Baby Moose in Lake Titicaca

12-13 Sep 2010

Baby Moose arrived in Puno on September 11 and despite the negative connotations of the date he was rather happy in Puno and decided he wants to see the reed islands built by the Uros Indians. Therefore baby Moose got up early on the 12th and hopped on a little bus with a lot of other travellers to go down to the jetty where the boats for Uros, Amantani and Taquile islands on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca.

Baby Moose's first stop was Amanecer island about half an hour boat ride from Puno. Amancer is one of the Uros floating islands built of reed. Baby Moose thinks it was fun the jump up and down on the reed - the island surface was bouncy - kind of like an ancient version of a bouncy castle.

Baby Moose listened to the presentation on how the islands are made of reed roots and layers of reed with great interest. He was particularly pleased that this presentation was aimed at travellers of his size with little reed houses and boats.

After the presentation Baby Moose enjoyed the hospitality of the Uros indians. There clearly was some kind of language and communication barrier as the inhabitants of these two beautiful houses did not speak nor move at all during Baby Moose's visit. But they seemed rather friendly so Baby Moose was pleased to ahve had the opportunity to look in an almost genuine Uros indian house on a floating island while Taitti explored the bigger houses. The people living in those houses seemed a lot livelier than these two whom Baby Moose visited. But it's ok because these two did not try to make Baby Moose buy a silly reed boat, a silly necklace or any other silly handicrafts. Baby Moose thinks all handicrafts that are not made to his size really suck.

Baby Moose also admired the view from the 4-meter high viewing tower...

...and enjoyed the lovely singing of the local ladies. Baby Moose is not quite sure though whether "Twinkle, twinkle Little Star" is a completely authentic song of the Uros indians... 

Baby Moose continued his journey to Amantani island and was given a room to share with Taitti.

Baby Moose quite liked the Harry Potter sheets so he decided to sleep in the same bed with Taitti because the other bed had Spiderman sheets and Baby Moose like Harry Potter better even though Harry Potter flies around with one of those uncool old-fashioned broomsticks. Maybe it's retro to fly around with a broomstick, who knows. Baby Moose is not very well up to date on the latest fashion trends regarding transportation methods. At least broomsticks are ecologically friendlier than cars so that's kind of awesome.

Baby Moose also went to admire the sunset - although he did not see one since the sun was hiding behind a cloud. The trip was not completely useless because Baby Moose found another friendly lady who was selling hats in his size. Baby Moose had already lost the hat he bought the day before. This time he bought a hat that could be secured under his chin with a nice knot, not to lose the hat again.

After the hike up and down the hill Baby Moose was a little tired and thirsty - no wonder since Lake Titicaca is at 3,800 meters from sea level and the hill where he climbed was at about 4,100 meters. Therefore Baby Moose found his way to the local pub on the main square and enjoyed a drink of pisco and a beer.

Later on that night the local villagers took the entire group out to a little party and dressed up everyone in local clothes. Baby Moose thinks his hat was enough for teh occasion and laughed at Taitti looking silly in her Peruvian clothes.

Baby Moose was even more amused when the dancing started and everyone was hopping around to the rhythm of traditional songs and looked rather clueless about the very simple steps of this dance. It was very entertaining, says Baby Moose, well worth attending.

On the morning of the last day Baby Moose enjoyed his last muña tea on Amantani island, said goodbye to the friendly host family and headed towards Taquile island.

On Taquile Baby Moose found a lady who was selling scarfs in Baby Moose's size. Most people wore those scarves tied around their wrist but that did not bother Baby Moose at all, he thinks it was a very nice scarf indeed and nicely knitted too. And it only cost one sol! What a bargain again.

 Baby Moose enjoyed the handicraft market on the main square of Taquile island and also the views from the building rooftop. Baby Moose did think these villagers were really handicraft crazy: Little girls seemed to want to learn spinning at the age of 4 and even men were sitting on the marketplace knitting their hats.

On the way back to the boat Baby Moose decided to get a picture together with Taitti at the famous arch. It was somewhat unclear to Baby Moose why was the arch famous but since his tour guide said it was famous it was best to tkae a picture here, just in case.

In the end it was time to head back to the boat and commence the 3-hour journey back to Puno. Baby Moose was very pleased with his trip, in particular the Harrry Potter sheets, the hat and the scarf made him smile. Next, Baby Moose will be heading to Austin to meet Antia, Carlos, Deco and Laksa.