The Aymara people of the Floating Islands.

The vast and majestic Lake Titicaca is 3800 meters above sea level between Peru and Bolivia. It is South America’s largest fresh water lake and could easily be mistaken for an Ocean if it wasn't so still. The lake has many islands most of them being natural, apart from the Uros floating islands. Ancient civilisations that live on the 42 Uros floating islands on Lake Titicaca predate the Incas. The Aymara people are just one example. The Islands are completely fashioned out of reeds and were originally made as a precaution incase of attack so that they could make a get away with their whole village on board. Everything from the houses, furniture, and even children's play areas are cleverly crafted from woven totora reeds that grow in the lake and despite the islands having existed for hundreds of years, they have to be renewed by fresh layers of reeds every 30 years to prevent them from going under. To anchor them down, ropes are attatched to large wooden sticks at the bottom of the lake bed.
The Aymara people and thousands more still live as they would have hundreds of years ago, without technology or modern influence. They cook food on fires prepared in clay ovens on top of stone piles to prevent the floor from going up in flames. They use nearby smaller attatched reed islands to relieve themselves, using the reeds as a natural compost.  As well as fish form the lake the reeds also provide sustainance for food, the white part in the middle once peeled is delicious and has many medicinal qualities.
We arrived on a boat from Puno to visit one of the Islands and were greeted warmly by the Aymara people who welcomed us to sit on reed benches and watch demonstrations on how they make everything. We were then led into the home of a local family where the mother showed us their beautiful living space as well as the amazing handycrafts they had all been working on. Everthing from tiny woven boats to ellaborate tapestries displaying the history of their families. The Aymara people and many more now rely on the purchases of their local crafts by tourists that visit to fund their trips to the mainland and many other opportunities that would not once have been possible, however the influx of tourist interest is also surely challenging their traditional ways and has introduced ideas of a modern world which is not entirely positive in relation to their simple and pure way of life. We luckily managed to find an old 35mm camera in Puno (been kicking myself for not bringing one) and the locals allowed me to take some photo's of their beautiful floating village.