Uros Floating islands – Lake Titicaca

We traveled by boat from Puno; took about 70 minutes. People have lived on the lake for nearly 4,000 years, which is near the city of Puno and close to the Bolivian border. The stretches of the bay at which Puno is located were densely overgrown with reeds.

The Uru use bundles of dried Totora reeds for the construction of the floating islands and reed boats. The larger islands house about ten families, while smaller ones, only about two or three families.

 Upon arrival we sat on sheepskin covered benches, while the families living on the island explained about their everyday life: cooking cleaning, schooling the children. We learned Trout. was introduced to the lake from Canada in 1940, and kingfish was brought in from Argentina.

Each step on an island sinks about 2-4″ depending on the density of the ground underfoot. As the reeds dry, they break up more and more as they are walked upon. Standing on the island was like walking on a waterbed.