My Travels In Peru

The Uros of Lake Titicaca

Imagine living year-round on a floating island of reeds in a large lake, at 3,800 m of altitude, with temperatures ranging between 0 and 20C and with torrential rains during January and February, and never knowing where one may wake up the next morning. That's exactly what the Uros, an ancient tribe of lake Titicaca have been doing for centuries. There are about 2000 of these lake people. I certainly would never have believed that such a life was possible, until I saw it with my own eyes.

They live in one-room houses made from reeds. They cook their meals outside on small clay stoves, using dried reeds as fuel. With booming tourism, some have installed solar panels for lighting, charging cell-phone batteries, and listening to radio or television. We're on a small island called Suma Kurmi, which only has five families living here. The solar panel they have is only sufficient to serve three of the five. In time they will install another, so, everyone on the island will have electricity. In addition to the five houses, they have some conical-shaped huts that are used for storing supplies and the artifacts they produce.

They explain that the islands are made from totora, a reed that grows abundantly in the lake. The base is made from the root of the reed, about 1.3 m deep, covered by layers of reed to a thickness of about 1 m. Every month or two they need to add more layers to compensate for decomposition; and every 30 years or so they need to abandon the island and start a new one. If that's not enough work, consider that the houses on the island, made from the same reed, need to be replaced every five years, or so.

A very practical problem complicates their life even more. To prevent contamination of the island from human waste, they need to construct a separate island for this purpose. Whereas we would consider using an outhouse a major inconvenience, they have to get on a boat and row to the outhouse island before they can relieve themselves. We're told that their bodies are adapted to the lifestyle, so, they only need to visit the outhouse island once a day.

"Why do you continue to live this way?" I ask. "It is our way of life," he tells me.

"Life is changing for everyone. Technology affects everyone, and I have seen major changes in my own lifetime," I reply.

He says, "If we abandon this lifestyle, then we have to live in Puno; and that's a noisy polluted environment. Here we have tranquillity and clean air."

In my opinion, the only reason they are able to continue this lifestyle is the tourism income. While they may be able to trade fish for potatoes, at the Sunday market in Puno, to buy solar panels, radios, and cell phones, they need hard cash from tourists. Every time a tourist boat enters their conservation area, an autonomous region, it generates income for them. Every time a boat visits a specific island, they make money from direct sales of arts and crafts and totora boat rides. Without this income, their lifestyle would not be possible, or, at least, it would be a lot more arduous.

How do they live? The same reed that gives them an island and houses to live in, gives them some sustenance. The white part of the cane is eaten as a source of carbohydrates and iodine. It also has medicinal properties that protect them from diseases. Fishing is their main source of protein, although they also hunt wild birds. However, to buy the necessities of life they need to sell things to others; and their biggest commodity is selling a primitive lifestyle to tourists. They now offer visitors the opportunity to experience life on a floating island for one or more nights. This is how they can afford some of life's modern conveniences.

The Uros are well known throughout Peru for their Caballitos de Totora, small reed boats used for fishing. The first time we saw them was in Huanchaco, on the north coast of Peru. They were about the size of long surfboards and were used for surfing rather than fishing. They come in all shapes and sizes, but generally they have a long, pointed nose that curves upwards, out of the water. Those used for surfing are slenderer and lighter than those used for fishing. 

And what do the islanders fish for? We're shown the fish that are endemic to Lake Titicaca, which are: pejerey, caraqui, and maurí. They are so tiny; they looked like the goldfish people put in aquariums. The surprising news of the day is that, in 1939, in an effort to increase the availability of protein for the highlanders, the Peruvian government stocked the lake with Canadian rainbow trout. Within this small island, they have a small pond for hatching rainbow trout!

Nowadays, the Uros only build large reed boats to take groups of tourists on rides. On the island, I see three aluminum boats with outboard motors, another modern convenience made possible by tourist dollars. I'm told that they use them for fishing and to go to the mainland. While they sell a primitive lifestyle to tourists, their own has embraced modern technology lock stock and barrel! Their option is not just the noisy and polluted Puno, as I'm told, because we saw many people on the mainland living in remote areas, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. In the end, it just comes down to lifestyle and tradition. They are preventing their ancient homeland from disappearing, and for that they should be admired!

I ask one of the residents, "What do you do during the rainy season? Doesn't the rain saturate the reed roofs?"

He says, "We cover the roof of our houses with plastic sheets."

I ask, "How do you cook your food outside when it rains?" 

He replies, "Even though we get a lot of rain, particularly in January and February, it mostly rains at night. Only occasionally we have problems cooking. During the day we continue working and doing the things we normally do."

My last burning question is about health facilities and education. I'm told that they have an elementary school on the big island, which is the closest to the mainland. For high school and medical attention they need to go to Puno. It's a good thing they have the motor boats! Even so, one of the residents tells me that sometimes people die on the way to Puno, before they get to the hospital. Everything in life comes with a cost!