Danny and Dean return to the dock with their Mama
That’s our Mama on the right
After a nice breakfast of pancakes we were led back down to the dock and said our goodbyes to all of our Mamas. Back on the boat we slowly made our way back towards Puno, making one last stop on the way. The totora reeds we had last seen used in the traditional fishing boats in Huanchaco grow naturally in the lake and they have been used for a quite different purpose here, to construct floating islands where people live. These are the Uros Islands.
We arrived and were given a talk about how the islands are constructed and maintained. Just about everything on the island is made of reeds, all the houses, baskets, cages and other things. Wandering around we looked into the houses and saw the pools where fish are kept. Next to one pool two cormorants were tethered by their feet – they are used to catch fish.
An occupant of the reed island
A large reed constructed boat was moored at the island and most of us went on a short cruise across the channel to another island and back again. I sat in the front of one of the pontoons and it was very comfortable. Soon enough we were back on our boat heading to Puno. We spent the afternoon relaxing and went out to find some lunch. We found a nice little burger bar down a side street. In the evening we all went out for dinner and were joined by some other tour leaders who had travelled in to see Rhys and Vanessa. The steak was really good, a nice preparation for the coming days in Argentina.
Set sail
