Taquile - Lake Titicaca

Our next stop was for a quick visit to Taquile, the third island in our tour. Unfortunately, Reyn's fever was running quite high and he had no energy. The visit consisted of a hike over the top of the island which was not in the cards for Reyn. So he and I decided to stay on the boat and cruise to the other side of the island to meet the hikers. The guide said it was about an hour to the top of the island and "a lot quicker downhill." Reyn and I would wait at the docks for the group's return.

A five minute ride to the other side of the island and an hour or so at the docks relaxing sounded wonderful. It was sleepy little dock intended just for the tourist boats and the occasional islander looking to hitch a ride to Puno. There was nothing there but a bathroom. Reyn and I walked to the end of the dock to swing our feet in the water and then he wanted to lay down. So we headed to the only spot where he could do that, a tiny patch of grass for the flagpole. We laid on the grass and he fell asleep immediately. It was nice to have nothing to do for awhile...

Ummm, nice for a short while! 4 hours later our group returned!! With nothing to do, see or read, I almost lost my mind! Bren, Kieran and the others returned with wonderful stories of meeting locals, seeing beautiful sites on the island and enjoying "the best lunch ever!" Oh well...it was pretty at the dock and there's always dinner.

Another 2 hour ride back to Puno and we had an evening to rest plus get a good night's sleep for our 2 day trip to Arequipa and the Colca Canyon the next day. Upon our return, Reyn jumped in bed and fell asleep immediately, again. It was apparent we couldn't do the trip the next day. So leaving Kieran at the hostal with Reyn we headed to the travel agency to explain that we would like to cancel or postpone the trip we just scheduled and paid for 2 days ago! Understandably, with less than 12 hours notice, they said a cancellation was not an option, but they were happy to call a doctor "for the baby." ?!?! The agent called someone else who said she would call "el jefe," to see if they could do something since "the baby was sick." Ummm, ok, thanks, I think. I wasnt sure if that meant they were still just planning to call a doctor or change our reservation for the trip. They were to call the hostal when they had information.

We checked in a couple hours later and there was still no info. We decided we'd just lose the money for the trip and not go. Reyn was just too sick to do anything other than relax the next day. Finally, at 9pm, with the boys in bed, we asked again. The hostal called the travel agency and they said it was fine to cancel with just a small fee for the late cancellation! They would come over immediately with our refund. Yea! So we'd all just get a good night's sleep, relax the next morning and head to the Colca Canyon when we were good and ready.

For this entry, photos consist of Reyn relaxing and sleeping!