It ordered the boats from Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co, London, which built them and then shipped them in 2766 pieces around Cape Horn to Arica in Northern Chile. From there they were transported 30 miles by train to Tacna and then the remaining 190 miles over the Andes to the lake by men and mules. It took them 6 years!
The Yavari was launched on Christmas Day 1870, and her sister ship the Yapura 17 months later. After a varied life on the lake, which did not include any fighting action, the Yavari was decommissioned and left to rust on the lakeshore. In 1982 Meriel Larken, an Englishwoman, found her there and started a campaign to save and restore her. Today she is afloat and can be visited.
The interior is currently a museum, but it is hoped that she will soon be ready to take visitors for trips on the lake.
In the meantime we had to settle for a ride with Captain Santiago
He is the head man of one of the floating reed islands in the lake and he took us from Puno on the western shore of the lake, out through a rich slick of algae
into the dense reed beds from which the lake's famous floating islands are made.
The islands are entirely man made and are built by cutting
and drying the reeds
and then piling them up in layers to make a thick, buoyant raft. The reeds have to be renewed regularly as the bottom layer is constantly rotting and sinking. Santiago took us first to some very remote islands which are home to individual families. They don't have enough manpower to both maintain the island and catch enough food to eat and their living conditions are pretty desperate.
They build fires on the reeds for cooking and warmth and use stones and mud to prevent their very flammable homes from bursting into flames
The lake is full of tiny fish which, along with the roots of the reeds, are their main source of nourishment.
On another island we saw a newly built house
home to the oldest resident of the islands, 94 according to Santiago.
The family that lives on this island uses a wooden skiff with sail and oars for fishing and getting about.
There are, however, more prosperous reed islanders who have outboard engines
Like Captain Santiago, most of them live on one of the larger, shared islands and generate additional cash income through tourism.
On Santiago's island there are about 20 families, many related, and they all pool resources with some fishing, some tending the island, others building houses and others, like Santiago's 24 year old son Jony, guiding visitors.
Today only these larger units can afford to build the traditional reed boats, since wood or even fibreglass will last much longer than biodegradable reeds. However reed boats are still built, mainly for tourism, so the skills that helped Thor Heyerdahl to build the Ra II are being kept alive.
Jony showed us the depth of the reeds that form their very dry island and then lowered a stone on the end of a plaited reed line down through the hole to show us that there was about 50 feet (15 meters) of water below them.
We asked Jony if he had ever thought of leaving the island to live on shore where he would have electricity and internet and plumbing. He replied that he had considered it and enjoyed visiting the mainland when he wanted to use such things, but he preferred the sense of community and security on his island to the "every man for himself" life on the land. We were glad to know that such an ancient way of life is still valued by its young people and looks set to survive and thrive in the 21st century.