How to Visit Taquile, Updated

Take the Collectivo Boat!

The tour guides in Puno will try to talk you into their tours, but you help the local Taquile economy better--and save yourselves some money--if you take the collective boat. The boats are comfortable and safe. All you have to do is go to the port at 7:30am. Stop at the very first office on the left, clearly labeled ISLA TAQUILE and buy your round-trip ticket, currently S / 30, which includes entrance onto the Uros floating islands as well as the Taquile entrance fee.
Photo: Delfin on the boat dressed in traditional clothing with Taquile Island in the background.

Taquile is a walker's paradise, incredibly beautiful with terraced fields, views across the blue Titicaca lake water of the Bolivian snow-capped mountains, and skilled fiber art. Plan to stay at least one night, better two! Most touists stay for only a few hours, and have a very limited experience. Plan also to buy tejidos (textiles), either from the artisan's cooperative or directly from your host or other family. This weaving is among the best in the world recognized by UNESCO, very fine double warp patterns. Your purchase helps keep the technique and the villagers alive.

Years ago, only Taquile owned boats could dock on Taquile, but federal regulations have denied the Taquile community the control over tourism that they used to have when ALL the boats allowed to dock on the island were communal Taquile boats. The tour boats usually do not allow the locals to ride on their boats, so your oat ride will be a much less colorful experience.

After the 3-hour boat ride, you arrive on the East side of the island, so avoiding the famous five hundred-stair hike up to "the arch." You will hike down those stairs for the return boat to Puno, leaving daily at 2:00pm.

 STAY OVERNIGHT, OR EVEN TWO, IF YOU CAN! Ask to be assigned to a host family. or better yet, Ask to stay with Silvano's family. Tell them you heard about him from Tara y Samuel. Silvano and Ruperta will cater to your dietery needs and have a fine kitchen and dining room, flush toilets and even a hot shower. They will guide you if you wish, or point you in the right direction. Silvano speaks enough English to help you with everything.

Rooms are basic: clean and with plenty of blankets; currently the community certifies the tourist comfort of the rooms. Bring fresh fruits and vegetables from Puno as a gift to share with your host family; you can buy meals from them. Note, once you get up he hill you'll be at nearly 13,000 ft or over 3800 m., so be sure to take it easy and drink plenty of fluids.

Clean Energy

Efficiency and Solar

Over the years we have promoted and helped to build chimneys on bio-fuel stoves. Otherwise kitchens can be horribly smokey. Some of our older beloveds have persistent coughs from years of smokey kitchens. Easier than making one from scratch are these ceramic two-burner stoves. Last year our supplier, an excelent solar store called ElectroSol, didn't seem to be able to keep them in stock. We wanted one for our goddaughter, Natalia and her husband, German, especially with their sweet new baby, Rolando. This year we bought one for them! Happy people!

Carrying the new stove on a bicycle taxi.

This year it looks like our main solar PV projects will be to repair or upgrade systems from past years that aren't working quite right. Here is Sam in the solar store with a new panel. We also got a battery and should be able to install them next week.

Sam shows off in the Solar store.

 Maybe pictures will be added with the installations when I'm back in Puno in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

Textiles in Progress

Special Textile Creation for Carnaval

Everyone is working hard to create new work for Carnavales, or Mardi Gras, a week-long celebration, dancing from house to house in colorful clothing, this year to happen in March.

This video shows the detail of extremely fine work. Rosa is making a new estallia, the sacred cloth used in the coca leaf ceremony. Rosa and her husband, Jesus, are authorities from the central suyo of Taquile this year, and are parents of the serious boyfriend of one of our beloved girls, Kusi. Rosa will use this to share coca leaves to the group during Carnaval.

Alicia is helping Celbia warp a loom for a new manta for Carnaval. She hasn't joined the dancing in the last few years, but with Silvano as Authority, she wants to support him and join the festivities. The women send a ball of yarn back and forth, wrapping around the dowelling as needed. We joke that they are playing with pelotas, toy balls playing catch.

warping the loom, coca leaves handy

Notice the white section of the warp, below. This is double warped, and longer threads, for the detailed patterns to come.

Warping the loom advances,

Ruperta is weaving a new manta for Ivan. He needs to be very presentable as the oldest son of the Authority, his father, Silvano.

Ruperta is progressing on her weaving.

Ruperta picks out the detailed pattern.

 Kusi is weaving chuspas, coca purses. The men will wear as many as 12 or 15 highly fringed coca purses during Carnaval.

 Ivan and Clever are both knitting complex men's hats for Carnaval. The knitting needles are filed from bicycle spokes--that fine!--and very tightly knit. These hats are seldom sold to tourists, too much work!

The beginnings of a man's pintay chullo

With Silvano as Authoridad, the Huarayo, or head guy of his suyo of Huallyano, this year, he will lead a Carnaval group for the full 7 days March 4 through 10. As we talk to people on the island, we invite them to dance with us. The following picture shows him and Ruperta on their way to the Sunday  council meetings:

Silvano and Ruperta in full regalia

Silvano with another authority

Working on a Building

Construction projects, Country and City

COUNTRY
What looks like a rocky hillside is being leveled to create a new set of rooms for the home of Alicia and Santiago, out toward the south end of Taquile Island, the Huallano sector. The men are chipping the high spots and will fill the low ones. These rooms may sometimes be used to house tourists who overflow from the more touristic enterprise you see in the background of this first picture.

Silvano and Santiago chip rocks as little Bryan looks on.

A natural watercourse flows through this site during heavy rains. The design plan is to leave it as a tunnel under the floor.
 Rebar is cut and bent to make the parts we need:

Check out the rebar hand-made saw.

These rectangles are tied to uprights for cement strength.

Sam and Delfin tie rebar together.

A Pick-hoe served as my tool to dig out the weeds. Quack grass was introduced into Taquile only a few years ago and has come to dominate the grasses. In some places here its roots simply formed along the rocks, in other places it found a crack and held tight. I don't fool myself that I got it all, but maybe it won't be able to pierce the cement floor which is to come.

Tara digs out the plant material.

The first stage for cement forms is installed.

The work goes on, and I may add to this post or create another as this house progresses. I write this post from Puno, which is necessary since my phone doesn't let me post.

CITY

Just across from our hotel in Puno, the Hostal los Uros on Teodoro Valcarcel near the Mercado Central, a project of building a new school building is in progress. This project is under a tight deadline, as school starts in early March.

When we arrived in Puno on January 10, this is what we saw: 

Just starting

 Two weeks later, the crew worked well into the night (maybe all night) and on January 25 all the forms are ready and a huge crew is pouring the second story floor:

Of course, no one is wearing masks, and only some have gloves or hardhats.

big crew works hard

The street was closed in the middle just past our hotel all day. By evening it was all cleaned up and the next morning big piles of bricks ready for the next step.

I'll post more about this as well when we return to Puno in a couple of weeks.

Babies and Kids

Children are the Joy of the World

Within our extended family, we have four new babies since August! My mother, Irene Miller (age 97), crochets and knits baby blankets, which she generously passes out to her daughters to give as gifts. Our Peruvian family truly honors this gift of skill and love, and appreciates that it comes from my wise elder mama.

Juana Luz surprised us. It is typical to be secretive about being in love and planning a union until it actually happens. Also the ancient Incan custom was that a couple would live together for a year with the blessings of their parents and the community. If the union proved good for all parties, then it would be fully sanctioned. Julio Cesar is a sweet husband to our goddaghter, Juana Luz, and both are thrilled with their firstborn, Lionel. This baby was born in September and already pushes off strongly with his legs and laughs when he jumps.

Juana Luz with baby Lionel and father Julio Cesar

Love that tongue!

Lionel

I'm so lucky to get to hold these babies.

Delia, Juana's sister, had her baby two days before Juana! They are both living in Puno most of the time since the babies were born, so Grandma Valeria has her hands full. Luis, Delia's baby, doesn't get quite as much attention as Lionel, since Delia is also busy with her other children, and doesn't have the same leg strength.

Lionel and Luis under an Irene Miller blanket

Fredy and Rita's Lisley is 4 years old now, and a total delight. Since Fredy is working his boat, he lives in Puno most the time and has a comfortable apartment in the Taquile Albergue. This child has taken to insisting that her name is "Seniorita Lisley." She has a wardrobe of cute hats. This one was too adorable not to photograph:

Seniorita Lisley

Our gift to our eldest goddaughter, Noemi, was to bring her and her three children from Lima to Taquile for their summer vacation. Where they live in Lima is harsh, with limited play areas close to their house. It takes a real excursion to go to a park to be able to run around and play. This visit also gives the children a chance to get to know their cousins and aunts and uncles. Here the whole family arrives at the bus station.

The bus terminal has green skylights.

Alexander looks quite elegant in his Taquile dress clothes.

Natalia and German's baby, Rolando Bradley, was born just at the end of 2017, so was a very little infant when we were here last year. Now he is getting verbal and taking supported steps. He barely wants to be held, but would rather walk around. His funniest play is how much he loves pelotas, balls. Sam would dribble the volleyball in front of him then hand it off, then dribble it again and we were all rewarded with peals of laughter. He is sitting on mama's blanket from the previous year.

Rolando

Elias and Maria were childless for 15 years of marriage, and no one expected them to have a baby, least of all themselves, but--surprise!--little Edzhel was born in October in Puno, caeserian. The family has remained on Taquile most of this time. Juana's husband, Julio Cesar, has taken over Elias's boat, the Elmar, to allow Elias to remain with Maria. Maria's godmother, Nan Brown from Santa Fe, sent a Native American patterned blanket for us to bring to Maria.

Maria with Edzhel, wrapped in the blanket

Edzhel is fat and happy.

We love the older kids, too. Here is Sam with three sisters, taking a break from having fun on the grassy area in front of the pre-Incan ruins just above their house.

As this is Ledsy, who took first place for best of her third grade room. Last year we installed solar electricity, with the help of Asa, Bradley and Danielle of Empowered Energy Systems from the North Fork Valley of Colorado. Since she had light by which to study, she used it to advantage. We are all really proud of her.

Ledsy shows off her award for first place in her class.