A night on Lake Titicaca
When you first see the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, it’s amazing to think that these islands and the homes on them and the boats next to them are all constructed from the tall totora (reeds) growing everywhere in the water. But it’s true. And it’s been true for hundreds of years. The islands slowly sink, so the people living there constantly lay down new reeds to build up the “ground”.
It’s been almost one year since I traveled to Lake Titicaca but I must say sleeping overnight on one of the islands is a must. Just make sure your visit is sustainable. I stayed on Isla Khantati with Cristina Suaña (the link is in Spanish and about 10 years old) and her husband Victor. They’re both Lake Titicaca natives. Cristina is listed in Lonely Planet as “highly recommended by readers.” I recommend her, too. She was incredibly welcoming, smiling all the time and adjusting her dinner menu to accommodate the fact that I’m vegetarian. That was so very kind of her.
Cristina lost no opportunity to educate me and the other tourists about her culture and her life. Especially interesting was how she got started hosting foreigners in her home: Cristina had seen tour operators taking advantage of the Lake Titicaca islanders. She didn’t like it. So she talked with her husband about starting their own operation. It would cater to foreigners but be more of a cultural exchange than a typical tourist visit to the islands. Cristina attended culinary classes so she could learn how to cook for western palates. A volunteer created a brochure. Slowly, tourists started calling her. Then she got written up in Lonely Planet a few years ago and business boomed.
There were four of us tourists all together. Two men and one woman from Portugal and one man from Germany. The Portuguese people spoke Spanish but not the German man. I had to translate from Spanish to English for him. We all sat huddled in a hut around a reed table, sharing travel stories as we waited for dinner. Periodically Victor or Cristina would appear to talk with us. That night and during a fishing expedition the next morning we all learned so much about the history of the area and the struggles the islanders have faced balancing tourism with maintaining their cultural roots. I stretched my Spanish to its limits during these talks.
I just looked in my journal to find the exact facts I learned during my 24 hours on Isla Khantati. All it says is:
I’m about to go to bed on a floating island. It’s been an amazing day. I’ve learned so much. It’ll have to wait until later, though, because I’m exhausted. I could feel the island moving when I was in the bathroom.
Then I never wrote about Lake Titicaca again. Let that be a lesson to me to stay up late and just write. Well then. I did learn a lot. I remember feeling overwhelmed by all the facts given to me by Cristina and Victor. Maybe that was why I went to bed instead of wrote.
I don’t want to write wrong facts, so I’ll write about feelings instead, like the feeling of being on a floating island. When you’re standing or sitting still you can sometimes feel the island gently bobbing in the water. I remember standing in the toilet stall (like a luxury port-a-potty) and feeling the ground undulate. I carefully stepped out of the stall and into complete darkness except for the stars twinkling above. I felt the bobbing again. So lovely and wonderful.
Be prepared to be cold when you visit Lake Titicaca, especially if you stay overnight, especially in winter. I froze during the night even though my sleeping attire consisted of pants, long johns, a long-sleeve shirt, a sweater, a scarf, a wool hat, my knee-length down coat, eight wool blankets and a hot water bottle at my feet (provided by Cristina and Victor for all the guests). The blankets were so heavy that I couldn’t move. I decided it was better to be cold than to smother to death, so I kicked off a few blankets.
The next morning all us tourists set out to go fishing with Victor. He caught lots of little fish whose name I can’t remember. Cristina had a western breakfast ready by the time we returned. After breakfast came a surprise: Cristina wanted us all to sing and write down the words to a song from our home country. First went the Portuguese people. Then the German man. Everyone wanted to hear a Korean song from me, not an American song, so I sang a kids tune called 나비야 (Butterfly) and – surprisingly – everyone hummed along. Even Cristina hummed! Turns out the song’s melody is one that’s used in a lot of countries. And to think I had to travel all the way to Peru and spend a night and morning on Isla Khantati in Lake Titicaca to learn that. Life is amazing.
Around Jinja, Uganda, at sunset
So the interesting thing about Jinja, Uganda, is the strong Indian influence on the city’s architecture and atmosphere. Until Idi Amin expelled all Asians from the country in 1972, Indians owned many businesses that made up the backbone of the Ugandan economy. Now, walking around Jinja, you see Hindu temples and men wearing turbans (you can see both in the photograph above). Indians began returning to Uganda in the 1980s, including the Madhavani family, which owns one of the largest business groups in Uganda. In fact, Patrick and I stayed at a beautiful safari Lodge that the Madhavani’s own in western Uganda – but more about that later.
Back to Jinja.
It is really a picturesque city, kind of quaint, actually, even though it’s nestled along Lake Victoria and the source of the Nile River. Patrick lives just outside Jinja, but we didn’t spend much time there and I didn’t take nearly as many pictures there as I imagined. I also didn’t go rafting – which is what most people do in Jinja – or visit the Source of the Nile Gardens (which Patrick said is kind of a rip off considering you can see the source of the river from other places). All in all, I wish we’d spent more time just chilling in Jinja. Next time!
Ice cream in Pisa, Italy
I know, I know: This is a post about Pisa, Italy, so where’s the picture of the Leaning Tower?
Pisa is so much more than its most famous landmark. It’s a college town, home to the University of Pisa, which has been educating students since the 12th century and which once employed Galileo Galilei as a math professor. It’s a walkable little city split by the Arno River and lined with cobblestone streets and colorful homes.
But the tower – just “tower,” as the natives call it – well, my how it dominates most peoples’ conception of the city. Which is why I posted this photograph from Pisa before I posted any Leaning Tower pictures. Those are coming, of course.
Kayaking on the Potomac River
It was the first un-humid, un-sweltering day in weeks when P. and I decided to knock an adventure off our “Top 10 Things To Do This Summer” list: kayaking on the Potomac River. Oh, the gorgeous views we saw! Georgetown, the Lincoln Memorial and Roosevelt Island, a rainbow, ducks – I saw them all in a way I’d never seen them before. Still, I was disappointed to find trash floating all over the river. At first, it was just a bottle here and there. I actually picked up an empty Pepsi bottle, vowing to myself I would pick up any more trash we found. But then it became clear this task would be overwhelming. Ugh.
Martina + Ben preview
My dear friend Martina and her fiancé Ben got engaged last month! I felt incredibly honored when they asked me to take their engagement pictures. These two were game for pretty much anything during our shoot around downtown Norfolk, Va., on Sunday.
Me: “Ummm…would you mind standing a little closer to the edge of the dock? Yes….a little more….that’s better….”
Martina: “How about I pretend I’m pushing Ben into the river?”
Me: “Perfect!”
I kid, of course. But not by much! More pictures to come soon….
(Above: That's me photographing while snowshoeing through a snowstorm. Picture by