---
title: ""Nestled in the Bolivian highlands, the stunning beauty of Lake…"
date: 2020-08-22
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# "Nestled in the Bolivian highlands, the stunning beauty of Lake…

*August 22, 2020 · Facebook*

:::::: {}
::: {style="margin:1.5em 0"}
[![YouTube video](img/2020-08-22-fb-001-yt01.webp){style="max-width:100%; display:block"}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4pWyJ_9f14){rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"}

▶ Watch on YouTube
:::

:::: {}
\"Nestled in the Bolivian highlands, the stunning beauty of Lake Titicaca attracts thousands of visitors every year.\
\
The lake is the largest in South America and straddles Bolivia and Peru at 3,800 metres (12,493 feet) elevation. It\'s an 8,400 square kilometre (3,240 square mile) oasis, about an hour\'s drive from the Bolivian capital, La Paz.\
\
A popular tourist must-see are the floating islands near the town of Copacabana, built by indigenous communities, to increase visitor numbers and boost their income.\
\
Originally the islands were made from totora reeds, a traditional aquatic plant that grows in the lakes and rivers of the Bolivian High plateau.\
\
But in recent years, locals decided to ease the problem of pollution by recycling plastic bottles into flotation devices for new islands - reducing the need to collect totora reeds.\
\
One of the builders, Felix Antonio Tarija explains. \"In the biggest one there are 30,000 (plastic bottles), in the one over there 20,000, and in the small one 10,000. Here we always recycle plastic bottles.\"\
\

::: {style="margin:1.5em 0"}
[![YouTube video](img/2020-08-22-fb-001-yt02.webp){style="max-width:100%; display:block"}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4pWyJ_9f14){rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"}

▶ Watch on YouTube
:::
::::
::::::