Amantani Island Homestay

Amantani Island is situated on Lake Titicaca at an elevation of over 3800m. It is home to the pre-Inca Aymara people and visitors can experience the traditional way of life on the island with an overnight stay with a local family.
 
Amantani Island is located about 4½ hours by boat from Puno and a trip to the island usually involves a visit to the floating read islands of Uros on the way, followed by a visit to Taquile Island the following day before returning to Puno. The local families rotate taking in visitors, and accommodation is assigned upon arriving on the island. Guest rooms tend to be the best rooms in the house (or outbuilding) but they are still quite basic. There may be limited, or no electricity and the guide may be in a different house as most families do not have enough room to house more than 2 guests. The meals served are simple but wholesome, usually based around potatoes, quinoa (Inca rice) and fish. It is a nice gesture to take fresh fruit, vegetables, bread or candles as a small gift. After dinner guests are usually invited to a dance in the village meeting place.
 
On a 2-day trip visitors will first visit the floating islands of the Uros, descendants of a people who fled to the middle of the lake to escape conflict with the Collas and the Incas. These 42 small islands have been made by hand from totora reeds that grow in the shallow waters of the lake and they are now a living museum.
 
Amantani Island is a beautiful, barren place with numerous well preserved terraces and is home to about 800 families of farmers, fishermen and weavers living in a few small villages. There are excellent hiking opportunities to the island’s two peaks (Pachatata and Pachamama) with spectacular views across the lake and the rugged island landscape. However, although the distances are not great without acclimatisation the hiking is tough.
 
After an overnight on Amantani Island there is a visit to the more prosperous Taquile Island with its thriving tradition of weaving and knitting. All the men knit, and watch out for their hats –red is for married men and white for bachelors! Quechua is spoken on this island.

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