This large, round and completely farm-terraced island is home to a community of farmers and fishermen who live an unspoiled traditional lifestyle. There is no electricity here – they have a generator but can’t afford the fuel.
Some 800 friendly families live on the island most of which are happy to welcome tourists into their homes.

We arrived on the island in a tour boat and were met by dozens of young women of the island, each a representative from a family. With the help of a local man who managed the process, each family adopted as many tourists as they have beds.
We met our family who feed us an extremely tasty quinua (an Andean cereal) soup with a second course of potatoes and vegetables.

We climbed one of the peaks of the island as the sun was fading, took these photos and ate some picarones. The island has two peaks, Pachatata(Father Earth) and Pachamama(Mother
Earth). Duality of life is an important aspect of ancient Andean belief
systems and I’ll discuss more about this in the future.

The locals throw a small party of traditional music and dance when the tourists arrive and dress them up in local costume. It doesn’t go on too late though, there’s work to be done in the early morning.

Photos below.

Tags: amantani, lake titicaca, quinoa