08-10-2006 Back to Puno - Mrs Eva's Broken Leg, Floating Island Uros, Army's Support

The very next morning, very early actually, we woke up and boarded the little yachts waiting for us at the small docks. These took us on a 1 ½ hour ride to the floating Uros islands, where we were taught about the lake's history, beginnings, legends, and lives. We also ate the Totora reed which tastes sort of like celery flavored with bananas. We learned how the islands and homes are made too. The island, is made first by cutting up blocks of mud that float up during the rain season, held together with Totora roots, and interwoven with the reed. Then, after several layers of this, a thick layer of dried spongy Totora is layed on top. Altogether these layers have a thickness of 10-12 feet. This is renewed every so often, and is very soft and nice to walk on. The islands are held down by a 12-15 foot eucalyptus pole stuck in the mud, and sometimes it is pulled out to allow the island to drift. But when individual homes want to move, they simply pick them up, put them on a reed boat, and go! We even got to move a house ourselves! We had a lot of fun on Lake Titicaca, and saw a lot too, and the memory of the lake will always stay in our minds, and our hearts.
By Adrian Adamiec