Uros Island People

The floating island of Pacha Mama
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The Uros people who live on the islands of Lake Titicaca are incredibly versatile.

To begin with they speak at least 3 languages, Qetchuan, Aymara & Spanish. They build islands from the reeds of the lake. These floating islands are made up of about a metre of reed roots covered with another metre of reeds crisscrossed to give strength. It's a strange feeling to step on to an island as you sort of sink into the reeds a bit tho' they're not actually wet. Their homes are also made of reeds as well as many of the artifacts they sell.

The reed boat we travelled in between 2 of the islands.
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The first island we visited was called Pacha Mama ( mother earth) and while we were listening to the guide talk about the kinds of fish they catch etc. a cheeky heron flew in, stalked between the seated tourists & scooped up one of the fish on display in a dish of water & gobbled it down. Nobody stopped him so he continued " fishing"  til he'd scoffed the lot.

We visited another 2 islands and then, coming home across the lake, the weather closed in and the sleet was so heavy that the deckhand had to go out & wipe the windscreen so the captain could see where he was going. Mighty darn cold it was too back at the dock.