48 Hours on Lake Titicaca’s Floating Islands (with locals)

Welcome to our new home on Lake Titicaca. This is one of the most unique lakes in the entire world. It's the largest lake in all of South America and the highest navigable lake in the world. Sitting at 12,500ft.

It feels more like we're fishing in the ocean than it does a lake.

But what's most interesting is that this people group called the Euros have built these floating islands out of reefs and they live full time out here on the lake.

Mucho gusto, Bri. So we are going to spend the next 48 hours living with the locals, local family, in an attempt to learn what life is really like for these people. What do they do all day? Do they like living on these islands? Is it just a big tourist trap? Hopefully we'll get to find out.

Wow, look at that view. Our first glimpse of Lake Titicaca. So we arrived here late last night.

On a train, which we made a whole video about, by the way. It's over on Daily Drop's channel.

Watch it. After this one checked into the hotel in the dark, and that is the view that we woke up to this morning. Pretty incredible. So the people that live here, they make most of their money from fishing and tourism. This is actually one of the most popular places to visit in Peru if you come as a tourist. And honestly, when we were here back in 2017, that kind of put me off to coming. I just thought it would be too touristy. But now that we're here for a second time, we couldn't resist visiting and we're going to do our best to go beyond the typical tourist experience and really immerse ourselves in local life here on the lake. We've been talking to a family who's going to host us and hopefully they're going to show us what it's like to really live here. But when you arrange these things on the Internet, you really never know what you're going to get. So join us for the next 48 hours as we hopefully immerse ourselves in local life here on the lake. Wow, 12,600ft is high. I'm out of breath just from talking to the camera.

Oh.

Luis.

Okay.

No problemo.

Is this our friend?

I have absolutely no idea what to expect for the next 48 hours, but the couple that just got off this boat said it was amazing, so expectations are high.

Soles.

Alright, so this is like an entry fee into the community.

Look at this. This is the first time we're seeing one of the floating islands.

Whoa.

It literally is just wreathed Laid on top of each other. Just because. Yes, we have our tickets to get us into the community. So far, feeling pretty touristy. No, I'm actually really looking forward to this. This looks incredible. Wow. Look how much they're moving.

I'm standing on a floating island.

It's pretty squ.

Yeah.

Wow.

Home sweet home. It feels local.

We are 100% floating. When a boat drives past, you can feel a whole island moving. This is crazy. Bed test.

Didn'T really sink down into that.

It's, like, not hard.

But it's not. So.

Okay. We're just dropping our stuff off for now, and then Luis is going to take us on a tour of the community.

Look at that.

Pretty sweet view.

So good.

If all we do is just sit here and enjoy this, it's gonna be a good couple days.

I think we spoke a little too soon because our host, Lewis, just disappeared for two hours. So we were just waiting around awkwardly for him to return for our tour of the community. It was already feeling a little touristy, and the tourist tax didn't help. So at this point, we honestly had no idea what was going on or what we had gotten ourselves.

All right, so we're not exactly sure what's going on. Luis put us in the boat. He's driven us to what he called the capital, which feels a lot more like a restaurant. But we're gonna have some lunch. Welcome, tourist. So far, we're nailing the local thing.

All right, we just received an unexpected appetizer. Sopa de la trocha.

I have a feeling a lot of trout is in my future. Any food that has a bone intimidates me, and I don't know how to eat it. Like, am I about to eat bone right now?

I don't know.

I'm not good at this. The bones learning curve. But it tastes absolutely delicious.

All right, and we are off to somewhere else. Come along.

If it isn't obvious enough, this whole experience has kind of felt like a tourist trap up until this point. After lunch, we paid 12 soles each for waters, which is triple what we've paid our whole time in Peru. We really went into this trip hoping to experience what local life is like here on the lake. But sometimes you just have to embrace the tourist in yourself.

So Luis has brought us to what he says is a sacred island. He says this is the protector island of all the other islands. And he's asked us to make an offering for a good trip and for safe travels and to make a good first impression. That's what we're going to do. We bought a beer from a guy that lived on one of the floating islands. And apparently that's what you offer the gods here. Did you bring a bottle opener? Maybe I can.

Oh, it's like I've done that before. Yes, I miss yes shake 10 times. Okay.

I thought we were gonna this here. Okay. For a good trip. Well, that was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. I don't think I've ever done that before. You see it like after NASCAR races and stuff.

This was our first real look at what local life is actually like on Lake Titicaca. The traditions and history of these floating islands goes back hundreds of years. And it felt good to finally see the more authentic side of the lake. The Euro people have built an entire community. The islands, boats and homes are all made out of the local Totora Lake reeds, which are naturally buoyant at the time of harvest.

This place is so fascinating. I don't know if you've noticed, but it looks almost more like a field with rivers running through it than it does a wide open lake. And the reason that these islands started to exist in the first place is because the people here actually built moving islands for protection. So if they got attacked, they could just actually move their home to another part of the island or way out into the deep middle part of the lake. And apparently that's where they were until the 90s. And then there was a big storm that destroyed a lot of the islands. And after that big storm came through, they actually moved closer to shore in order to be more protected. I also assume it's more convenient to be closer to the reeds that you use to build the floating islands. Just the fact that this place exists blows my mind. So we just made the offering on the back side of this rock. And Luis's house where we're staying is somewhere. One of those houses out there.

After spraying beer with Lewis, he invited us to set fishing nets for the night. We happily agreed to come along to see what the fishing is like here because it's one of the main sources of income for the Euro people. Louis also brought his little daughter, Bree, who happened to be the cutest 7 year old I've ever met.

Oh, are you coming with us?

Yay.

Oh, it's hard. It's. So Luis was saying that it would be possible to build a house here on solid ground, but it would only work about six months out of the year because the other months it's flooded. So you'd have to move on to a boat. And that's why everybody builds their house on the floating islands.

Would they live part time on land and then part time on the water?

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

How. How long is the net?

40. 40 meters.

So 120ft of net, and we'll do all of it.

20 minutes. That's fast. We're speaking a lot of Spanglish here. We're trying to make sense of the world.

Nate grew up fishing on the lake in our hometown. Been a very long time since he's gotten a fish. And also, I don't feel like he ever really knew what he was doing. It was always, like, guessing. So to be with a real fisherman.

Whoa. This is totally different.

I used to fish it with a fishing pole. And this is a net. This is great. I'm so happy we're doing this.

Boys are working on their project.

Girls are working on ours. You gonna draw a photo?

Maybe not.

We're still working on our communication. Look at that backpack. She's the cutest thing ever.

Prepare soup.

Soup with the fish. Okay. We're gonna make some fish soup. Breakfast for breakfast. Okay. That's not what meal? I thought you were gonna say.

Oh, yeah. First.

This is great. Muy feliz me.

I think I said I'm very happy.

Who's that?

High five.

Yeah. Solo or con papa?

Solo.

So Luis says that he's been fishing every day by himself since he was 7. I truly am learning from the pro. We finished.

Nice.

Nice work.

Ms. Free is a very helpful seven year old. Aw, she's got it. Atta girl.

Ciao.

Gracias, brie.

Good job.

Oh.

Honestly, this is the exact moment I was hoping for when we came here. You have fish in your hair.

At this point, we really felt like we were getting the true Lake Titicaca experience. Lewis and his family were so accommodating and willing to take us on a tour of their home, showing us all of their culture and traditions. Nate was feeling like a little kid fishing back home in Tennessee. And Bree was reminding me of my days as a free school teacher. Lake Titicaca has forced us to pause and take a break from. From our normally crazy, hectic lives to just enjoy nature and the company of others. We went back to the island where we were sleeping and showed Lewis, his family and his absolutely adorable baby an aerial view of his home with our drone. This was really sweet to watch.

Okay, we're going to his brother's house.

Then he dug up a couple beers he had stashed for us. And we enjoyed the sunset across the lake. Little did we know that's not all they had planned for us.

I honestly can't see anything.

Wow, this is amazing.

I was not expecting this. We're in our own little private dining room with candles and.

Coffee.

Oh, my gosh, there's hot water in here now. Should we have a tea? Yeah.

I'm so happy. Literally, a couple hours ago, Lois was just like, dinner at 7:30.

That was all we knew.

My wife is cooking and we're like.

Okay, and here we are gonna fill up on dinner tonight because I'm not sure that I'm gonna be able to get down fish soup for breakfast. It's not that I don't like fish soup. It's just that I'm very American in my breakfast habits, and I like cereal and sweet things.

Nate can hardly eat avocado toast for breakfast.

Oh, wow.

This is beautiful in the shape of a fish. Oh, this is.

Wow. A primary private, romantic candle at dinner. This is definitely not what I had in mind when I booked this.

Good morning. Cara from the future here. Sorry for the interruption. I was listening to this podcast the other day, and they were talking about how when people are physically hurt or sick, it's very normal and expected to go to a doctor, and they help us feel better. But when it comes to our mental health, for some reason, so many of us feel like we can deal with our struggles all on our own, which is crazy because there are professionals for that too. They're called therapists. And I think therapy is super cool. And I want to be a part of this movement that I feel like is happening, where people are starting to value their mental health health just as much as their physical health, if not more. Which is why I'm super excited to thank BetterHelp for sponsoring this video. Just in case you've never heard of BetterHelp, they're the world's largest therapy service, and they're 100 online. The way it works is first, you answer a few questions about yourself and your preferences, and that way BetterHelp can match you with one of their 30,000 licensed professional therapists who can best meet your needs. Then you can. You can talk to your therapist however you feel most comfortable, whether that's through text chatting, phone calls, or video chats. Then, if your therapist isn't working out for any reason at all, you can switch to a new therapist for no additional charge. And you can get 10% off your first month with better help if you use the link in our description below, which is betterhelp.com K&M. That's better. H, L P.

It's cold at 12,500ft. Also, it's May, which is winter in the southern hemisphere.

Just used the hot water from dinner last night.

Thank you.

So we were just sitting outside drinking our coffee, enjoying the morning, and all of a sudden this man in a boat pulled up, and it was an entire floating market. So we bought some bananas for breakfast. Pretty sure that fish soup is still on the menu at some point, but he's a hold us over until we get there. Also, unlike the touristy island that we went to yesterday, the prices were super reasonable. We paid six soles for four bananas and two bags of popcorn. So cool. I guess he comes every morning because as soon as he pulled up, he was already throwing bread off of the boat. I guess it's just a standing order that he has with Luis. And then Luis came up and ordered a few more things, and then next thing we knew, he was off to the next floating island. It's just fascinating to see how life works out here.

Good morning. You ready for work?

Let's do it. Let's hope the fish is, well, I don't know.

Okay. It is 8am which means the fishing nets have been out for about 14 hours. And now it's time to pull them up.

The water is so clear.

Oh, yeah, the tiny ones.

It's literally just a kitchen knife tied onto the end of the stick. I see our first fish. Yeah, there's one. Oh, can I see this? Oh, wow. There's a lot.

Wow.

Gracias. He's getting three out at the time. It's taking me to get one.

The type of fish that we're catching is called Karachi.

So recently there have been protests in this part of Peru, and that stopped a lot of tourists from coming. So Luis was telling me that he had to start fishing again. So every day he would fish, and then his wife would take the fish into the city to sell the fish in order to make enough money. So tourists are good. Less. Less work when you have tourists.

Okay. So that boat that just passed us, they're taking their fish to go sell it. The city. How many people live here?

3,000.

Wow. It's pretty amazing that this community is so unique, but There are only 3,000 people that continue to live this lifestyle. This is today's catch. Bri and Luis seem to be pretty excited about it, so I think this is a lot. And now we're going to go make some soup.

I'm going to see If I can help Sylvia cook breakfast. Breakfast finish, Finished. Oh, me too.

Good.

Yes. You shouldn't have. There are many things that I genuinely just hate to eat, but sweet bread is one of them.

I thought we were eating fish soup for breakfast. We don't know now if he was joking or if the fish soup is still coming. But we do have pancakes and bread and eggs.

Maybe he heard you last night talking about how American you are.

And I like cereal and sweet things. I did get the exact breakfast I wanted, I think because I was expecting fish soup. The pancakes taste extra good.

Mmm.

Is that orange juice? Oranja?

Si.

Gracias. I'm in love with that child. She is the cutest, sweetest, most mature 7 year old I've ever met. They seem genuinely so happy to give us this experience. Like, it doesn't seem like they're working to me, even though I know they're working really hard. It just seems like they're living their life and we just get to be a little part of it.

Cheers to no fish soup for breakfast.

We're about to go back out on the boat with Louise, but before we do, I thought I'd show you our setup in here. Now that we've made ourselves at home, clearly our stuff is all over the ground. You can ignore that. As you can see, it's a very simple setup.

It's pretty simple, but it's also pretty incredible that it stays together because this house is built on reeds which aren't exactly stable. Every time a boat drives past, the whole place moves around a little bit. And I don't know how it doesn't just break. Apart from what I can see, it's built with wooden nails, and I feel like it should just all start to crack and break, but maybe over time.

There is no heat or air. So it got pretty cold in here last night because it's winter. But we have six thick, heavy, amazing blankets. So I slept great and I opened my eyes to this view. I'm obsessed with the windows. There's a solar panel right outside our door that powers this whole house. So pretty sure all the solar energy goes to this big power bank. So we've been charging our phones and our camera batteries, and it also powers the light in here. Here's the bathroom. It has everything we need. A sink, a shower, which does have a solar heater for the water, and a fully functioning toilet. Not positive where toilet waste goes, and I don't think I'm going to ask. The outdoor deck is definitely my favorite part. I Think it's the highlight of this whole experience. We've spent so much time just sitting in these chairs, soaking in this view. It really is like a slow style, simple life here. I mean, these people work so hard, but as a tourist just coming, there's really not much else to do but just sit and enjoy. And we just don't do that very often. It's been really lovely. Besides the occasional boat motor, it is so quiet, and we're just surrounded by the most beautiful nature. It's been great.

So if I'm understanding Luis correctly, there's a piece of wood that's stuck in the reeds behind us, and he was explaining that that's actually an anchor that is holding an island in place. The thing is, the closest island is over there. So there are six eucalyptus anchors that are set up around each island that all have nylon rope. And those six anchors are what hold the island in place and keep it from going to Bolivia, as Louise said. I knew there were anchors. I just pictured them being directly below the island. But apparently they're spread out pretty far away from it.

What?

This is the root floating.

These are like the ones at your house.

Yeah, bigger.

See, it's good.

Small is decoration of the island.

Oh. This is actually growing on the island. So I'm not sure if you can see the little house over there. Right there, that's a pig house. So they raised pigs there. And Luis was explaining that the pigs actually eat the roots of these reeds that we're collecting.

This name is Kinina the knife. This is the metal. This is the put this.

Why make so easy?

Wow. Should I try? Yeah. All right. So we cut them off down at the bottom to keep them as long as possible.

Releases were a lot bigger. The keno. Okay. Nice work, Nathan. Thanks.

We've seen so many boats that literally look like they're sinking because they have so many of these reeds stacked up. And I'm realizing now how long they must have been cutting the reeds because they've already done about five good chunks, and it hardly looks like they've gotten anything.

Two hour cut.

Okay, here we go.

Luis is calling this the banana of Titicaca. Apparently, you peel it like a banana.

Ah.

Don't eat the green, only the white. Here we go. Just pulled this straight from the lake, and now I'm eating it.

Okay.

It kind of tastes like if iceberg lettuce was in the form of a cucumber. Like it's cold and crunchy and.

Wet.

I kind of love it. Is it healthy? Good for you.

It's good.

Well, now I really love it. Not only do these taste good and they're good for you, but apparently they're also used to clean your teeth. Luis's father, he said, is very traditional. He doesn't have a toothbrush. He just does this every day.

Luis has really nice teeth, so I think there's something to it.

All right. So we've taken a little break from work to see a little more of the village. We're currently at the community center. So this is the soccer field that I'm currently standing on. And right beside the soccer field is the hospital.

It's 1988. Luis, baby.

Luis just told us that his father is a doctor. So his mother gave birth to eight children either in a boat or on the island. It's amazing. So apparently, people who don't have fathers who are doctors come and have babies here at the hospital. If there are any complications, then they.

Go to the city.

But I'm kind of guessing the 3,000 people that live here are pretty healthy because the hospital has a lock on the door and no one's here, which is great because of all the reeds that they eat, I guess.

So the little complex we just passed is the first place I've seen on metal pontoons. But I guess they really don't want that to sink because that's the kindergarten. They even have a little play area out on the reeds. I just can't fathom what it would be like to grow up here.

We stopped at one of the islands that the families live on, and I think we're gonna have a look around at some of their houses and perhaps buy some souvenirs. Not sure.

Luis, do people live here or only for tourists?

Live here?

Yeah.

This is president of the island. This is children.

I have no idea what we just exchanged. We're attempting to speak the local language. It's a bit difficult.

So we're in the middle of a hard sell to buy some souvenirs right now. But I did learn something pretty interesting that I did not intend on learning. They call these the romance boats because apparently there's not a lot of privacy when you live on the islands, because a lot of people live with their whole families. So he said two people go out on the boat and three people come back.

I'm pretty sure this is the biggest souvenir I've ever bought. Our nieces share a room, and I think this would be so cute hanging in their bedroom. Our friend told us that when the babies look up and they see this, they go to sleep.

It's pretty amazing how resourceful the people here are. The group that lives on this island has built a fish farm in the middle of the island. So they're. They're basically growing their own fish so they don't have to go out and catch them. I. I think this might be the most dangerous part of the trip, climbing up inside of a fish tower. Keep in mind it's not like this is really in solid ground. It's just stuck in the reeds somehow. Wow, look at the view. So Luis was saying that these towers are here for tourists to take pictures, but they were actually here before because it was a way for people to communicate from island to island. I think they've made them look a lot fancier for the tourists. I'm sure they didn't like, make them into a fish, but each island used to have its own tower so you could yell and communicate with other islands. See if I can climb down without dying.

So now we're passing Bree school, which is where she should be right now, but apparently her teacher's baby is sick, which means all 40 kids who go to school there get the day off. That's very sad for her teacher and her baby, but I'm really glad we've gotten this extra day with Brady. She braided my hair, Ash is playing with my rings, and we're best friends. She's really added so much to this trip for me. She's just the sweetest thing. Back at the same lunch place as yesterday, I ordered fried cheese. Take a little break from fish for this meal.

So I've learned we're just redoing the decorations. With the reeds that we cut earlier, we're moving the dry ones from the pole to the ground.

I appreciate the pride he takes in getting all of the ties at the exact right level on each pole so they match. Nice work.

So this morning after we got done fishing, Luis seemed really excited about the idea of taking me further out into the lake to fish for bigger fish. This requires us heading out this afternoon to set up the nets, and then Tomorrow morning at 4:30 getting on the boat to go collect the fish. I'm going to be honest, getting on a boat at 4:30 in the morning when it is freezing cold, like literally it's freezing here during the night would not be my first choice. But he was really excited about the idea of giving me this fishing experience in return for me paying for the gas. I also assumed that he's going to be able to sell the fish that we catch at the market. So felt like the right thing to do and the right thing to say yes to. So. So we're about to head out to the big open portion of the lake to set up the fishing nets. I just feel like Luis has really given us a lot over the past couple of days, like really letting us into his life and going and above to give us this experience. And so this just felt like a little way that I could pay him back. That unfortunately requires me waking up at 4:30 tomorrow.

Okay, the boys are going fishing.

I love you.

Have fun.

See you tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Sleeping in the.

No surprise.

Bye.

I think we might freeze to death, but I am really looking forward to this evening. The sunset is already incredibly beautiful and I'm looking forward to seeing the wide open portion of the lake because Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in the all of South America. But it definitely doesn't feel like it when you're just living in these rivers that run between the reeds. I think it's going to be pretty special to be in the wide open portion of the lake at sunset and you know, we're just continuing our bonding.

It's a little rougher out here, the open water. Also, I'm not realizing we haven't left least an hour drive back in the dark through this. I was going to ask whose idea it was, but.

It feels more like we're fishing in the ocean than it does a lake. Pretty sure Luis is faster without me, so he's just doing it himself. Look at this.

This is just one of those moments, moments in life where you just think, how in the world did I end up here? I'm on a tiny boat in the middle of Lake Titicaca as the sun is setting. What a crazy life.

I did manage to find one thing I'm useful for. Keeping the boat going in a straight line while Luis puts out the net.

I'm glad you're back, my little fisherman.

It was actually a really good night.

Yeah, I was cold in here, so I can't imagine how cold you were.

Tonight was really good.

Are you excited to go back tomorrow?

I have one of those moments where it was just like.

How in the world did I end up here?

In case anyone was doubting how cold it is, the clothes on the line are frozen.

I think Luis might have overslept. Ah, buenos dias.

Good morning.

It's a good thing I still have everything for the monkey run. Waterproof, out of layer gloves, buff. Wow, look at this.

The camera doesn't even do it justice. This was totally worth waking up for.

We have made it out into the open part of the lake. Thankfully, it is much calmer than last night. Glassy smooth this morning. And I am so looking forward to seeing how we're gonna find this net. We just left it floating with two bottles attached to either side last night. Wow.

What a morning. I'm so glad Luis talked me into this. Anytime I wake up before the sun, I hate it. For, like, the first 15 minutes I'm awake, and then I'm like, why don't I do this every day? I just feel like I'm so ahead of the rest of the world.

So I was right in thinking it might be hard to find the net. Been searching for it for a while now. And Luis was explaining to me that normally when he comes out here, he stays the night. And when he does, he ties the net to the boat, and that's like his anchor for the night. And also when he wakes up in the morning, all he has to do is just pull it in. But now it's just float it.

Somewhere.

I've never felt I was so lazy getting up at 6:30 before knowing that Nate was up at 4.

Gosh, it's freezing.

I'm gonna miss it here. Feels like we've been here forever when it's just barely been 48 hours.

We found it. It's the floating bottle we've been looking for all morning.

Second cup.

Lake Titicaca. This trip has vastly exceeded my expectations, and I think we owe all of it to Luis and his family.

Hola. Good morning.

Okay, just had a quick little combo with madre. As I was saying, I think we got really, really lucky booking our stay with them. There's just something about completely immersing yourself in a place that's so different from what you're to used used to. And Luis has just done that so beautifully. I mean, I genuinely feel like we got what we came here for, which is to know what it's really like to live here. But he just did it in the most kind, genuine way. They just opened up their home and their life to us, and I'm just really grateful that we ended up here. Luis was actually telling us yesterday that during the pandemic and recently with the protest, he hasn't had as many guests, so he's had to do a lot more fishing because he still has to make money.

Nice.

Nice work. Muy bonita de un quilo. As soon as Luis took over the net, we caught one. But we have pulled hundreds of meters of net for that one trout.

And he's been taking his boat out to the larger portion of the lake where him and Nate are now and cast the nets at night. But then instead of driving back 30 minutes to sleep in his house with his family, he's been sleeping in his boat with a plastic tarp to save gas. Even though it's only a 30 minute ride, he'll sleep there all night to wake up in the morning and get the fish and come back and not have to make two trips. And that's the reason he was so excited when we offered to cover the gas to come back. He jumped on the opportunity and it just, it made me really grateful that we chose to stay here with them to support his family also personally, it just, it's allowed me to just take a look at what I have in my life. I'm just feeling extra grateful for it. I don't think that he's any less happy than we are. He might be more happy than we are here. I don't know. It's always good to. To put life in perspective.

We have returned with fish. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

Grande.

It's huge. If you find yourself in Peru wanting to visit Lake Titicaca, I think it goes without saying you should come stay with Luis. He's on Airbnb. He'll make your trip extra special, so come support him so he doesn't have to go sleep in his cold, wet boat. You won't regret it. I love them. I love it here. It's so great. What a special week.

Goodbye.

Gracias.

Bye.

This is Guzzi ass.

We were out of the boat. I asked Luis if he had more money, if he would choose to live on the island or if he'd move to the city. And I was happy to hear him say that he'd stay on the island. But he did say if he had more money, no fishing, and feel like I had a lot of time to think out on the boat. And I really feel like my view on tourism at Lake Titicaca is that a complete 180 in the last 48 hours. When we were coming to the lake, I was really hoping that no one else would be there, we'd have the place all to ourself and we would get this really authentic experience. But I realized how selfish that was. I wasn't thinking what was best for the people who live there. And now I hope that way more people go and stay with Luis so he can fish less and run his airbnb and spend more time with his family. It's been a good learning experience for me. Sa.