Uros Floating Islands

A man harvesting the totora reeds, which is what the floating islands are made from. The totora reeds provide food, shelter, and transportation to the Uros Indians of Lake Titicaca.

To avoid conflicts between the Collas and the Incas, the Uros fled to the middle of the lake. They escaped on their reed rafts. On the water, the Incas could not get them. The Uros began attaching their rafts together, creating large platforms. Over time, they began to build islands from the totora reeds.

The islands first came into contact with the modern world in the 1960s. There are about 45 floating islands in the Bay of Puno. Several of the islands now rely on tourism, but the majority exist much like they did during the time of the Incas.

Inside one of their homes. Notice the solar panel operated television.I bought a few souvenirs from this family.

The stacked reeds are about one meter thick. As the reeds deteriorate in the water, the Uros are constantly adding reeds to the top layer. They anchor the islands in the 20 meter water, so they don’t float too far from shore.

Notice the fish pond in the middle of the island.

Seventh-Day Adventists built these structures, but no one will live in them because of the smell. They combined modern building techniques with the Uro building techniques, which didn’t work. Normally the reeds decompose and float away, but these rotting reeds do not float away.