The Uros: Life on the Floating Islands
The Uros people of Lake Titicaca have lived on floating islands made entirely from totora reeds for centuries; their unique culture — adapted to life on water in one of the world's most extreme environments — is maintained by the lake's approximate 2,000 Uros community members
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Reed Island Construction
A Uros island is built by layering toto reeds — the bottom layers are cut from the lakebed (the floating root mass, called chua), then fresh reeds are placed on top; the islands require fresh reeds every 15 days as the bottom layers rot; a new island takes about 6 months to build
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Totora Reed Boats
The Uros build their traditional boats (balsas) entirely from totora reeds - bundles of dried reeds tied with rope to the distinctive swept-up prow; the balsa are the lake's traditional jet skis; it requires daily maintenance and lasts about 6 months; the boat building tradition is maintained by Uro's families
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Uros Origins
The Uros identify themselves as a pre-Inca people who fled to the lake to escape the expansion of the Inca Empire; they claim to have "black blood" (a metaphor for cold-blooded adaptation to the lake at high altitude); their language (Uro-Chipaya) is almost extinct, replaced by Aymara and Spanish
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Lake Diet
The traditional Uros diet is based on totora reeds (eaten raw), sea fish (carachi, trucha) and sea birds (ducks, coots) caught on the lake; the reeds provide carbohydrates and vitamin C; the fish provides protein; the diet is supplemented with potatoes and other goods traded with communities on the mainland
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Solar Energy and Radio
The contemporary Uros islands have solar panels that power lights, televisions and charging stations; the larger islands have a school, a health post and radio communications; the tension between maintaining traditional culture and access to modern services is navigated differently by each island community
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Tourism economy
Tourism is now the primary source of income for most Uros communities; the morning boat trip from Puno to the floating islands is one of Peru's most popular tourist activities; the challenge of maintaining cultural authenticity while dealing with mass tourism is the central challenge facing the Uros today