THANKS!

...to everyone who has chased us down to ask whether we were affected by the earthquake in Peru. Its really nice to know that you're thinking about us. It did sound terrible for the people affected, but thankfully we weren't there.
Fortunately we were well out of it, deep in the Bolivian jungle, looking for caymens. Which also explains somewhat why the distinct lack of blog entries recently. The Bolivian jungle is one place the www has not yet found!
More exciting updates on our adventures to follow, when we can find a half decent connection!!
Thanks again everyone and keep your news coming!

Lake of the Puma Rock. Or in other words...

...Lake Titicaca.

The highest navigable lake in the world, at around 3800m above sea level - Lake Titicaca is one of those sights on the ´must do´list in South America. The lake sits between Peru and Bolivia, its islands and shoreline being shared between the 2 countries.

Our first stop on the lake was to visit the famous floating islands - made by the local Aymara people from the reeds which grow in the lake. We sailed from a town in Peru called Puno, on a local sightseeing boat (there's no getting away from it, these islands are now unaviodably toursirty). It took about 30 mins to reach the island, on which the small communities receive tourists, and explain the comstruction of the islands on which they live. As you step off the boat, the island which has a top layer of dry reeds, supported by the spongy peat below, sinks slightly beneath your feet, giving the impression of walking on a water bed. Not the place to live if you're sea-sickness prone! Quite bizarre - there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world.

Our second view of Lake Titicaca came from the Bolivian side. Once crossing the border, we headed for a town called Copacabana, famous for its beautiful cathedral and car blessing ceremonies...?! don't ask. (not quite what Barry Manilow had in mind when he sang the classic...) From Copacabana, we headed out on a trek up the lake shore, and on arriving at the end of the mainland, we heaved our stuff into a tiny rowing boat, and were ferried in style across the short stretch of water to 'Isla del Sol' by a diminutive Bolivian guy, who nonetheless rowed like a pro, and would probably have matched Steve Redgrave in pulling power pound for pound, despite being at least half his size!

We camped that night with a beautiful view out over one of the many bays, and of the snow-capped Cordillera Real in the background, then spent the next day exploring the island. We walked its length from south to north, (a few miles), arriving in the afternoon at some pre-Inca ruins. Our second campsite was a secluded cove with complete with white sand right next to the lake. You could have been forgiven for thinking you were somewhere in the Med! Both evenings we ate our noodles with front row seats for 2 of the most spectacular sunsets I've seen. The weather was pretty kind to us, although after baking hot days, we were glad of the thermals when we woke up with ice on the tent in the morning. All in all a beautiful trip. The next morning we took the slightly less elegant transport of the local ferry back to the mainland to continue on our way south...