Anapia and Yuspique Island

Anapia and Yuspique Island Review

In the Winaymarka section of Lake Titicaca, near the Bolivian border are the Aymara-speaking islands of Anapia and Yuspique. This off-the-beaten-path two-day trip can be done with a tour operator or on your own. With 280 families living on the islands, very few people speak English or even Spanish, but rather traditional Aymara.

The trip usually begins in Puno, where you board a bus for two hours to the village of Yunguyo near Punta Hermosa, where you catch a 1.5-hour sailboat ride to the flat but fertile Anapia. On arrival hosts will meet visitors and guide them back to their family's home for an overnight stay. The day is then spent farming, tending to the animals, or playing with the children, and also includes a hiking trip to nearby Yuspique Island, where lunch is cooked by the women on the beach. Typically, huatia, potatoes cooked in a natural clay oven and buried in hot soil with lots of herbs, is served along with fresh fish. Yuspique is not very populated, but is home to more than 100 wild vincuñas.

After returning to Anapia you'll follow an evening's activities of traditional family life, such as music or dance. All Ways Travel and Edgar Adventures run tours. Proceeds go to the families. You can do this trip on your own for about $60 USD by following the itinerary and taking a water colectivo from Punta Hermosa to Anapia. Public transportation to the islands only runs on Thursday and Sunday.