From the Amazon to Lake Titicaca

(Or from the heat and humidity to the altitude and the cold!)

Having said goodbye to the Amazon it was time to take a boat, a bus, a plane, another plane, another bus and another boat – a real “travel” day.

We arrived in Puno, near Lake Titicaca around 6:30pm, took a bus for over an hour to the port and then took a boat over to Uros island, where we will be staying for the next 3 nights.

The altitude hit us almost straight away, with most of us feeling dizzy and a bit sick. Poor Dave was really affected and felt very rough.

We’ve arrived in Juliaca and it’s a bit chilly!

We are staying on the Uros islands – a group of artificial islands created by the Uros people using “totora” reeds. These reeds are woven together to form thick, floating platforms which the Uros people then build on. The Uros are one of the oldest cultures in the region and even pre-date the Incas.

You can see where we are here:

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, sitting at 3800m above sea level. It straddles the border of Peru and Bolivia and is said to be the birthplace of the Incas. We are looking forward to learning lots about this area in the next couple of days, hopefully acclimatising well at the same time.

On our first morning here, we awoke to beautiful sunshine and delicious breakfast prepared by the family. Altitude sickness aside, we are feeling incredibly lucky to be here.