Carmelo has never been seriously ill. He revealed that he ate a lot of mutton. He also described his diet: “I don’t eat noodles or rice, only barley. I used to grow potatoes, beans and oca (an Andean tuber)”
This very old Bolivian man lives in a hut near Lake Titicaca, at 13,000 feet (4,000 meters). He drinks
(and did it his entire life) a water originated on the snow-capped peak of Illampu, one of the highest of Bolivia.
Carmelo Flores is still an active man. He has never been 50 miles farther from the village of Frasquia,
where he was born, but as a Bolivian highlands peasant he takes care of animals even until this age. This is an occupation that forced him to be very active. As a habbit all the time he was chewing coca leaf.
In his village, almost everyone is at least middle aged or old.
Flores was discovered by a local television and the news surprised the Guiness World Records representatives. They have previously recorded as the oldest living person a 115 year old Japanese woman. Probably this will change now.
