Over the year I have visited many communities that claimed to be living in floating villages, from Myanmar to Benin and Nigeria. These villages were indeed located on water, but the houses were built on stilts and so they were not truly floating. But in Peru I finally found a truly floating village when I visited the Uros floating islands on Lake Titicaca.
Lake Titicaca is located in the Andes Mountains between Peru and Bolivia. At an altitude of 3810 m above sea level, it is the highest navigable lake in the world. The indigenous Uru people have been living on the lake for centuries on floating islands built with totora reeds. Most of the Uros floating islands today are located around 5 km from the lakeside city of Puno, reachable by boat in about 30 minutes.
Construction of floating reed islands
The Uros floating islands are built with aquatic reeds, called totora, that grow naturally on Lake Titicaca. The base of an island is built by tying together totora roots, after which multiple layers of dried totora reeds are stacked on top in alternating directions. The thickness of the resulting reed island is about three to four meters, most of it under water. To prevent the islands from drifting away, they are anchored to the bottom of the lake using eucalyptus stakes.
On top of the reed islands, the Uru people build their houses, also using totora reeds. The roofs and walls are usually built using reed mats and much of the furniture is also made of totora. For extra rain protection, some roofs have zinc sheets under the reed mats, while others have wooden boards and some a plastic sheet. Some larger buildings and structures, such as schools or water tanks, are built on a floating steel structure, similar to a boat. Dry toilets are common, and the compost can be used for gardening.
The reed islands require constant maintenance. As the reeds rot away quickly, more reeds need to be added approximately every two weeks, depending on the season. One to two meters of extra reeds are added even below the houses every eight months or so – an operation that requires about ten men to lift the house. The reed roofs and walls also degrade in the sun and the rain and need to be replaced approximately every seven months. After about 25 years, so much water has seeped through the reeds that the whole island has to be abandoned and left to sink while a new one is built.
Life on the Uros floating islands
The Uru people first started building floating islands on Lake Titicaca for defensive reasons, as the Uru were a peaceful people and islands could be located away from threats and fighting on land. The islands were initially located further out on the lake, but after a devastating storm in 1986, most of the Uru decided to rebuild their homes closer to the lake shore. Today there are around 60 to 70 floating totora islands on Lake Titicaca, but the number varies as islands emerge, disappear, and join with each other, with the inhabitants moving along. Each island hosts a community of five to ten families.
The lifestyle of the Uru people today is a mix of traditional ways and modern comforts. Most islands have solar panels for power, and the Uru move around mainly by motor boat. Traditional reed boats, called balsas, still exist, but the reed structure of the boats can be filled with plastic bottles for improved flotation.
Lack of educational and employment opportunities is forcing younger people to move to the mainland, and so most of the islands’ inhabitants are older people. Some islands still exist where people mainly rely on fishing, but tourism is the major source of income of the Uru today. While tourism always comes with its negative impacts, the income from tourism is a key element in helping keep the tradition of Uros floating islands alive today.
