Altiplano to Lake Titcaca Packrafting Expedition

From the lake of Lagunillas at 4176m / 13701ft where flamingos nest. We'll cross to an island 400 X 800ft for night camping underneath the stars. The next morning we'll raft to the entrance of a small river, portage around a dam and impassable section then raft for 5 miles where it connects to the Juliaca river and raft another 25 miles to the town of Cabanillas. From there we take a car 22.5 miles through the town of Vilque in Puno until we are close to Lake Umayo. We'll walk a mile until we reach the shore then cross this by packraft, possibly stay 1 night on its' .7 X .65 mile island. In the morning we raft to ruins of Sillustani (Incan burial towers). After exploring the ruins we will take a car 12 miles to lake Titicaca where we will packraft 14 miles through channels of marsh and reeds then open water to the floating islands of Uros arriving at the port of Puno.
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Overview

Day 1    Lagunillas - Lagunillas Island
We arrive on the western banks of Lagunillas, reachable by car either from Chivay, Arequipa or Juliaca, Cusco or Puno. We cross to center of the lake (2 mi) to an island to camp. This will depend on flamingo habitat and may be off limits, or it may not be controlled. As a group we will use our best judgement as to not disturb any nests. Small piles of built up mud like little volcanoes are a dead giveaway. We can opt to continue our crossing to the west banks instead.

Day 2    Lagunillas - Juliaca River - Lucerna
We'll cross another 1.5 miles to the the outlet stream (dammed for water supply purposes). We'll portage anywhere from 1 -1.5 miles until the stream deepens enough for our boats. We'll raft all day today down this shallow, but calm river until we near the confluence with the Juliaca river where we'll camp.

Day 3-4    Juliaca River - Cabanillas (Lower Half)
We'll raft down shallow but swift class 2 - 3 for the next day or 2, stopping in at a the ghost town of Santa Lucia and camping a night on the north banks of the river where we have the chance to meet the local Quechua-speaking llama and alpaca herders. At any point if the water is too cold or river too shallow, the highway always follows to the south, and we can catch a car at any point. The river section of the trip will end when we reach the town of Cabanillas where we can find a simple hostal.

Day 5    Cabanillas - Lake Umayo (Lower Half)
In the morning we'll take a car 22.5 miles towards the south through Moroquea, then east through Vilque towards lake Umayo. We'll take the car as close as we can to the lake then walk about a mile to the shore then we'll raft 4.7 miles to Umayo's island where we can camp. This area may be controlled due to the concentration of ruins in the area but this is a big lake with a big island, so as a group we'll decide the best course of action.

Day 6    Sillustani Burial Towers - Lake Titicaca (Lower Half)
In the morning we'll cross another 1 mile to the northeast and pack up our boats to explore Sillustani. I can prearrange to have a guide from Puno meet us here for a guided tour followed by transportation 12.6 miles to Lake Titicaca. Since our Lake Titicaca journey will consist of about 14 miles of flatwater paddling / sailing I would suggest we call it an early day and camp at our put-in location and canal entrance to the lake.

Day 7    Reed Marsh - Floating Islands of Uros - Puno
We'll raft all day beginning with meandering canals through reed islands and green algae until it opens up wider with each turn. We will quietly observe the birds of the lake such as Andean Coots, Puna teals, White-tufted grebes etc. This really is a paradise for aquatic birds, for thos which can tolerate the 12,507 ft elevation. I would predict the group would need a rest by the time we reach the floating islands of Uros, a stretch of man-made reed islands, some stocked for tourists, others not in use. At about 8.5 miles of paddling we reach these islands and having visited there a few times, I would guess we could hijack our own private reed island to spend the night. If not the locals would gladly accept a donation of 5-10 soles to sleep there for the night. In reality most don't sleep on these islands but travel back and forth daily from Puno during the busy tourist season. Imagine sleeping on a waterbed of hay for a night. The next day we will complete our journey rafting another 5.5 miles to Puno's port, being sure to avoid motorboat traffic areas. At any point if we are tired of paddling, we can flag down a passing boat and pay a couple soles to get to our destination.

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