We were told school was out today. It was a Saturday, so it made sense. As we visited floating islands on the Peruvian side of Lake Titikaka, Adam caught many incredible photos of the children and people who lived on the floating islands. His gift is catching the moment when the person isn’t posing for a camera or tourist shot and capturing a moment of her or his life. These are children being children and adults laughing at a joke. I love these photos as well as the immense landscapes that Adam captures (and sometimes me on a lucky click!), so I thought it was time to start sharing them.
This is the first and the first one that came to mind. There is a story in this photo even if you don’t know anything about why or where it was taken. And maybe I love it too because it is four girls out on a boat with no adults and no boys! I love the one girl who rests in the bow dreaming of…? While two in matching shirts laugh in the back, next to a very large engine that they aren’t using. The girl in red was an extremely skilled rower, maneuvering the boat with the oars without a problem.
Behind them, those reeds and thatched roofs, that is a floating island. These are manmade islands! The first foot is of the island is made of blocks of reed roots lashed together. Above that is another foot of reeds, added to weekly. Walking on them was like walking on a giant waterbed. The ‘ground’ gave nearly four inches with each step, but each step was dry. The raft like islands are anchored into the shallows of the lake. Further back is the white of a metal roof. That is the school where these girls travel to every weekday. And in the very background are some of the lower mountain ranges surrounding Lake Titikaka.
Lake Titikaka is known as the highest navigable lake in the world. Being there at its lofty 12,000 feet elevation, I was amazed at how BIG the lake was. The only reason you can see land on the far side is because you are looking at towering mountains. Snow capped beauties are visible on the Bolivian side of the lake while the Peruvian side is known as the Altiplano: a high alpine plain/plateau.
There is so much more I could say about the lake, Peru, and the Altiplano. But this post is for the picture and the amazing snapshot capturing a fleeting moment in the lives of four floating island girls out for a jaunt in a family boat on a beautiful and sunny Saturday…