Uros Floating Islands

If you have been following our Instagram posts, you would have seen a post about the Uros Floating Islands. From Puno, we met our host at Lake Titicaca in his motor boat. He took us through a labyrinth of reeds until the water opened up to what seemed like a small town made of reeds. I read somewhere that there are about 200 floating islands. When we arrived on our host’s island, he gave us a small presentation about how the islands were made. From what I understand (the presentation was all in Spanish so we didn’t understand everything), the island is made up of totora reeds (that grow in the lake) and dense roots called khili. The island is anchored by ropes attached to sticks and stuck into the ground of the lake. The island was only about about 30 metres wide, but housed about 3 indigenous families, had a few guest houses, an eating area and a few gathering spots.

Our accommodations on the island were fantastic! For easier maintenance (I assume), the cottage we stayed in had a simple wooden structure, but was completely covered in reeds. Traditionally wood would not have been used I am sure. Attached to our cottage was the bathroom with a dry composting toilet, and a fully functional sink. I hear that the reeds underneath absorb a lot of the waste from the toilet. Our cottage was so comfortable. Since Lake Titicaca sits 3810 meters above sea level, it gets very cold at night, but we had so many extra blankets, we were very cozy! Our room was decorated with traditional tapestries and artwork made by our hosts.

After our presentation from our host, we had an option to go fishing. Charlie loves fishing, so it was an easy decision. Of course we would go! Another family from the island took us on a small tour where we saw the local school and some of the other islands, but once we got behind the island we were staying at, we set out a net that would stay out for the night. It was a long net that we attached to some reeds, but it also had stones tied to it to make it sink down to the bottom of the lake. When we got back to the island, one of the ladies was fishing from a hole in the middle of the island. David, Charlie and Adeline all gave it a try. It was a lot like ice fishing, but you don’t have a rod, you just hold the line in your hands. When we arrived, one of the ladies had already started to fish and had caught about 6 “killifish”. When we arrived, she brought the line in, and we saw that the line had about 5 or 6 hooks on the bottom. They needed to be baited again, so she cut up one of her fish she caught and used the meat on the hooks. David and Adeline each caught a fish, and one of the families fried it up for us for dinner that night!

The next morning, David and Charlie went with one of the families to bring in the fishing net. They caught about a dozen fish! They were pretty small fish, but it was exciting all the same. Actually the native fish in Lake Titicaca are all very small (most of Charlie’s catches were between 3-8 inches long), but apparently you can also find some North American Lake Trout in Lake Titicaca. According to smithsonianmag.com, in the 1930’s the Peruvian and Bolivian (both countries border the lake) governments asked for assisitance from the United States to help increase the economic opportunity of the lake. The United States sent someone to study the lake and, in the end, suggested stocking the lake with North American Trout. Apparently the effort didn’t really pay off, but now the trout are considered one of the most invasive species in southern Peru. We didn’t catch any trout, but Adeline enjoyed the eating the small fish very much!

Our time was very short on the reed islands as we left the next morning, but it was a fun adventure and I highly recommend to anyone travelling to the area to go stay on an island for a night. We stayed with Uros Lupaka Lodge Hotel, and we booked through Booking.com. The time we spent with this local family will be something we will never forget.