week now.

If you plan to go to Titicaca and want a fantastic and genuine experience you can reach the family on uroskhantati@hotmail.com or on Peruvian cell phone number 951 472355. There is cell coverage on the island. Email is only checked when they are in Puno.

As we went to bed in the evening I set the alarm of my watch to 04:45. Victor had told me that fishing with a fishing rod and lures was futile here, and that no one had ever caught anything with that tool. He told me about some Tasmanians who had tried for hours. I would love to prove him wrong and decided to give my by now well travelled fishing rod it´s first test in the morning.

 

Eirik

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3 Comments

  1. Roselyne says:

    Je prévois effectivement d’aller prochainement au Lac Titicaca Ils ont l’air tellement formidable et quelle expérience !!!!!

  2. April Pedersen says:

    Beautiful pictures!

  3. Marc says:

    That last photo is outrageous!

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