The Floating Islands of Uros (Peru)

Uros Islanders - many still dress in traditional clothing

Riding on a reed boat is a little like riding on a floating hay bale

Woven reed figureheads adorn the bows of their boats. Lix enjoys the ride.

Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake, is home to the 'artifical islands' of Uros - 40 tiny islets floating on its surface at 3,821 metres above sea level, that’s higher than Mt Cook!

The Uro people who lived on the lake shore some 600-700 years ago created the islands to escape attack by their more aggressive neighbours, the Incas who dominated the mainland at the time. The Uro built their villages upon what are in effect huge rafts of bundled totora reeds.

The 'islands' are anchored with ropes attached to sticks driven into the bottom of the lake and the dense roots that the plants develop support the islands. The reeds at the bottom rot away fairly quickly, so new reeds are constantly being laid on top to compensate. The islands last about 30 years. Standing or walking on them you feel a slight squishy movement, and lying on them the sensation is not dissimilar to that of a water bed.

Today there are around 3,000 descendants of the Uro still alive, although only a few hundred live on and maintain the islands; most having moved to the mainland, where their children go to school for higher education and adults for employment.

The larger islands house about 10 families, while smaller ones, only about 30 metres wide, house only two or three. The islanders fish and hunt birds, graze cattle and pigs on nearby land, run crafts stalls for the tourists and trade fish for staple foods such as potatoes at the local market in Puno. There are primary schools, a post office and a small museum on the islands.

The totora reeds are the basis of their lifestyle, being used to build their houses, their traditional boats and as fuel for their cooking fires, the hearths being a protective layer of stone. To relieve themselves, there are tiny 'outhouse' islands near the main islands, the waste being dried in the sun to avoid polluting the water.

The islands are visited from the town of Puno. Click here for information on the Grassroots Peru Trip.