(Full Day) Sea Kayaking Uros / LLanchon ó Taquile Island)
Price per Person: |
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2 to 3 |
4 to 6 |
7 to 9 |
10 to 12 |
13 to 15 |
US 160 |
US 140 |
US 125 |
US 115 |
US 95 |
A brief history of Uros.-The Uros Floating Islands are located just 5km west from Puno harbor, at 3810m and 30min in a boat ride from Puno, Peru... The Uros is the name of a group of pre-Incan people who live on 41 self-fashioned floating man made islets located in Lake Titicaca. The Uros use the Junko or Totora reeds to make boats (balsas mats) of bundled dried reeds as well as to make the islands themselves.. The Junko or Totora is a cattail type rush growing native in the lake. Its dense roots support the top layer, which rots and must be replaced regularly by stacking more reeds on top of the layer beneath. The islands change in size, and more are created as the need arises. The Uros residents of the islands create their homes from the reeds. The roofs are waterproof but not humidity resistant. Cooking fires are built on a layer of stones to protect the reeds. Residents wear layers of clothing, mostly woolen, to protect themselves from the cold, the wind, and the sun which at this altitude can burn fiercely. Many women still wear the distinctive derby type hat and full skirts. The larger and most visited islands appear many travelers as floating souvenirs, and to some extent these indeed are tourist-traps, their inhabitants having succeeded in living off tourism. However, most of the smaller islands remain isolated from visitors and still practice a traditional way of life that includes old-technique fishing, bird-trapping, and relying on Junko or Totora for housing and transportation.
Llachon is a small village located in the peninsula of Capachica 46 miles away from the city of Puno (1 hour and 20 minutes drive). This community has 1,300 inhabitants spread out the peninsula and they belong to the ethnic group of Quechuas.
The village of Llachon is only one-hour boat ride from Puno and the return by bus is very scenic.Since the community members of Llachon have commercial ties with the populations of Amantani and Taquile islands, they have realized that tourism could be an important activity to promote much needed development in their community. The major economic activities on this community are farming, livestock and fishing.
A few people have been trying to improve their motorboats so that they could transport tourists to the islands of Amantani and Taquile. Since year 2000, this community has intensively been working on improving their houses, building community restaurants and other infrastructure adequate for tourism activities. The visits include walks throughout the village, visits to local family houses, observation of farming and weaving activities, and tasting local food.
Mr. Valentin Quispe -a strong minded and visionary man from this small community has taken the lead promoting his community as another attractive destination in the lake Titicaca area. When members of his community state that they are poor, Valentin replies that they cannot be poor with such spectacular natural scenery with the lake, the mountains, and their traditions..South Adventure Peru Tours is joining the community in its efforts to promote ecotourism and promote cross-cultural experiences with this native community. As we did for Anapia, we are supporting the organization of the community to provide different tourism services such as home stays, food, and boat rentals. This visit is appropriate for those travelers who are running short of time but they still want to have a taste of a cross-cultural experience with a Quechua community.
And for active travelers: On the highest navigable lake, half day, one-day and longer expeditions are available along the shoreline of the northeastern lakeshore including short excursions to the islands of Taquile and Amantani. Boat - supported and accompanied by guides, the longer expeditions also include home-stays and all meals. Try this low-impact activity, no prior experience required! All trips depart from Llachon but on request in some cases can depart from Taquile or Amantani Islands on special itineraries.
Departure: Everyday. // Minimum: 2 passengers. // Note: No previous experience required.
Itinearary.-Transfer from hotel at 6:30am. to the Esteves Island, we start paddling 45 minutes to the floating islands. in the route you can see: a variety of birds, flora and fauna and different main activities of the Uros people, then we are going to travel with motor boat toward Llachón Peninsula (1 hour and 30min.) then continue paddling to taquile island (1 hour and 30min.)
On the route can be observed: crystal clear waters of Titicaca, amantani, taquile islands and the Cordillera Real in Bolivia, reaching taquile, may be observed lifestyle of the inhabitants, their customs, traditions, typical dress of the site and crafts, after doing this tour and lunch, we back to Puno by motor boat, arriving in Puno approx. at 5:15pm
Our Includes:
- Instructor Guide (English / Spanish)
- Entrance fee to the islands
- Transfer: Hotel / Port / Hotel
- All equipment Adventure + Sea Kayak
- Support boat
- Plenty of Snack
- First aid kit.
Our tour NOT Included:
- Breakfast on the first day
- Tips for guide and camp staff
What you need to Bring / Carry:
- Rain jacket or poncho
- Strong comfortable and waterproof footwear
- Sweater and jacket (something warm)
- Water bottle
- Hat or cap to protect you from the sun
- Sun block (sun protection cream)
- Selection of small snacks, chocolate, dried fruit, biscuits etc,
- Camera, plenty of film and spare batteries
- Sunglasses
- You also need to bring your original passport on the trip
