Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

I knew islands floated. Australia, Ireland, UK and even the Isle of Wight are all just floating in the sea, right?

We`ve recently visited Puno where you can find Lake Titicaca, situated at 3810m above sea level and is deemed the world´s highest navigable lake. As an aside it`s a bit shy on oxygen when you are staying at 3810m above sea level. This is not to hard to deal with if you take it slowly but when you are given a hotel room on the 4th floor with no lift getting back and forth to the room is a challenge!

Lake Titicaca is home to the Uros people who for the last 80 years have lived on floating reed islands in the shelter of Puno Bay. The base of the islands is made from reed roots tied together and then tied to stakes in the lake bed to hold them in place on the lake. The surface is then made from layers and layers of reeds. The houses are made from reeds. The boats to get from island to island are made of reeds and the people even eat...have you guessed...reeds! All in all it`s a little bit reed-y. It`s a strange way to live. The area we vistited consists of 34 islands and is the section closest to Puno town. There is a floating medical centre and a floating school for the kids. Once a week the families go to the mainland and trade the goods they have such as reeds and fish for stuff they need like rice and fruit. Further out in to the lake there are many more islands that are not visited by the tourists.

They have an excellent way of dealing with neighbourhood disputes. If you fall out with the other families living on your island it`s very simple. Take a saw, cut off the section you want and float off and live somewhere else. That`s simple living. I wondered why you never see "Reed Islands Neighbours from Hell" on Sky.