sorcerer playing pipes

sorcerer playing pipes,

condor feathers in the reeds,

carved staff by the door

Part of the charm of visiting Islas Uros, the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, is a chance to experience their lifestyle close up. After a group presentation, the residents take us by the hand, two-by-two, and lead us into their homes. The huts, constructed of totora reeds just like the entire island, contain just two beds, also made of reeds, covered with colorful handwoven spreads. Our host is a medicine man. His carved staff rests near the open door and one wall is decorated with the feathers of the sacred condor. He takes down one of his bamboo zamponas and sits on the larger bed to play a healing tune for us. Then he takes down some of the flamboyant skirts and jackets and hats hanging on the wall and puts them on over our western clothes. Back outside, he leads us to where his wife has spread her handmade crafts, but even the gestured invitation to purchase is as gentle as the sound of his pipes.

on the bed golden

on the bed golden

mats of totora reeds made of

mud, water, sunlight

The bed I am sleeping on at the hospedaje on Isla Amantani has a frame made of mango-colored wood and a double mat of totora reeds, harvested from the lake, dried and braided together along the edges. The resilient mats are very comfortable to sleep on and give off an earthy fragrance that reminds me of wheat straw. Despite the altitude, a thunderstorm and an early wake-up call, I sleep well on Mother Nature's gifts.

on her home of reeds

on her home of reeds –

reed floor, reed walls, reed fuel –

the cook fries flat bread

The clay cook stove with its clay pots sits in the open, fueled by dry totora reeds, since no fires are allowed inside the huts made of reeds. The Uros cook wears her hair in long braids ending in huge tassels called t'ikas. The style of her hat, colorful jacket and full skirt, perhaps even the tassels are traditional attire for the women of the floating islands. In addition to frying flat bread, the cook is boiling some small fish. Most of the fish in Lake Titicaca are imports, rainbow trout from Canada and king fish from Argentina, which have overtaken the native fish. Tourists are another invasive species, but we are greeted warmly, ushered in twos and threes inside their tiny homes, then led by the hand to the crafts spread out for sale on the yielding ground of floating reeds.

on Islas Uros

on Islas Uros

rowboat tied to the floating

totora reed island

On our three-hour boat ride from Puno to Isla Amantani on Lago Titicaca, we stopped at one of the Islas Uros, the floating islands made from totora reeds. The Uros people literally live on the abundant reeds they gather from the shallows, construcing islands from cross-hatched layers of reeds and replenishing them as the bottom rots. The Uros also build their huts from reeds, so tightly woven that few drops of rain make it through the thick thatch. A family of four or five sleeps on reed beds that take up most of the hut. Flames of any kind are not allowed inside, so most activities take place in the open area in front of the circle of huts. The Uros also build large boats from bundles of reeds. They even eat the reeds, peeling the white base. Nowadays they fabricate crafts from reeds for the tourist trade. It is said that the Uros retreated to these islands to avoid the incursions of Callos and Incas. Now, few pure-blood Uros remain, due to intermarriage with the neighboring Ayamara. The island we visited has a solar panel, so the islanders have a television and, of course, the ubiquitous cell phone.