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Everything is a work in progress, with the piles of reeds left drying, other being sorted and selected and others being used to mend holes in walls and roofs - and of course the floor.
'Kamisaraki!'
"Wa-lee-kee!'
The Uros greeting from the families 'Kamisaraki' A welcome and how are you? then we respond with 'Wo-lee-kee!!' which means, something along the lines of, 'very good thank you'. Our fantastic guide said this was important when arriving to their island, we couldn't forget, must give a friendly first impression. So, we did, with great in sync enthusiasm.
After the warm Aymaran welcome, our first impression of standing on a Uros floating reed island was one of sponge meets swamp.
These unique people and islands also offer overnight home stays, allowing guests to sleep in their homes bobbing on a reed island in the middle of Peru's lake Titicaca, or Lake TitiKaKa. However, we decided on the half day visit to catch the celebrations in the evening.
Out of the 89 Uros islands, we visited Khantawi. This is an organic, floating residence to five families. Each of the 89 floating island has a leader and for our island the leader was a lovely man named Rhaole. Rhaole expressed his love for football, he had a great humour and spoke fairly good English which I found impressive.
Conditions are basic: no running water (the locals drink from and bathe in Lake Titicaca), no showers, a basic toilet and a rudimentary mattress with blankets. All encased in a reed hut, with some blankets and plastic sheets. Their huts looked clean, tidy and they are more than happy for you to have a sit in.
Walking along the reed seems initially quite surreal and you do need to keep your eye on your step when treading the freshly laid reed. There was slight movement with a strong wind or when a boat passes, but other than the small risk of an occasional soggy foot or small trip as you plant it through the fibrous floor, it's easy to forget you are floating on water.
Our group sat down to have our guide and Rhaole explain and demonstrate the making of the Uros Islands and the maintenance they require, as well, showing the vital role of the reed and all its uses in everyday island living.
The habitants of the islands do not brush their teeth, instead, and equally effective (apparently) the stork of the reed plant cleaned them just by eating them daily. Rhaole collected some reed, passed them around and we broke off the reed, peeled the outer layer and ate the stalk. You can eat up to around 8 inch of the stalk up until the plant begins to turn green in colour. It didn't have much of a taste but was pleasant. When you split the stalk flat you can clean with it, they also use it for high temperatures and balance them on their foreheads for freshness. The remains of the reed goes to making the islands.
We had a great step by step demonstration of each stage needed when forming of the island. First step is to stack the reed leaving it to dry out and to turn in colour from green to the light colour you see in the photo. The base is thick soil blocks taken from the mainland with their boats, of which they bind together with nylon twines; the blocks looked about 3 feet in depth.
From here they mesh layer with the reed and lots of it! The reed floor needs to be re-done up tp every twelve days to keep the island in good nick. When maintained well each island can last up to 30 years, It is then anchored with stones to the lakebed, to prevent it moving, and can take a year to make each island. Before nylon was used, islands only lasted a few years. Their houses, boats and much more all made with reed plant. Its importance is huge. Rhaole had made a cute miniature island used during demonstration (see photo).
Cooking is done on fires on top of stones, and meals consist of soups, trout and the occasional hunted bird, or its eggs.
When the rains come, the totora reed absorbs a lot of the water, but it still drips through and many houses are now adorned with corrugated plastic or iron roofs.
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