Taquile, Peru, is situated smack in the middle of Lake Titicaca. On my first trip through the region in 1999, I took a day-trip there with a couple friends. Thinking back, I remember a long boat ride, harsh sun, hundreds of stone steps, a brief tour, and altitude-induced headaches (the lake is at 12,500ft, and the island of Taquile goes up from there.)

After having lunch, our tour guide turned us loose for a couple hours to explore on our own. Joe, Karl, and I soon found ourselves in the island’s only town plaza. Eventually, we found some shade near a cliché signpost that pointed out, on yellow metal arrows, the distance and direction of the world’s major cities.

Before long, a little girl came running up to us calling, “¡Un foto! ¡Un foto!” Hand out, palm turned up, she obviously wanted something in exchange. I was amazed – she couldn’t have been much more than three years old and yet she had already learned how to fleece tourists!

She was cute, though, and I thought that a ragamuffin photo would be worth the few small coins in my pocket. When I raised my camera up, she surprisingly struck a pose and smiled without even being asked. The resulting photograph cost me maybe twenty-five cents – a price I’d happily pay for any picture this good!