When Indigenous Uros hoi polloi make it atLake Titicacahundreds of years ago , they build up dozens of artificial islands to protect themselves from hordes of angry Inca – and many have n’t moved since .
Lake Titicaca is a freshwater lake nestled in the Andes muckle on the border of Bolivia and Peru . It ’s the great lake in South America by most metrics and , located at an elevation of 3,812 meters ( 12,507 feet ) above sea level , it ’s one of the high lakes in the world .
Dotted along the lake ’s western quoin near the Peruvian metropolis of Puno , you may determine dozens of artificial island . Several thatched houses and structure sit on each island , some of which areonly30 meters ( 98 feet ) or so wide , although expectant ones exist .
The lifestyle of the Uros people is one of centuries-old tradition, as well as solar panels, satellite dishes, and motorboats.Image credit: Gail Johnson/Shutterstock.com
The floating political program are craft by stack level upon layers of stitched totora roots and reeds , according toBBC Earth . The totora flora is built-in to living on the lake . Its uncompromising rhizome fibers are used to make houses , sauceboat , roof , mattress , and more , as well as used to make tea , traditional medicinal drug , and culinary dishes fuck as “ lake banana”).Apparentlyit ’s not a bad hangover cure either .
So the story goes , this strange living arrangement emerge in the pre - Columbian era when the challenging Inca Empire began encroaching into the mainland villages of Uros . The Uros Greenwich Village migrated to Lake Titicaca where they built these float platform . If maraudingIncacame their means , the Uros could promote these stilted islands out to the middle of the lake and flee their ire .
The threat of the Inca Empire has long passed , but the custom remains strong . Even today , it ’s estimated around around 1,300 people live on some 100 construct island that lay on Lake Titicaca . Estimates of the number of island diverge reservoir by informant , but most say there are currently somewhere between 60 to 120 .
Maintaining the lifestyle is n’t easy . While totora is a tough and much - valued material , the thatched organic material degrades due to the force of nature over time , meaning the islands and homes are in a invariant nation of repair .
However , the traditional way of life is n’t without its modern perks . Many of the islands have solar panel that power luminance , radios , and television satellites . The lake ’s artificial island have also become a must - see spectacle for tourist , with some locals even lease out their totora - thatch homes to travelers onAirbnb .
