Amarantani Island Homestay

Inocencia's house

guinea pigs living behind the stove- with no refrigeration, it's important to make sure your food's fresh!

Inocencia and me in traditional costume, in Greg's and my little bedroom

On arrival at Amarantani port we are introduced to our new homestay ‘mothers’ who will look after us, cook for us and allow us into their homes for the night. Our Mama’s name is Inocencia and she has a 14 year old daughter Marie. Her house is designed round a small cobbled courtyard with bedrooms and storerooms on three sides, a kitchen out back, which is separate to the house and an outdoor toilet at the end of the donkey run. We notice light bulbs but she explains in Spanish that there’s no electricity. She speaks Quechua with her daughter and we try our best to communicate what little we can in Spanish. Our room is cosy and at least the walls are plastered, not just plain adobe brick. We wait in our room for lunch, not sure how to go about helping. She exclaims she needs none and brings us hot soup and potatoes with cheese, which we struggle to get through, there’s so much. I take a tour of the house with the video camera, pointing out the squeaking guinea pigs who live in the alcove behind the log stove. I secretly hope they’re not on the menu tonight. After almuerzo, Inocencia escorts us, in her fully embroidered traditional dress, up to the village’s soccer pitch, where the majority of our tour party get rid of some of their nervous energy in a short game of 6 a side.
Each pair in our party, has been allocated a homestay family and we all chat about how welcomed we’ve been made to feel in these poor people’s homes. Homestay, as a practise on the island, has been going on for ten years and, I figure, it must make economic sense to the families and they seem to genuinely enjoy it. Heidi says we all look so odd to them and in order that they can distinguish us from the next white westerner we are given the family beanie to wear. After footy, our ‘mothers’ lead us home for tea. We are invited to eat in the cocina (kitchen) with Inocencia and Marie, where it’s considerably warmer than in our little bedroom. A different soup with keenwa and several potato types is followed by a vegetable stew with rice and coca tea. The diet is good her, all home grown produce from the farming terraces surrounding Inocencia’s home. Marie sits by the candlelight knitting a yellow cardigan, occasionally requiring advice from her mother. She tells us she speaks three languages, Quechua, Spanish and is learning English at school on the island. I can’t help but wonder if she’ll remain on the island when she grows up, where day to day life is hard or choose to pursue a career on the mainland. Inocencia actually grew up in Lima but it is a testament to life on the island that she made the decision to return here to live with her parents in this house.

We are dressed up by Inocencia into traditional costume of the island and escorted to the panpipe disco where all the visiting gringos are ‘forced’ to participate in lively dancing.
After a sound night’s sleep Inocencia presents us with a super breakfast of pancakes and coca tea. There’s no such thing as a shower or bathroom here so it’s a quick baby wipe wash and brushing of teeth outside the garden gate.
It’s not long before we are making our way down to the port of Colcacacha village and saying our goodbyes.
Our first taste of homestay accommodation has been an extreme one, but very enjoyable. On our way back to Puno we stop off at Taquille Island where the descendents of the Pre-Inca culture Tiahuanaco live off the land. It is a beautiful day and the sun sparkles on the turquoise blue of the lake, making us all feel like we’re on holiday.