The islands of Lake Titicaca

When asked why they wear such bright colours the women of the Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca replied, “We are the flowers of the island, the men are the cactus”.

It’s an apt analogy. The women do indeed look like flowers dressed in brightly coloured long skirts and shirts. And their smiles are just as bright as their outfits as they welcome us to their island to learn more about their way of life.

About 3000 people live on the series of islands that make up Uros. The islands have been around since about 500 BC and are completely man made using local reed. Our guide, John, tells us that in years past the inhabitants regularly lived to 100 – the oldest was 124.

That was before they began buying the kinds of foods we eat in western societies. Back when they existed on what they could farm themselves or catch in the waters.

It is still a very simple existence. The inhabitants of the village we visit use solar energy and still farm or catch much of their food.

Through our guide, and some very energetic charading from the local men, we learn that the islands are rebuilt every month by piling reeds on top of each other.

Fights between neighbours are easily settled here, they simply saw through the island, undo the anchor and separate the land – no courts, or lawyers involved.

We are invited inside the huts to see where the women sleep and a young woman, 15-year-old Corinna approaches me shyly, asking if I would like to see inside her room.

Of course I would.

The pride in her eyes is obvious as we enter. She points out her prized possessions, her many beautiful skirts, her small reed boats and mobiles, but my attention is immediately drawn to the TV. Even here. It’s a very small box television, black and white and her smile grows that bit wider when she sees me looking at it.

They use the reeds to build just about everything here and after a spot of shopping – there’s always a market in these small villages – we all load on to a Balsa (a reed boat) and are rowed around the islands for an hour.

I nestle into one of the hulls and stare up at the lookout on top, taking in the waterside activity.

The cruise was over far too soon but there was more to see on Lake Titicaca and so we made our way to Taquile Island for lunch. Where Uros was manmade and all brightly coloured, Taquile is a natural island, mountainous and all earthy colours.

After a lunch overlooking the clear turquoise waters of the lake we took a slow steady walk up to the centre of the island. The rocky path would not have looked out of place on one of the Greek islands.

The island is beautiful, but it has one very distinct feature – the knitting. Here, the knitting is done by the men, not the women. They don’t really knit items to sell, they knit for themselves and their families and friends and it’s one of the few small towns I’ve come across on tour that actually didn’t have a market – at least if it did, we never saw it.

We followed a little old lady herding her goats down the main path and stopped to photograph an elderly woman in traditional dress resting next to the main arch on the island.

Uros and Taquile were completely different, both lovely in their own unique way. And it’s amazing that the communities on two islands, geographically so close together can be so different.

Lake Titicaca is the 18th largest lake in the world and at more than 200 metres deep, one of the deepest. Nestled into the Andes Mountains, it is said to be one of the highest navigable lakes in the world at 3812 metres.

It is a freshwater lake, which at one time was full of fish – more than 40 species, but trout and kingfish introduced to the lake have brought various diseases and the fish life is now heavily depleted.

The lake borders Peru and Bolivia, the islands we visited were on the Peruvian side of the lake.

Fast Facts

We stayed at Taypikala Lago Hotel in Puno.

We were here for two nights.

Was it long enough? There were more islands we could have explored but this gave us a good taste of the area.

Highlights: Cruising on the lake in a reed boat, meandering down the rocky pathway on Taquile Island overlooking the crystal-clear waters.

This trip was part of a tour I hosted with the Australian-based solo travel company Two’s a Crowd.

Read more stories about Peru here.

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