Largo Titicaca & Isla del Sol.

The others have returned home, or are doing other travels in South America. So David and I decided to take the long trip from Cusco on the overnight bus to Bolivia - which was actually a reasonable trip. The sleeping seats recline well, and are much better than an economy class flight seat.
Arrived at the border, completed formalities on the Peruvian side, walked through "no mans land" to Bolivia and did the same there. Jumped on a micro bus to take us the 15 mins to Copocabana. That was squishy fun sharing a 12 seater bus with 22 locals! No seat belts - naturally.
Spent a few hours in Copacabana before we could catch the early afternoon public "ferry" to the Isla del Sol. It's a small boat packed with passengers, and goods, no life jackets and the captain was very laid back steering the outboard motor with his feet. The crossing took one and a half hours.
The island is beautiful. The lake is a sparkling blue jewel surrounding it - deep clear water. Our accommodation had a stunning view because it was located at the very top of the community of Yunami.
There are a number of Inka ruins on the island. No cars, you have to walk every where, or hire a donkey. The island is very small - about 12 km in length.
One day we took the boat across to the Isla de La Luna.
Both of these islands are important in Inka legend and history because it is where the Inkas believed their culture was born.
We saw a number of single hull, and double hulled, traditional reed boats. These days they recycle plastic drink bottles to make the form, then cover it with the reeds. This also reduces the impact of harvesting the reed beds.
Many of the homes, including our hotel, have reed ceilings - which must be quite insulative I would think.
We have returned to Cusco and go home the day after tomorrow. What a great time, and wonderful adventures we have had.
I'll miss this continent - we intend to keep returning. Can't let our improving Spanish go to waste, particularly David who is quite fluent now, and has an enormous vocabulary.
Michelle and David.

Manu National Park

The Manu river is in the upper reaches of the Amazon basin.
This is the largest national park in Peru at 1.8 million hectares. It is a UNESCO World Heritage listed biosphere.
About 500 visitors a year pass into the reserved zone. Most of the park is off limits, except to scientists, and the indigenous Machiguenga, who live as they have for hundreds of years.
Machiguenga were severely effected in 1984 after missionaries brought the flu; it is now forbidden to have contact with them.
The trip into the reserved zone is 11 hours over rough roads, followed by 2 full days in a motorized canoe. Then we spent 3 nights at a jungle camp.
The skill of the canoe captain, & his one crew, were awesome. The rivers are broad, very fast, and shallow at this time of year. Negotiating the numerous small rapids with an outboard motor on the back of a canoe was quite something - better than a fun park! We dropped 300 mts on the down river journey, then had to regain it again on return.
The heat, humidity and biting insects are difficult, but the rewards were great.
We saw -
4 jaguars, including a mother and juvenile. Two stayed around for nearly half an hour on the river bank while we watched from the canoe.
4 capibara - including one mother with 2 young ones
1 tapir - big!
Many species of monkeys
Many species of birds
White and black Cayman
Lots of tortoises
Piraña - red, white and yellow
Giant otters
Vipers
Many beautiful butterflies, and large glowing fire flies at night.
We saw a lot of flowering plants,  amazing large trees, and vines.
The jaguar and the otter are listed as endangered so we feel privileged to have seen them at all, let alone so well - thanks to our guide. She had amazing sight, seeing things long before we could manage to focus on them. I doubt we would have seen much without her help.
Most of the animal spotting was done from the canoe. However we did some walks, and that was best for monkey spotting - they are such a hoot; very gregarious.
Michelle, David, Elly.