Peru

The first time we arrived in Amantani in 1996 we were welcomed by Julio Borda and his wife at Villa Orinojón, in a remote area in the north of the island where there was hardly anyone. The welcome was simple, the food delicious and vegetarian, the rooms spacious with just enough room to sleep quietly and warmly. Julio's children, mainly Flora and her brother Silverio, were still very young, but they were already taking visitors to the top of the island to admire the sunset over the immensity of the lake.

Then years after years we came back and finally it was Flora who took over with her husband Gerardo. It is with them that we work now and it is their daughter Madeleine's turn to take our travelers to the top of the island at the end of the day.

Just spending a night at Flora's house is a great experience of contact with a family of the island of Amantani. The warm welcome and the kindness of Flora and her husband make us forget the tiredness of the day and the small inconveniences of the local conditions (sometimes the shower does not work, you have to use a chamber pot at night, the toilets are common). However, whether it is the bedding or the food, the hygiene and cleanliness are there.

Gerardo usually picks us up with his boat, either from the hike that starts in Escallani or from the Port of Puno and brings us directly to the landing stage of Villa Orinojón, the community where the family lives. Everyone comes to help the newcomers carry their suitcases to their rooms and after a quick wash up, lunch is served in the large room facing the lake. After the afternoon lazing around in the calm of Amantani, it is time to start the ascent to one of the two temples that are located on each of the summits of the island: the temple of Pachatata, male, is located on the smallest summit and the temple of Pachamama, female, is located on the highest and most distant summit but from where the sunset is the most beautiful. The most courageous will return in the night to arrive at daybreak on one of the two summits. Their photos will prove to them if necessary that they did not dream.

In general the departure and the farewells are done in the morning to take the boat of Taquile or the one of Chifron. Generally we cross to the beach of Ccotos for a hike which passes by… shhh, it is a secret!

The luckiest ones will spend more than one night and will have the possibility of sharing beautiful moments with the family or to traverse a little more the splendid stony paths of the island "of the tranquility". It must be said that the Bordas' place is a little paradise: "luxury, calm and pleasure".