Isla Amantani

Isla Amantaní is an island on the Peruvian side Lake Titicaca. It's a very peaceful place where times seems to have taken a halt a century ago. == Get in == As of March 2025, shared boats from the tourist pier in Puno leave every morning about 8am, and apparently all include a mandatory 1hr+ tourism stop at the floating Uros Islands. The journey takes several hours. It costs S/60 round trip per person for an all-day trip if you buy a ticket at the office on the pier, or overnight stays can be arranged as well. Check if the itinerary includes a stop at Taquile Island as well. A guy on the pier in Puno claims he offers the day trip to Amantaní for only S/40 including an interpretive guide (not included in tickets from the office). Boat tickets do not include the entry fees for each island (as of Feb 2025, probably S/8 for Uros and S/10 for Amantaní or Taquile). There is also at least one boat per day to Amantaní from Taquile. More frequent public boats to and from Amantaní leave until about 3pm from Puerto Chifrón on the Capachica Peninsula, an hour and a half away from central Puno. There are frequent colectivos between Puno and that pier starting early in the morning and also running until about 3pm. The boat ride from here to the island is purportedly only 45 minutes. == Get around == Electricity is not yet integrated in the village, so a torch is handy to get around after dark. == See == == Do == Hike up pachatata or the slightly higher pachamama. Both offer superb views and ancient ruins. On pachatata there is a small museum as well as a temple (closed for public), which is still used for ritual offering. On pachamama there is small ancient tower, climb up for a 360° panorama, and another temple. Plan on hiking to the pachamama in time to see the sunset; it is a spectacular setting, but as soon as the sun disappears, it can get awfully cool ( even by Canadian standards) so take a jacket. Your hosts will often have typical Peruvian toques to lend you or otherwise you can buy one- they are very cheap. Another popular activity for tourists is to play a soccer match against the locals. However, due to the altitude the match can be very challenging tourists unless already acclimated. == Buy == Local Crafts. Some of the villagers weave beautiful hats out of alpaca wool. They are a bit more expensive than the ones on the mainland, but they are more unique and helps your host family out to buy them. == Eat == There is no restaurant in town, but food is included in the accommodation. There is a small shop selling snacks, candies and the like. == Drink == Every night there is a party, specially organized for the tourist. Locals will lend you their colorful clothes and try to teach you their local dance. You can buy beer here for S/5-10. == Sleep == As of 2025, there are several accommodations on the island that can be booked online. The rest of this section may be out of date. About 50 families have accommodation for tourists. To give everyone a fair share of tourist dollars, tourists are assigned to a family on a rotational system. So one does not have much choice where to stay. The accommodations are very basic, but include tasty lunch, dinner and a breakfast. The price is around S/20 per person including food. == Go next ==