We had a great sunny morning to visit the Islands of Uros. We were picked up by a small boat at our hotel jetty. Lake Titicaca is the world's highest navigable lake and is about 300 km long. In the centre is the Peru-Bolivia border. The floating islands of Uros are not far from the city of Puno where we are staying.
We visited several islands but mainly Jacha Challwa. The people were very friendly and we visited homes and yes they did have handicrafts for sale.
Rob standing on a good thickness of reeds
Note the solar panels and cooking area.
There was a point where you could climb for a wide view.
Photo inside a house. There were extra layers to form a bed. It was a simple dwelling.
Gail liked this one!
A colourful farewell
This gives you an idea of the thickness. The island is built up on a series of blocks of reed roots. Then many layers of reeds are added and more added each month.
This was an interesting visit to a culture that has been using these methods from 1,000 BC.
Tourism is now important but the people still make their traditional boats and handicrafts,
3 comments:
So the islands are man made?? Are they stable or do they move?
huts kind of remind you of teepees, water looks nice
Yes they are man made. The main island that we visited had 10 anchors. With climate change they have needed to move them into deeper water on several occasions! They push and pull them with motor boats.
It is a constant process of adding layers every month as the reeds rot away. It does feel spongy to walk on!
Rob
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