Capacha Peninsula
Wee flee "Puno" and return to the peninsula.
Crossing "Chifron", we attend the presentation by the municipality of the gift for the mother’s day. In the village square, the mothers gather in single file in front of the town hall. It is a profusion of colors.
We land on the parking lot of the beach by the lake "Titicaca" surrounded by volcanoes.
For the next day we organize a private cruise on the lake with a departure at 8 am to visit two major islands on the Peruvian side.
* Islas de Uros: A multitude of small artificial islands, made from pieces of wood, reeds, plants and roots from the lake, serve as a living place for families who built small houses there. The inhabitants cultivate vegetables, practice fishing and hunting, and live today mainly tourism by making pretty objects in reed or embroidery.
We disembark on one of them where we meet the chief who tells us the history and origin of these islands. Then he introduces us to the members of his community ... a very nice meeting.
* Isla Taquile: An island frozen in time, inscribed on Unesco’s list of cultural heritage for its famous textile art. Its inhabitants continue to pass on their craftsmanship from generation to generation.
As soon as we arrived we thought we were on a Greek island. The color and transparency of the water, the arid vegetation, the low and rectangular houses, the small stone walls and the paved paths criss-crossing the island make this incredible resemblance.
We go up to the village square where some inhabitants are gathered, always wearing the traditional costume: the women are dressed in red and black and the men in black and white.
Then we continue our climb to the pre-Inca site of "Mulsinapata" before lunch at the community restaurant and return to the boat.
A beautiful cruise on a mythical lake.
We stay one more day before reaching the border that we cross two days later.
On the way to Lake Titicaca
We wake very surprised: it snowed on the glaciers and volcanoes around. We are surrounded by white ... except on the roads .. phew!!!
We continue in the opposite direction towards the "Peninsula de Capachica"
This peninsula, which advances in the waters of Lake Titicaca, has an irregular relief characterized by an area of plains, valleys and gorges, and a chain of rocky hills.
We do the tour without finding a nice spot other than that of the beach of Chifron which will be crowded tomorrow because of mother’s day. We end up in the square of a small rural village surrounded by cows
The next day we join "Puno", stopping at the "Ruinas de Sillustani" on our way.
Mummies, accompanied by objects, are deposited in amazing towers (or chullpas) with perfectly assembled stones... This fabulous testimony of the funeral rites of the Collas, one of the many pre-Inca civilizations is perched at 4000 m altitude and dominates the Laguna Umayo
"Puno" does not leave us an unforgettable memory.
As usual the GPS does not help us, on the contrary. We find ourselves crossing the city center and even finding ourselves in the main square forbidden to vehicles ... a little fear and anger to get out of this quagmire.
In addition, the bivouac we spotted is inaccessible...
Del Colca Canyon
The exit of the city of Arequipa is easier despite the still dense traffic.
We take the same road as to go down and branch off towards the canyon.
The landscape is quite dry, but the road is impressive. In the distance are several volcanoes and glaciers.
Arriving at 4,900 m a panorama opens up before us. We are surrounded by high volcanoes : the Ampato (6310 m), the Sabancaya (5076 m), the Hualca Hualca (6025 m), the Huarancante (5426 m) and the Chucura (5200 m). Not to mention the llamas, alpacas and flamingos of the Andes.
The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa nicknamed the Colca Canyon, the “Valley of Wonders”. And that’s true.
This gorge is twice as deep as the Colorado Grand Canyon, nestled between rugged sierras and 6,000 m snowy mountains and forming a green mosaic of cultivated terraces, and has retained all its original beauty.
The road is of good quality and descends gently towards the canyon at 3,800 m.
We follow this one to the viewpoint of the "Cruz Del Condor" which is our stop of the night
The Colca River is at the bottom and the Mismi volcano is 5,547 m away.
From this viewpoint, an unforgettable spectacle awaits us: the majestic flight of the Condor des Andes, the most representative bird of the region as well as the largest flying bird in the world. It can reach a wingspan of 3.50 metres.
The best time to attend this show is between 8 am and 10 am in the morning and there is a crowd.
We are ready, armed with our binoculars and cameras ... What a fairy tale!!
We’re back on the road with a lot of images in our heads ....
ROAD BOOK 151
MAVROS ODYSSEE