Uros Floating Islands

Today we visited the Uro people on their floating islands on Lake Titicaca. This is often quoted as the highest navigable lake in the world. At 3,809m it is certainly high but the previous ferry crossing from Peru to Bolivia has now retired.

History says that when the Inca empire peaked the Uro people were shy and avoided conflict. So they abandoned the land and instead created artificial islands out of reeds. Their lifestyle grew to embrace the lake as the source of their needs - reeds for building, water for drinking, fish for eating etc.

The community is growing and numbers nearly 6,000 on 120 islands. Each island has its own president (leader) elected from the families. On the island we visited he welcomed us and told us how the islands are made. We saw them cooking and went on a ride on their reed boat and saw them collecting reeds.

A fascinating way of life and people. They do now have solar panels and both a primary and high school on the reed islands and a health clinic.Läs mer