Amantani Island

Amantani Island is in the big part of Lake Titicaca, about three hours by boat from Puno. We organized our trip with a local operator recommended by our hotel, and set out early. After a stop and a look around the Uros Islands, we motored on toward Amantani Island. The first thing we noticed on the approach were the pre-Columbian terraces that seem to cover the island.  Since it was the rainy season, everything was bright and green.  From the port, we walked up a steep stone path to the community building and sports court for this community (one of ten villages on the island).  We were introduced to our host family for the overnight stay, and whisked off to our home for the night.

Making Ourselves at Home

The mother of the family is named Carmen.  She and her husband, Nicanor, live in a modest house made up of several connected rooms or buildings.  Our room was on the second level, up a steep set of wooden stairs. The room was quite large, with several beds to receive tourists.  Underneath each was a plastic tub.  Since there is no bathroom in the house, but rather an outhouse down the path and around the corner, we figured it was for those who couldn’t make it late at night.  (We did NOT make use of those!)  One whole room of the complex held kindling, since a fire is pretty much always burning in the kitchen.  The floor of the kitchen was dirt, and Carmen and one or two of the daughters that still live at home (two daughters and two sons live in the house; two older sisters have moved out) spend a lot of time peeling, cutting, boiling, etc.

Life on Amantani Island

Virtually no meat is eaten on Amatani, only during the biggest celebrations.  Due to overfishing in the lake, we were told by Nicanor, they don’t eat much fish either.  Most of their protein comes from quinoa and other grains.  They grow potatoes, oca (like a carrot) and barley as well, and get some cheese, pasta, rice, etc. from trading with other islands, or what is brought by tourists (We were asked to bring a gift of a kilo of pasta, rice or sugar, which we did.)  There are lots of sheep, but these are used for their wool.  There is apparently a bit more development on the other side of the island, but the community we visited was quite small and isolated.

Quechua is the main language spoken on the island, though most people speak Spanish and possible some Aymara or English.  We learned a bunch of phrases in Quechua on the way to the island: Thank You, Please, The food is delicious.  See you in the morning, etc.   These were greatly appreciated, though I’m sure our pronunciation was way off.  Houses are made of earthen brick, and most homes do not have electricity.  We were served lunch of quinoa soup with some root and other vegetables in it.  It was by far the best soup we’ve had in Peru.  The seasonings were clearly fresh-picked and delicious.  The main dish was boiled potatoes, oca, fried cheese, cucumber and tomato.  This was followed by muña tea, which is supposed to help respiration, digestion and aid in adjusting to the altitude.

Exploring the Island

We took a late afternoon walk to the temples that were orginally built of silver and gold in pre-Incan times, about 500 BC.  The temples (Pachamama and Pachatata) are still used a once a year today, when the entire island population of 4000 or so get together at the highest point on the island to celebrate.  The views from here were spectacular.

In the evening after dinner we went to the community building for a party.  We were lent traditional clothing, and dressed by the family before heading to the dance, where boys played music for the dancers on their quenas (andean flute), zampoñas (pan flute) and a small guitar.  Men wore a long poncho and a woven hat.  The women’s clothing was much more complicated, involving several skirts, belt, embroidered shirt and a long, flowing head covering.  The music was great, and local family members took turns swinging people around the dance floor.  Many of the dances were in a group, and involved a lot of turns and partner changes.  Donny was a pro.  Unfortunately, our camera was acting up, maybe because of the cold, and the videos didn’t come out at all. Boo.

We made it an early night.  The candle was only lit for a few minutes before we blew it out and tried to hide from the cold under a big pile of colorful alpaca blankets.  In the morning we had a quick breakfast before saying goodbye to the Mamani family and heading back down to the port to continue to our next stop, Taquile Island.

More photos from Titicaca