Uros Reed Island Tour

On Thursday, April 21st, a van came to our hotel at 8:50 and picked us up for a floating island tour. We had arranged it through our hotel for 20 soles each (about $8). At the port, about 15 tourists got on a small tour boat with enclosed cabin. For about 15 minutes we boated across the bay of Puno. Then we entered a narrow channel through the reeds. At one point, we stopped and the tour guide paid an entrance fee for the boat.
The channel widened a bit and soon we were in the middle of about 80 or 90 floating reed islands. The Uros people moved out here centuries ago to avoid conflict on the mainland. The totura reeds that grow here are very buoyant when they are dried. The people weave mats of reeds among the growing reeds to create an island. Every year in rainy season, the level of Lake Titicaca rises about 2 metres. When that happens, the reeds pull up and the created island floats. It's a constant battle to add layers of reeds to the top as the bottom layers rot. The core of the totura reed is also used as food.
We arrived at a floating island and were greeted by the half dozen people who lived there. Tourism is their main source of income now so they were very friendly. All the ladies wore traditional dresses and hats. This was not unusual because many of the older women in Puno and area dress like that.
We got an explanation of how to build a floating island, a tour of the homes and cooking facilities and, eventually, a ride to another island on a reed boat paddled by two of the ladies.
It was all interesting and fun on such a beautiful sunny day. It may have been the most touristy thing we've ever done but we enjoyed it anyway.