The P’urhépechas peoples have lived on these islands of Lake Patzcuaro for many millenniums. Normally I have a plan, but since so many towns around the lake are Purepecha, I figured I would just stop at any that looked interesting. I turned into the road that pointed to Uranden and found myself standing on a dock yelling for someone to come over in a canoe to pick me up. No one came. Ok, tomorrow is always a good day. My friends visiting Patzcuaro would like this. The following day I got better instruction from a priest in a nearby parish. He gave me the name of a village elder and, more importantly, told me where to go to get a canoe.

We returned the next day and walked along the shore until we came to the spot where the priest said we could get a boat. Within a few minutes a young boy came to the shore, launched his canoe, and came to get us. The canoe was small and Ariel went over first. He then returned in a rowboat and picked up Barak and me. We were on our way. When we arrived on the island, we were directed to a guy that was interested in the cultural preservation of the island. He was a fisherman who had just returned and was drying his net. He explained that the butterfly net was still in use but that the catches were way down because the levels in the lake were subsiding. You can see a picture of the nets on the second page.

He directed us up the hill to his neighbor Maria Ignacia Castillo Cristobal, who after a few minutes of negotiation agreed to participate. He is pictured in the first shot. As is often the case, we started having a good time with the pictures and her daughter-in-law and daughter decided to join in. This island is very peaceful and after the shoot we walked around a little. At the school we encountered this little girl in traditional dress.

Everything was going great until we came upon a young boy who was apparently beating some bushes with a stick; unfortunately, he was breaking open a wasp hive… did we make a fast exit?

There are some wonderful shots of the surrounding area on the second page.