Kayaking Lake Titicaca

We're up early to meet our new guide, Alfredo. We travel by rickshaw from our hotel to the docks. What a great way to go! We board our very own boat and motor out to the Uros Islands. The indigenous population here lives on islands made out of reeds and they actually float! We learn all about their way of life. They take small groups of us into their homes and offer to dress us up in their traditional clothing. We all get dressed up and take a thousand pictures. After Uros, we motor farther down the coast of Lake Titicaca to the peninsula of Capachica to Llachon, a small community of Aymara farmers. We gear up for our kayaking trip and enjoy the hot sun at 14,000 feet elevation. Ashley and I choose a double kayak and we start paddling down the peninsula. A few of us spot some contraption out in the water and go investigate: it's a fish farm, where lake trout are grown. So, this is how they get all the fish on the menus I've seen throughout Peru!! Being from Montana, I had almost thought they might be wild. Silly me! After kayaking, we get back in the boat and travel to Ticonata Island. The eco-village here is quite amazing. There are only a handful of families that still live on the island, but they have developed a tourism project to host people on their island. We stay in replicas of the pre-Incan homes that were discovered here and enjoy a traditional dance and ceremony. The people are so warm and inviting. The sunset is beautiful here, though the wind is bitter cold. I'm glad I brought my hat and gloves with me!