The Floating Villages Of Lake Titicaca

We took a full day trip on a boat on Lake Titicaca, visiting two fascinating islands one of which is called  Uros Floating Islands .

The Uros Islands are entire villages made of reeds that float around the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. Everything is made from reeds - houses, boats, kitchens, towers, schools, churches. They even eat the fresh reeds which have the consistency of an apple (and are very good for your teeth). It's truly amazing! 

Uros floating islands - everything is made from reeds.

These days they use some modern products like nylon rope to tie the reeds together and empty plastic bottles to use as pontoons for their boats. But pretty much everything else comes from the lake.  Each family creates their own floating island by tying together the roots of the reeds and then piling dried reeds on top of the roots to create a floor.  They have to refresh the reeds twice a month as they start to get wet and rot. They anchor their island so they don't float over to the Bolivian side of the lake and so they can stick together in a community. A floating reed island could last as long as thirty years. When the island starts to rot for good, they build a new one and send the old one off to compost.  

Dora shows us how they construct an island. The brown stuff below the reeds are the roots of the reeds. They are very light and buoyant. They tie the roots together and place the dried reeds on top.

Dora lives here with her family

They tie the reeds together with nylon string.

They get everywhere by boat - either a simple canoe made of reeds called a balsas, a typical rowboat, or sometimes a speed boat.  They also build fancy balsas with dragon heads for tours of the lake. They call these boats their version of the Mercedes Benz:)

Since they drink the water from the lake around their home, they don't have bathrooms on their floating islands, otherwise they'd contaminate the drinking water.  When they have to use the bathroom, they must take a boat to the other side of the lake, about twenty minutes of rowing.  

They also use the boats to go on dates. Since there isn't much common space or privacy on the islands the boyfriend will pick up his girlfriend in a reed boat and they will picnic together on the lake. 

Fancy boat made of reeds.

Here you can see a simple everyday reed boat (balsa) and a fancy tour boat side by side.

The equivalent of a school bus for the Uru kids. It's a school boat! They wear yellow jackets when they go to school.

We took a ride on a fancy reed boat!

Photo bombed by the sea creature on the fancy balsa boat!

The Uru people dress in traditional Peruvian clothes. Young girls wear bright colors that symbolize youth and love in their heart. Once they are adults and married they wear more muted colors (because they have given their love to their husbands). 

They mainly eat trout from the lake. There used to be 23 different species of fish in Lake Titicaca but the government introduced trout many years ago and the trout ate all the other species except a type of catfish and a sardine-like species. 

The population of these people is decreasing rapidly as more young adults leave to live a more modern life in Puno, so this community may not exist in the future.  We are very happy we had the opportunity to see it!

Question for Mrs. Barbier's class 2A: What is the biggest daily threat to the floating islands? 

Traditional Uru family. Gladis (left) and Dora (right).

The ladies are knitting. Notice how the little girl wears the brightest colors.

Welcome to the Uros!!