Islands of Lake Titicaca

v.e.r.b.a.l

Ok, I've been getting a lot of mixed feelings towards the islands on Lake Titicaca. In Puno at the mo, and want to go to Amananti, Taquile and one or two of the floating islands of Uros.

Thing is, i hear from a lot of people and Lonely Planet that tours tend to ruin your experience of these and it's much better to do them indepentantly. Anyone we met who had done a tour advised us not to go and anyone who went themselves loved it.

Any recommendations or suggestions first as to wheter we should do it indie or a tour? If tour, what company?

darrenh

We did it with a tour a month ago. It was fine. Some say it is touristy but that is what we feckin are. I hate that crap. Most people who do things on their own hate groups and look down on people who do them. The people on the isalnds need tourists or else they would have to leave to the main land as it is a huge source of income and provides money for medicine and education. They live by bartering but need the money for things they cannot exchange. I doubt the differnce in cost between a tour and indie is much when you look at it in euro rather than the local currency. I cant remember the tour company though. Sorry!

v.e.r.b.a.l

yeah i hate that pretentious rubbish too (otherwise i would have skipped Chichen Itza!), but i heard that the money from the tour companies don't benefit the islanders at all, and if you go indie you can help. but i only heard that from a few people.

the one thing that's throwing me is that everyone who did it (with the exception of yourself) with a tour company seemed to hate it and told us not to go, and everyone who went indie loved it and recommended it.

i'll check out what a few tour companies say tommorrow. do you remember where abouts the company was? on calle lima maybe?

That's because they didn't do their research and probably went with the cheapest agency. You get what you pay for but when you are dealing with a country like Bolivia, that doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg (in our currency) to do a good quality tour. I went on a tour, went with an agency just off Linares street, a lot around there will quote you similar prices, go in, talk to the people, pick one and ask questions. If you ask the right questions, you will know what you are in for.

To be honest, a lot of the travellers I've encountered are just so down right cheap - why go if you don't have the energy to ask proper questions, the finances to do a 3 day tour for 50 euro or the inclination to go with a proper tour? The scabbyness of some travellers is so unreal to the point it shocked me and I didn't want to speak to other tourists in certain areas.

v.e.r.b.a.l go to an agency, ask the usual questions "Does my guide speak English?", "What is included?", "What is not included?" - get it in writing on the receipt - and enjoy the tour. If it fails to match expectations which it really shouldn't if you asked the right questions and got the right vibes then you go get a refund and kick up a fuss but you shouldn't have to do that.

Oh and respect the locals on Lake Titicaca, it's an incredible place but please don't do what I saw other IDIOTS doing which is taking photos of the locals like they are just there for decoration. It's all about mutual respect in these places. Bolivia is a magnificent country though - my favorite in South America by a mile.

v.e.r.b.a.l

Yeah that sounds good. I heard great things about Isla Del Sol and Luna in Bolivia, but haven't quite gotten there yet. We're in Puno on the Peru side now and it's the tours on this side that i heard bad things about. Heard nothing but good things about the tours on the Bolivia side!!!

Zoodlebop

I would definitely recommend getting the boat out to Isla del Luna/Sol for a day trip. It's a beautiful walk with fantastic panoramic views. Bring a picnic and your camera. There are some cool ruins too. One thing is that you do not have to buy the tickets that are being sold all along the walk. Pushers will try and make you buy one, but just "no gracias" it. Or if that makes you feel bad then you can buy one:)

v.e.r.b.a.l

Thanks to all for your advice!

We decided to take the easier option and ended up booking a tour today. We´re going to Uros first, then onto Amananti where we spend the night with a local family, go to a local bar with them after dinner and the next day see Taquile before arriving back in Puno.

It probably costs a little bit more, but everything is organised for us (and i´ve done so much on my own at this stage that that prospect sounds glorious!). The good thing is that we pay only part of the fee to the company and the rest directly to the family on Amananti, so we can be sure that money is going directly to the islanders, which is nice.

On a different subject: what do we need to bring with us? Warm clothes for night i suppose and suncream for the day, but anything else in particular?

Neamhshuntasach

darrenh wrote: »

We did it with a tour a month ago. It was fine. Some say it is touristy but that is what we feckin are. I hate that crap. Most people who do things on their own hate groups and look down on people who do them. The people on the isalnds need tourists or else they would have to leave to the main land as it is a huge source of income and provides money for medicine and education. They live by bartering but need the money for things they cannot exchange. I doubt the differnce in cost between a tour and indie is much when you look at it in euro rather than the local currency. I cant remember the tour company though. Sorry!

You do know that tour companies are businesses and are out to make the maximum profit that they can, right? I done the islands independently with 2 Canadians. Paid 2 dollars for the boat over to a local who we all tipped and shared food with. He got the full amount of money from us. Then we asked a local on the island is we could stay with them. we paid them directly, gave them food and also tipped them when leaving. they got the full amount. we saved around 70% compared to the price with a tour. but the locals got more money from us than with the tour. and that is based on what the local family told me. they only get around 5% of the total price you pay. sometimes less.

i hate tour groups for that very reason and will avoid them if possible. sometimes they are not. ciudad perdida for example. and it's not because i look down my nose at people. it's because i'd rather give the money directly to the people who would benefit from it more.

Neamhshuntasach

v.e.r.b.a.l wrote: »

Thanks to all for your advice!

We decided to take the easier option and ended up booking a tour today. We´re going to Uros first, then onto Amananti where we spend the night with a local family, go to a local bar with them after dinner and the next day see Taquile before arriving back in Puno.

It probably costs a little bit more, but everything is organised for us (and i´ve done so much on my own at this stage that that prospect sounds glorious!). The good thing is that we pay only part of the fee to the company and the rest directly to the family on Amananti, so we can be sure that money is going directly to the islanders, which is nice.

On a different subject: what do we need to bring with us? Warm clothes for night i suppose and suncream for the day, but anything else in particular?

haha at local bar. it's a shed with some traditional dancing and about 5 bottles of beer for sale. the family i stayed with invited us to that.

v.e.r.b.a.l

yeah, the group we booked with gave us the option of paying them in full or paying part to them and the remainder to the family we're staying with. it's a bit more expensive than the other tours we've seen around, but we feel better knowing for definite that the money is going direct to the family from our wallets.

i had heard that the tours here are in particular taking away from local income on the islands, but that's something that's probably the case with tourism in a lot of areas that we don't even know about. we paid the tour company 2/3rds and the rest goes to the family when we get there, so it ends up costing us more, but for a good reason. basically we're paying extra for the organisation of getting to and from the islands with a guide, but paying for our Amantani stay directly to the locals. i don't see too much wrong with that.

unethical tourism is everywhere and hard to escape, but it's not fair to turn a nose up at tourists who take tours. i mean, sometimes it's possible to do things independently and sometimes not, but it depends on situations and energy levels!...
As for the bar... so long as I don't have to dance, it'll be ok. I think it might scar the locals for life if they saw that!!

darrenh

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

You do know that tour companies are businesses and are out to make the maximum profit that they can, right? I done the islands independently with 2 Canadians. Paid 2 dollars for the boat over to a local who we all tipped and shared food with. He got the full amount of money from us. Then we asked a local on the island is we could stay with them. we paid them directly, gave them food and also tipped them when leaving. they got the full amount. we saved around 70% compared to the price with a tour. but the locals got more money from us than with the tour. and that is based on what the local family told me. they only get around 5% of the total price you pay. sometimes less.

i hate tour groups for that very reason and will avoid them if possible. sometimes they are not. ciudad perdida for example. and it's not because i look down my nose at people. it's because i'd rather give the money directly to the people who would benefit from it more.

thats fair enough and i respect you for that but i'm travelling three months now and the amount of people who look down on groups because its in a group or to expensive or the worst of all, touristy!

i dont look down on people who do it independently as tight or loners and i say fair play to them for doing that. But i like to do groups where its organized and i always pay extra for a good reputable company who pay their employees well. I make a point of it.

Neamhshuntasach

v.e.r.b.a.l wrote: »

yeah, the group we booked with gave us the option of paying them in full or paying part to them and the remainder to the family we're staying with. it's a bit more expensive than the other tours we've seen around, but we feel better knowing for definite that the money is going direct to the family from our wallets.

i had heard that the tours here are in particular taking away from local income on the islands, but that's something that's probably the case with tourism in a lot of areas that we don't even know about. we paid the tour company 2/3rds and the rest goes to the family when we get there, so it ends up costing us more, but for a good reason. basically we're paying extra for the organisation of getting to and from the islands with a guide, but paying for our Amantani stay directly to the locals. i don't see too much wrong with that.

unethical tourism is everywhere and hard to escape, but it's not fair to turn a nose up at tourists who take tours. i mean, sometimes it's possible to do things independently and sometimes not, but it depends on situations and energy levels!...
As for the bar... so long as I don't have to dance, it'll be ok. I think it might scar the locals for life if they saw that!!

That's what they tell you. But ask one of the families how much they really get and you'll find out the truth. You'd need to ask them in Spanish though. And they had no reason to lie because we had already paid and bought stuff from them.

v.e.r.b.a.l

Actually, it´s not what they say, it´s what happens. We handed 60 soles directly from our own hands to the lady of the house we were staying in. The company is All Ways Travel and they encourage people to pay direct to the family so that you can be assured they are getting the money and there´s nothing shady going on.

For the record, all of the tour companies are thrown in with the same boat and guide etc. so in terms of tour it doesn´t matter what company you go with, but if you want to be sure that the money goes direct to the family you stay with on Amantani, then go with All Ways Travel.

Neamhshuntasach

I know always travel. i met people on Taquille who were with them and they all paid 25 soles each directly to the family. they even say that on their signs and probably on a website if they have one. yep sure enough they do. http://www.titicacaperu.com/cultural_amantani_uros_and_taquile.html

fair enough if you paid 60 each. but if 25 is the norm with them well then that is still a smaller amount then if you do it yourself. the 3 of us paid 50 each and then tipped 20 soles each. as well as bringing them food from the mainland so they didn't have to use their own resources.

I know for various things there are some decent tour companies that try to break the norm of ripping off locals. but that all ways travel crowd are the first i have come across where they allow you to hand the money directly. and for that reason i try to avoid them.