Friends, we're arriving at the Uros Islands, and this is unreal, I couldn't imagine such a large community here. Look at the number of houses there are, as far as the eye can see. And there, from what I'm told, here on the Uros Islands, they go 2, about 2 kilometers away, and 3 return. I didn't say that, they told me. And it turns out that this, as you can see, is also made of Totora. So, this does not repel the cold, and the nights here are freezing. We're talking about last night being a 2 degrees night. Imagine how that might feel. Good morning, afternoon or evening, I hope you're doing great, friends. I can't believe what we're doing right now. Turns out, we're still exploring Peruvian lands. We're now in the south, in a city called Puno, bordering Bolivia. And at this moment, we're navigating Lake Titicaca. A lake that I've heard of since I was in school. And we're finally navigating it. This is the highest navigable lake on the entire planet. We are approximately 3,812 meters above sea level. These are freezing lands. And this is a lake shared by two countries. From this lake, we could easily cross into Bolivia. It is shared between Bolivia and Peru. It is the second largest lake in all of South America, with over 8,000 square kilometers. In addition, today we're accompanied by none other than Maria. Maria lives on the Uros Islands. Turns out we're going to meet an ancestral civilization that lives on floating islands within Lake Titicaca, a stunning thing we'll be seeing today. How are things, Maria? Good. With high spirits. That's it. In this whole area, I've seen that they use this tool, we could call it, and there they carry the children. And they're there sleeping, they don't realize anything, apparently they quite like it. Friends, so here navigating the lake from which the legend says the Sun god emerged, and sent to form the powerful and incredible Inca culture that conquered everything and that was in Cusco, let's start today's video. Friends, we're arriving at the Uros Islands. And this is unreal, I couldn't imagine such a large community here, look at the number of houses there are as far as the eye can see. And from what I'm being told, this is a civilization that settled here in the middle of Lake Titicaca, it's believed that they've been here since at least 1200 BC, fleeing from conquest and various droughts. There are several theories, but it's said that when they were fleeing and found the coasts they encountered the lake and a plant, we'll be seeing it soon, that floats and allows them to create islands, boats, and they found so much resource in Lake Titicaca. Lots of fish, fishing around here and animals around that they decided not to leave, they decided to stay floating in the lake. Julio is welcoming us here. And what's the first thing Julio asked me? To which the answer is, Waliki. It means "I'm fine". You ask me how I am, Waliki, I'm fine. Because here, what is mainly spoken is Aymara. It's also a very ancient language, and it is said to be very difficult to learn. Yes... Is that true, Julio? Yes, so it's curious because that is what was spoken natively here. Even in Puno, that's what was spoken, Aymara and Quechua, and they learned Spanish. Now, please, let's not forget that we are on a floating island, my friends, this is in the middle of the lake. Don't think this is solid land. Around this, there is only water, and here live 5 families floating on a lake. How is this done? How does this witchcraft work? Well, I'm going to show you how this technology works. Here we have a scaled explanation so you can understand where we are. What's down here is the root of the Totora. Totora is this plant that they have here, it's a plant that fills with air, so it floats. And the root, as you can see, is like a cork stopper from what they tell me. That root only comes out during the rainy season, which are the first months of the year. Julio tells me that these roots, when the rainy season is over, come to the surface in blocks of 30 meters, in blocks the size of an island. Imagine, all of this is a floating cork block that comes out and they have to find a way to bring it to turn it into their home but it's a block too big. This would take about two yachts to pull it. So, what do they do? They use this tool that's around here, which is like a two-meter saw and they start dividing the root into blocks. So they make three-meter blocks and bring them over, and they bring them over, and they bring them over. And when they have them all, they join them with this rope, as if it were a puzzle. They stick everything together and it becomes this island that we are seeing. Then they start adding layers of Totora on top, as you can see here. They add a layer here, a layer there, another layer here and another one there. And so, they manage to elevate the island enough for life to be possible. However, about every 15 or 20 days, they have to add new Totora. Because the island is slowly sinking. So, look how interesting, these are the homes of the families living here, as I told you, around five families, and if you pay attention, these are movable houses. They are houses that everyone on the island lifts, moves to another spot, fills with Totora, and puts them back, and so on, to make the island last. Mr. Pato, how are things? Show me your house. And you may wonder, this is tough, heavy, extensive work. How long does it take to build an island like this where five families live? Well, it takes about a year of work to have it like you see it. And how long does it last? Julio here tells me that there are islands that have lasted up to 80 years, which is the longest they've lasted. I don't know if after that it sank, and they realized it wouldn't last any longer. But this island that we're seeing here, that good Julio is showing us, has been afloat for 15 years. And the thickness, what makes it float, is about 3 meters. And it must be anchored because Julio tells me if the island isn't perfectly anchored, you could wake up in Bolivia. The lake carries it, this is a river that empties into the great lake, this is like a part of the main lake. So if the island isn't secure, you don't know where you're going to wake up. Now listen to this piece of information they just gave me. I found this here, and I thought it was just a simple decoration, and they're telling me this is the giant frog of Lake Titicaca. This exists here in the lake, they're frogs that weigh 5 kilos... You just run into this, I just make the sign of the cross and run. And now if you're wondering, how is life in the middle of a lake? How do you live on a floating island? How do they cook? Where do they keep their things? Where do they sleep? What are the flirting tactics here in Lake Titicaca? That's what we're going to see. All of these you see here are houses. It turns out the house is basically just one room. It could be summed up as that, because here you only sleep. Nothing else is done. Let's go in, here we find Doña Marta. How are you, Doña Marta? This is Doña Marta's room; she has opened the door of her house so you can see. This here is the bed, and as I told you, the house is basically the room. They only use it to sleep, nothing else. And it turns out that this, as you can see, is also made of Totora. So, this doesn't repel the cold. And the nights here are freezing. We're talking about this past night being a two-degree night. Imagine how it can feel here. Then Marta was telling me that they're really already used to it. That they simply have a lot of blankets as you can see over there. And a lot of clothes that keep them warm. So it becomes a bit normal for them. And also in this other part, as you can see, things have been changing. They no longer dedicate themselves so much to hunting and fishing, but now tourism is a big source, practically the main one here in Los Uros. So they make all these kinds of souvenirs. These are boats that we're going to see soon, which are also made with Totora. Even this was the old house of the Uros. This is what those little houses represent. And they lived in a boat that was floating on the lake. It wasn't even an island as we have been seeing. Also, as you can see, some islands already have solar panels, which means they have at least three hours of electricity at night. Now listen to this fact, this is a topic that I really can't talk much about here. Maybe later on, at another time, I can tell you. But I was asking them how they go to the bathroom. Because we are on a floating island in Lake Titicaca and we have to take into account at least this island. I imagine that many around have to do the same. They take water from the lake. They boil it and that's the water they drink, so if they went to the bathroom here, they would slowly be contaminating the water to the point where you can't drink the lake water anymore. So they told me that these were the bathrooms before, but they came to their senses and closed them, and these bathrooms can no longer be used. When they want to go to the bathroom, they usually do it once a day in the morning. They have to take a taxi to go to another place, which is dry, I don't know if it's solid ground, but it's far from here. And there they do their necessities, once a day. Imagine that. Obviously there are exceptions. If you have diarrhea, I don't think you go once a day. But that's how the use of the bathroom works here on the Uros Islands. And what we're going to find over here is the island's kitchen. Here all the families who live around here cook as you can see. It's a small space, here we find this man, the men here also do crafts They also work on this art, which they tell me is quite complicated to do crafts with totora and others And here they already have a gas stove, They told me that before they cooked with the totora But it was an attack, it was a danger, Even every time they are going to cook they have to be very careful Because if a totora catches fire, the whole island can catch fire Especially now that, as you can see, the sun is strong, all the totora is dry, they say this is like lighting paper And speaking of the kitchen, here you can see one of their dishes... They raise ducks here and when they're grown up I guess they make duck soup. And now you may be wondering, What is the diet? What do they cook? And I'm being told over here that what's behind me are trout hatcheries. So listen to this, it's interesting. First, we find out that introducing trout into Lake Titicaca was not native, they were introduced. It turns out that through these little holes in the mesh, trout eggs escape, so the trout start to grow in the lake. And they have been devouring all the other species around here. And second, it turns out that the islanders trade. Bartering still takes place here. They come, fish for trout, this is what they normally eat, the only thing they buy out there is rice, sugar, I guess oil and that kind of stuff. But when the weekend comes, they take trout from here and go to the nearby provinces and exchange trout and totora reeds, which is what they have in abundance, they trade it for potatoes and different vegetables that are only found in the outskirts. And that's how they also survive through bartering and eat different things. And now here are the flirting tactics: This boat you see behind me, To start with, it's entirely made of totora reeds, in fact, you can take a tour on this creature. And according to what they tell me here on the Uros islands, Two go out, like two kilometers away... and three come back. I didn't say that, they told me that, but I like that tactic. It's old-fashioned and romantic. Also, as I told you before, look at those boats as a platform that carries a small hut in the center. In the old days, what they carried was a house. That's where the Uros used to live. They're also telling me that there are some amazing archaeological ruins around here. But guess what... drop your F in the chat. They are approximately two hours away by boat in what they call the great lake. Over there the tide is not like the one we have here. Over there it is strong and I never want what happened to us on the Palomino Islands to happen again. So, the islands and the archaeological ruins are very beautiful, but we'll search for them on the internet. And I was also wondering how the Uros handle education. Do they have access? Do they have to go to the mainland? And asking around here they told me that on the islands there's a floating island that's a school. Where usually the teacher goes around in a little totora boat picking up all the students to take them to school. And when they have to go to high school they do have to go to Puno and it turns out that there's a university in Puno, so they can perfectly prepare themselves here to become professionals. Here we are arriving at the capital of the Uros Islands. This is well organized, so much so that each island has a president because remember, on each island, a lot of families live together, But there is a president of all the islands who usually lives here in the capital, the capital is also a floating island where there is a restaurant and all that stuff. So we're going to order something, but this is really interesting. As an appetizer to whet the appetite, Maria recommended me to try the tajte. It's like the traditional bread here on the Uros Islands that's made from flour and wheat, Maria told me, right? It reminds me a lot of what we know as the prestiño. So let's try it with manjar, they call dulce de leche here that I have there, let's see how it is. Let's try the Uros' tajte. It's basically like a prestiño. Friends, we now have food for the gods straight from the Uros Islands We ordered a trout which I've never tasted before, let alone a trout from Lake Titicaca! Look, they serve it as if they've split the little fish in two So it looks huge, but it's actually an optical illusion, you can apply this in your restaurants, kitchen masters And it also comes with this thing called chuño From what I understand, it's a type of potato, here in Peru there are over a thousand types of potatoes, as far as I understand Let's try this Lake Titicaca trout, it amuses me that the meat looks a bit pinkish Let's smear it with a bit of chili to spice up our life, and down it goes Truth is, it's quite tasty, has a quite normal fish taste, it's good Friends, we're now far from the Uros Islands, we're already on the shores of the lake And now I want to talk about a topic that I can't really give an opinion on because I don't know it, I'm not from here, and also no one wanted to talk to me about it No one wanted to give me an answer about it I asked several people Because it turns out that flying to Rafelo, when I was in the air I saw something that looked very bad. In my opinion, it's pollution. I'm not a lake expert, but that didn't look good at all, it's all the part behind where the Uros Islands are. It seems the water is stagnant and also in very bad condition, there are parts that look black, etc. And people avoided discussing this topic with me. So it caught my attention a lot. I'm not saying this is caused by the islands, not at all. Maybe it's caused by the city or different companies around here. I really don't know, I just point it out because it caught my attention a lot. It seems that it's a really, really, really big part of the lake that's polluted, and it's a shame because it's a very beautiful area. Well friends, so finally today's video ends here. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, what an incredible place, the most incredible thing of all, at least for me is to see all these ways of life that exist that we have no idea about. Could you imagine people living on floating islands in the middle of the highest navigable lake on the planet? this is unreal, really, I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I did, Don't forget to subscribe, share this video if you liked it. See you in the next video. Pura vida, kisses from someone who today discovered a way of life that they never imagined.
