[Stories & Tips]

I’m definitely not a fan of treating human beings like zoo animals. That’s exactly how I felt the Uros Tribe of the floating islands of Lake Titicaca was treated. I booked a tour to visit the islands while in Puno, Peru. There were about 25 of us who boarded a small boat to reach one of the floating islands. There are around 1,000 Uros live amongst the 35 islands. They survive solely on fishing and hunting birds. Their islands are made completely out of layers of reed and they travel by boats made of reed. It was quite impressive! There is even a school made out of reed for the children to attend. Can you imagine living in the middle of a lake on a tiny little island made of reed for your entire life? WHOA. Actually, can you imagine what it would be like if somebody kidnapped an Uros person and dropped them off in the middle of Time Square in NYC? WHOA.

Obviously it was a special experience to visit indigenous people who are still living in their natural settings that date back to Incan times but I wish the tour was handled differently. I felt the people were exploited and belittled. Eventually I feel like the tour operators will wind up destroying their culture by making it touristy. It’s not wicked touristy yet but I can easily imagine that happening soon. It was so awkward that I didn’t even want to take pictures and half way through the tour, I ended up putting my camera away. I know some of our money is being distributed to the people but it was another reminder about how much I despise taking organized tours.