| HOLIDAY NAME | : | FLOATING UROS ISLAND AND TAQUILE ISLAND |
| DURATION | : | 9 HOURS |
| DEPARTURE | : | AT 8:00 AM EVERY DAY |
| SEASON | : | all year |
| GROUP SIZE | : | 1-30 passangers |
Ecological Sustainable Adventure Travel Tours
Quechuas Expeditions Authorized Inca Trail Adventure Tour Operator
Under Local Mountain-jungle & cultural Multilingual Guides Management
QUECHUAS EXPEDITIONS Highly Recommended By:
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SOUTH AMERICAN EXPLORERS / LONELY PLANET / FROMMERS /NYTIMES / CUSTOMER LIVE COMMENTS 2009. | Fixed Departures 2010 | Terms & Conditions | Methods of Payments | |
Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It sits 3,812 m (12,500 ft) above sea level making it one of the highest commercially navigable lakes in the world.[2] By volume of water it is also the largest lake in South America.
The lake is located at the northern end of the endorheic Altiplano basin high in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The western part of the lake lies within the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz Department.
The lake is composed of two nearly separate sub-basins that are connected by the Strait of Tiquina which is 800 m (2,620 ft) across at the narrowest point. The larger sub-basin, Lago Grande (also called Lago Chucuito) has a mean depth of 135 m (443 ft) and a maximum depth of 284 m (932 ft). The smaller sub-basin, Wiñaymarka (also called Lago Pequeño, "little lake") has a mean depth of 9 m (30 ft) and a maximum depth of 40 m (131 ft).[5] The overall average depth of the lake is 107 m (351 ft).
Lake Titicaca is fed by rainfall and meltwater from glaciers on the sierras that abut the Altiplano. Five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca-in order of their relative flow volumes these are: Ramis, Coata, Ilave, Huancané, and Suchez. More than 20 other smaller streams empty into Titicaca, and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.
Having only a single season of free circulation, the lake is monomictic, and water passes through Lago Huiñaimarca and flows out the single outlet at the Rio Desaguadero,[9] which then flows south through Bolivia to Lake Poopó. This only accounts for about 10% of the lake's water balance. Evapotranspiration, caused by strong winds and intense sunlight at altitude, balances the remaining 90% of the water input. It is nearly a closed lake-
Uros island
View from space, May 1985 (north is at right)
Uros people harvesting some totora, an aquatic plant used to make their famous floating islandsTiticaca is notable for a population of people who live on the Uros, a group of 42 or so artificial islands made of floating reeds (totora, a reed that abounds in the shallows of the lake). These islands have become a major tourist attraction for Peru, drawing excursions from the lakeside city of Puno. Their original purpose was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose. Many of the islands contain watchtowers largely constructed of reeds.
Amantaní island
Amantaní is another small island on Lake Titicaca populated by Quechua speakers. About 800 families live in six villages on the roughly circular 15 square kilometres (6 sq mi) island. There are two mountain peaks, called Pachatata (Father Earth) and Pachamama (Mother Earth), and ancient ruins on the top of both peaks. The hillsides that rise up from the lake are terraced and planted with wheat, potatoes, and vegetables. Most of the small fields are worked by hand. Long stone fences divide the fields, and cattle, sheep, and alpacas graze on the hillsides.
Amantaní island as seen from Taquile island.There are no cars on the island and no hotels. A few small stores sell basic goods, and there is a health clinic and school. Electricity was produced by a generator and provided limited to a couple of hours each day, but with the rising price of the petroleum, they no longer use the generator. Most families use candles or flashlights powered by batteries or hand-cranks.
Some of the families on Amantaní open their homes to tourists for overnight stays and provide cooked meals, arranged through tour guides. The families who do so are required to have a special room set aside for the tourists and must fit a code by the tour companies that help them. Guests typically take food staples (cooking oil, rice, sugar) as a gift or school supplies for the children on the island. They hold nightly traditional dance shows for the tourists where they offer to dress them up in their traditional clothes and participate.
Taquile island
Taquile IslandTaquile is a hilly island located 35 kilometres east of Puno. It is narrow and long and was used as a prison during the Spanish Colony and into the 20th century. In 1970 it became property of the Taquile people, who have inhabited the island since then (current population around 3,000). Pre-Inca ruins are found on the highest part of the island, and agricultural terraces on hillsides.
sun island (bolivia)
A view of Lake Titicaca taken from the town of PunoSituated on the Bolivian side of the lake with regular boat links to the Bolivian town of Copacabana, Isla del Sol ("Island of the sun") is one of the lake's largest islands. Geographically, the terrain is harsh; it is a rocky, hilly island. There are no motor vehicles or paved roads on the island. The main economic activity of the approximately 800 families on the island is farming, with fishing and tourism augmenting the subsistence economy.
Map of Lake Titicaca There are over 180 ruins on the island. Most of these date to the Inca period circa the 15h century AD. Many hills on the island contain agricultural terraces, which adapt steep and rocky terrain to agriculture. Among the ruins on the island are the Sacred Rock, a labyrinth-like building called Chicana, Kasa Pata, and Pilco Kaima. In the religion of the Incas, it was believed that the sun god was born here.
moon island (bolivia)
is situated east from the bigger Isla del Sol. According to legends that refer to Inca mythology Isla de la Luna (moon in Spanish) is where Viracocha commanded the rising of the moon. Ruins of a supposed Inca nunnery occupy the oriental shore.
| NUMBER OF PEOPLE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6-10 | 10-16 PEOPLE |
| PRICE US$ PER PERSON | US$ | US$ | US$ | US$ | US$ | US$ | US$ |
UROS - TAQUILE (Full Day)
After the breakfast, transfer to the port of Puno to take a tourist motor boat and to direct towards the wonders floating islands of the Uros to us, those millenarian inhabitants who in spite of the time today remain living in artificial islands of totora, known as the tribe the water, because they must construct its own Islands periodically, adding new layers of "Totora". Its homes and boats are made of that same material. After view we will continue the route to the Island of Taquile, place where the form of typical and rustic experience was appraised, the place is colorful and landscaping, where they even maintain its customs, ritual, religious and folkloric traditions, in the town of Taquile we will taste of a typical lunch with fresh fish (Pejerrey), in hours of afternoon we will return to the city of Puno.
Floating Islands Uros and Taquile
