Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003 - 9:09 p.m.
Early to rise, early for breakfast, early for leaving the island. While Teodocia was cooking breakfast I asked if I could take her photo, she hesitated and then said "Sure!" as she quickly left the room. So I took a photo of the kitchen and stove. Did I mention that the family had little guinea pig scurrying around the kitchen? It's only a matter of time before these little guys become dinner. Can you imagine having your dinner running around the kitchen live before you eat it?
Before we left, we got a photo of the family (kids all ready for school) and the house. Then we said goodbye, Dennis was off to school and Teodocia walked us down through the village back to the boat. She was so sweet and the family was great. I wanted to do more for them. As we parted, I kissed her cheek and told her she has a beautiful family. She beamed and wished a family for me someday!
Next we went to Taquile island. It took about an hour and a half to get there. We wenton a 2 km walk to a small community. The weather was (again) sunny and beautiful. Many of the buildings in this communty seemed to be the same brick red color which contrasted against the dull light brown earth. We reconviened at the main plaza, locals and gringos milling about. The locals were in traditional dress, slightly different from Amantani island. We also noticed that not only were the women kitting but so were the men! For lunch we had delicious fresh fish caught locally.
Soon we were back on our boat, puttering our way back to Puno. We finally returned to town about 4pm. We returned to our hostel and that eve had dinner with Ally and Chris (from New Zealand). I told them about my ATM woes and they suggested getting a cash advance on my credit card.
