Lake Titicaca, Nutrition Project in the Andes, and Uros Floating Islands

15 October 2017

This week's project took us to Lake Titicaca on the border with Bolivia to review a nutrition project that has been running for several years.

This high-altitude region of Peru has special needs. When you consider that many diets consist mostly of rice and potatoes, growing a home garden or raising small animals can help solve a host of issues associated with malnutrition.

Lake Titicaca and Puno

Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in South America and is also the highest navigable lake in the world (12,500 ft. elevation). The lake, 50 miles wide by 120 long, sits half in Peru and half in Bolivia.

Alpacas on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Puno is the city in the background.

Puno, on Lake Titicaca, is about as far south of Lima as you can get and still be in Peru. We fly into this remote region because driving would take several days.

Puno sits on the mountains slopes above the lake. Homes overlook the lake at altitudes approaching 14,000 feet.

Puno rises up out of Lake Titicaca and clings to the hillsides. Notice the ancient terraces on the tops of the mountains, built by the Incas to grow their crops.

Streets in Puno tend to be steeper and steeper the further from the lake that you get. Inca terraces are on the hills further up from the city, a reminder of the ancient cultures that lived here long ago.

Many women dress in traditional outfits in this region. They carry big loads in their brightly color shawls. Most of the time, they are carrying their babies in the shawls. Typical dress for women in this region includes the bright shawl, puffy skirt, alpaca socks, and pink shoes. I have never seen a woman dress like this in Lima. 

This was an interesting shot of a traditional Puno. With her other hand she was holding her cell phone and just chatting away. You somehow expect that someone dressed in such traditional garb is disassociated from the modern world, but this is never the case here in Peru.

Nutrition Improvement Project

A project in Puno was started 3 years ago to improve nutrition among our church members. The project included providing materials to construct small greenhouses to grow vegetables at high altitude (only potatoes and quinoa grows at this altitude without a greenhouse). Also, the project included building cages for animals like chickens and guinea pigs to provide more protein.

A simple greenhouse involves covering spare space with a wood frame and plastic sheets. It allows growing vegetables that could never grow otherwise at this elevation and cold.

Lettuce, beets, carrots, tomatoes, parsley, onions, and a host of other vegetables grow well as long as they are in a greenhouse.

We traveled around Puno, visiting several of these member greenhouses and animal pens to assess project effectiveness. Local leaders will finish up a survey to help us understand how to better run these projects in the future.

This small greenhouse helps feed a family of six.

In just a small space (4' x 10'), these members grow an amazing variety of nutritious vegetables, something that might otherwise be lacking in their diets. 

The church supplied the building materials (lumber, plastic sheets, starter seeds, and some initial animals). Members did the rest to build their enclosures and start their own gardens and animal breeding.

Some members raised small animals, such as guinea pigs (called 'cuy') and chickens, in the cages they kept on their roofs or sidewalks. Raising small animals works well, but (as one member told us) you can't let your children name the animals. Naming them turns them into pets, and the kids refuse to eat their pets.

Guinea pigs (called 'cuy') have been raised for food for millennia in the Andes Mountains. They look too cute to eat. I have eaten cuy before - it tastes like chicken!

We hope to close this project (meaning, let it continue on its own without further involvement) while starting other projects in different high-altitude regions.

Uros Islands

Several hundred families of Uros Indians live on floating islands on Lake Titicaca near Puno. During our few hours of free time on Saturday, we went out to the islands.

Aerial photo from the internet showing some of the 100 floating islands on Lake Titicaca on which the Uros Indians live. Each island is made of reeds. Up to 10 families live on each island.

Families work together to build their islands out of reeds. Their houses, also made of reeds, sit on top. They have to put a fresh layer of reeds on top of their islands every two weeks to keep them from sinking. Each island is about a yard thick and is anchored to the bottom of the lake, which is 30 feet below the surface.

The Uros Indians on one of their islands (I took this photo 3 years ago when we first came while on vacation in Peru. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy on this visit, so no one was outside). The Uros certainly love their bright-colored clothing.

The Uros chose to live on the lake rather than on land centuries ago, probably as a defensive measure. They get their food from the lake (fish and roots of reeds). They drink their water from the lake. When they need to use the bathroom, they row a small boat away from their island into the reeds and use the lake.

We found a boat and a local Uros guide to take us to his island. During this visit, it was cloudy, raining, and cold. We were the only tourists because of the weather and the late hour we arrived, so this was very much a private tour. 

Boats line the dock in Puno, waiting to take visitors out to the islands.

Our guide, Walter, took us to his island which he and his wife and kids share with 6 other families. The only trace of modern life was a solar panel that charges a battery in each home to provide light when it is night.

In the middle of the island was a small pond holding trout, which they use as a food source. A net at the bottom of the pond keeps the fish from escaping back into the lake. Ducks and chickens also roamed the island.

Walter invited us into his home. We walked across the floating island on the spongy reeds, about a yard thick. Every two weeks they add a new layer of reeds on top as the reeds on the bottom decay away. This keeps the island from sinking.

Our guide, Walter, tied up the boat to his island and invited us inside his home.

Once inside Walter's reed house, he changed into his more comfortable home attire. All the clothes for the family of four were hanging along the walls, helping to weigh down the house and hold it onto the island.

Walter invited us into his home. Note the floor is reeds, the bed is made of reeds, and the walls are made of reeds. There is no heater (due to fire concerns). They use about 10 layers of blankets to keep warm at night.

This wood-reinforced reed house is typical of all Uros homes. They have to lift their houses up each time they add a new layer of reeds to their floating island, so they have to keep the weight of the houses to a minimum.

Much of the family income came from selling handicrafts. Walter pulled out tapestries that his wife embroidered, a few of which we bought.

This is one of the Uros handicrafts that we bought. The colors are so bright, I asked Walter if it required a battery. He laughed. The piece of handiwork is about a yard long and cost about $25.

It felt comfy in Walter's home, in spite of  a cold wind and rain outside. However, we were glad we had sweaters and a light jacket. They don't use heaters since fire is a concern.

We left the island after the sun had set and returned in darkness to Puno in Walter's boat. We were guided on the 5-mile journey back to Puno by the lights of the city.

City lights of Puno guided our journey back in the darkness.

Life as a Uros Indian living on the island is a challenge. Walter told us that many Uros now live and work in Puno rather than face the trials of living on floating islands that require lots of maintenance to keep from sinking. He said that within another 20 to 30 years, he expected that most Uros would abandon the floating islands in favor of a more comfortable life ashore.

Critters

While most domestic guinea pigs have beautiful coats, wild guinea pigs roamed freely around the hotel grounds. These are the kinds of guinea pigs that were bred for their meat by many Peruvian civilizations, including the Incas.

Wild guinea pigs roaming around our hotel in Puno.

Our hotel kept alpacas on the hotel grounds. These friendly alpacas cut (and fertilized) the hotel grass while providing a reminder that the higlands of Peru are their native home.

These fluffy alpacas were a friendly addition to the hotel.

And so the trip ended at this high-altitude city and we returned to Lima, grateful to be back at sea level without the headaches caused by the altitude sickness.