Peru Titicaca 023
Lake Titicaca, on the border between Peru and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains, is one of South America's largest lakes and the world’s highest navigable body of water (12,507 ft). Said to be the birthplace of the Incas, it’s home to numerous ruins. Its waters are famously still and brightly reflective.
The "Floating Islands" are small islands constructed by the Uros (or Uru) people from layers of cut totora, a thick buoyant reed that grows abundantly in the shallows of Lake Titicaca. The Uros harvest the reeds that naturally grow on the lake's banks to make the islands by continuously adding reeds to the surface.
According to legend, the Uru people originated in the Amazon and migrated to Lake Titicaca in the pre-Columbian era, where they were oppressed and unable to secure land of their own. They built the reed islands, which could be moved into deep water or to different parts of the lake as necessary, for greater safety from their hostile neighbors on land.
Each island contains several thatched houses, typically belonging to members of a single extended family. Some have watchtowers and other buildings, also constructed of reeds. As of 2011, about 1,200 Uros lived on 60 artificial islands,clustering in the western corner of the lake near Puno, Titicaca's major Peruvian port town.
Photographs by Kerry G. Hill, June 23, 2018. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission from the photographer. © All rights reserved.
Peru Titicaca 023
Lake Titicaca, on the border between Peru and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains, is one of South America's largest lakes and the world’s highest navigable body of water (12,507 ft). Said to be the birthplace of the Incas, it’s home to numerous ruins. Its waters are famously still and brightly reflective.
The "Floating Islands" are small islands constructed by the Uros (or Uru) people from layers of cut totora, a thick buoyant reed that grows abundantly in the shallows of Lake Titicaca. The Uros harvest the reeds that naturally grow on the lake's banks to make the islands by continuously adding reeds to the surface.
According to legend, the Uru people originated in the Amazon and migrated to Lake Titicaca in the pre-Columbian era, where they were oppressed and unable to secure land of their own. They built the reed islands, which could be moved into deep water or to different parts of the lake as necessary, for greater safety from their hostile neighbors on land.
Each island contains several thatched houses, typically belonging to members of a single extended family. Some have watchtowers and other buildings, also constructed of reeds. As of 2011, about 1,200 Uros lived on 60 artificial islands,clustering in the western corner of the lake near Puno, Titicaca's major Peruvian port town.
Photographs by Kerry G. Hill, June 23, 2018. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission from the photographer. © All rights reserved.