3 LAKE TITICACA ISLANDS
AND THE PEOPLE
WHO LIVE ON THEM
BY Diego Oliver in www.livinginperu.com, JULY 30, 2018
Rich in natural beauty,
Lake Titicaca is inhabited by people with plenty of history and ancestral
traditions, proudly maintaining their customs and developing a lifestyle that
co-exists in harmony with their surroundings.
To speak of the inhabitants
of Lake Titicaca is to venture into the origins of ancestral towns that
for centuries have lived in harmony with this natural wonder. The
people that live on the water, the Uros, Aimaras and Quechuas, share the
ecosystem and, in recent years, have adapted to modern needs. As part of
this, locals have opened their doors to whomever wishes to spend time with
them and learn about their style of life and vision of the Andean Cosmos.
The Titicaca area hosts a
myriad of plant and animal life. There are birds such as the yellow billed
pintail (anas geórgica), the Andean Duck (anas puna), the
Titicaca Grebe (rollandia microptera), the Puna Plover (charadrius alticola),
the peregrine falcon (falco peregronus) and the barn owl (tyto
alba).
Fish include the
catfish (trichomycterus rivulatus), the fish genus orestias and
trout (oncorynchus mykiis), as well as the giant toad of Lake
Titicaca (telmatobius culeus), an endemic species. Among the animals
that inhabit the areas adjacent to the lake and rivers are vicuña, alpaca,
llama and fox.
In terms of flora, there are
twelve types of aquatic plants, among those are the Southern Bulrush (scirpus
californicus), waterweed (elodea potamogeton), lemnas (lemna sp.)
and musk grass (chara sp.).
1.
The Uros and Their Floating Islands
The floating islands in Lake
Tititcaca are inhabited by the Uros, an ethnic group that was distributed over
the Collao Plateau, up until some decades ago.
Today, their descendants have
conserved and adapted the traditions and survival mechanisms of their
ancient forebearers. With adept understanding of the properties of
the Southern Bulrush, or totora, they have developed a life on
floating islands made of this material.
To ensure the
survival of the community, the Uros carry out various projects related to
sustainable tourism that allow visitors to get to know their
customs and to spend a few days in an island lodge. These lodges offer basic comforts and one
can spend the day fishing for trout, silverside fish and the local
carachi, among other activities.
2.
Amantani Island
Known as the “Cantuta island”
for its abundance of Cantuta flowers, Amantani is home to pre-Inca
platforms as well as archaeological remains left by the Pukara,
Lupaka and Inca people. It has a population of over four thousand
inhabitants and is located on the Capachica Peninsula, around 40
kilometers away from Puno (three hours by boat).
With outstanding natural
diversity, this is the land of the Cantuta (Cantua buxifolia) and
of natural springs, which make it possible for inhabitants to work in
agriculture, and the production of potato, oca and beans. They also work
in textiles and fishing. Additionally, in recent years, locals have begun
to carve objects of daily use as well as make granite tiles that are extracted
from Llacastiti.
Eight communities live on
Amantani. They are the Pueblo, Santa Rosa, Lampayuni, Sancayuni, Occosuyo,
Incatiana, Villa Orenojón and Colqui Chaqui. For overnight
visits, the communities of Incatiana and Lampayuni are
good options. Here the islanders transform their homes
into accommodations with basic services, allowing tourists to stay
and take part in daily activities as well as enjoy typical gastronomy and
boat trips on the lake.
3.
Taquile Island
This community of Quechua
people can be reached by climbing five hundred steps from the port to the
town. Taquile, just like Amantaní, is a place where the culture of
its people is what most attracts visitors.
Experiential tourism
has allowed the visitor to get to know part of the Andean Cosmos vision of
its people. In Taquile, a visit
to the mountains, or apus, Mulsina Pata, Takilli Pata
and Coani Pata, is essential, as is seeing the local
archaeological remains and the Museum of Folklore.
Known for its music and
extraordinary weavings, Taquile is also known for its unique textiles,
which in 2005 were declared Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Cultural
Heritage. Since 2008, Taquile textiles also form part of UNESCO’s
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Nowadays,
the community of Taquile has its own tourism company called Munay Taquile, whose profits are
invested in the community and allow visitors to get a deep understanding
of the population who live there. Through
cultural exchange and shared learning, the people of Taquile guide
visitors through their lands, telling them their story and
allowing them to take part of their daily life.
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