Are you excited to know about Uros Island or want to plan a trip to this amazing place? If yes, then let us tell you some of the intriguing things about Uros or the floating islands. The Uros in Peru are well-known as floating islands because they are anthropologically made by stacking & bundling the layers of totora plant reeds and roots.
Well, the homes, boats, and the islands themselves are made from the totora reeds which are the backbone of Uros life. The Uros floating islands are drifting on the Peruvian side of Titicaca Lake, a few miles away from the main city of Puno.
The most popular floating Uros islands colonize a small alcove of the world’s highest navigable Lake Titicaca like no other place on earth. Uros islands are man-made islands built by Uros inhabitants by creating a bulky but light base tied together with the layers of totora roots. Totora root has a buoyancy property during their harvesting period.
The totora roots float to the surface of the lake during November and March which is the rainy season there. Uros people collect the best roots during this time with low soil to save them from sinking. Above the root layers, several layers of totora reeds are nestled and piled up. They perform the anchorage function and stabilize the island in one spot with rope and Eucalyptus deposits steered into the bottom of the lake.
The islanders or the local inhabitants that reside in Uros in Peru maintain each island for up to 30 years. They add new layers of reeds during the rainy season once a week and during dry periods once a month.
The Uros or Uru residents are people of indigenous origin from Bolivia and Peru. They mainly form three groups which include: Uru-Chipaya, Uru-Murato, and Uru-Iruito. They reside on an approximate & still prospering 120 self-fashioned wafting islands in Lake Titicaca near Puno.
These Uros people subsist mainly by birds hunting, fishing, knitting, and collecting bird eggs from the totora reed beds. Nowadays, Uros people earn a great income through tourism and by selling souvenirs to tourists also.
The locals start the tour of Uros in Peru with a display of how the islands are constructed. Then they move towards inviting the tourists or guests to visit a home built by them from the layers of totora reeds. At the end of each tour, the locals offer their handmade handicrafts to the tourists.
So, make a plan to fulfill your bucket list trip to the highest altitude navigable Lake Titicaca. Enjoy the wonderful trip to one of the most unique sites i.e., the Uros islands!
Join us on one of these tours to visit the Uros Floating Islands on Lake Titicaca. We are a top-rated Lake Titicaca Tour Operator on Tripadvisor.
