This story was originally published in our Nov/Dec 2023 issue as "Floating in the Clouds." Click here to subscribe to read more stories like this one.
Stepping onto one of the Uros islands in southern Peru can feel like walking on a bouncy castle. Your feet sink a bit into the mushy floor, which trembles slightly when a motorboat speeds past. That’s because this land is actually floating — on the largest lake in South America, located 12,500 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.
Hundreds of miles south of Peru’s famous Machu Picchu ruins, dozens of artificial islands pepper the surface of Lake Titicaca, situated along the border of Peru and Bolivia. The veritable floating city made of roots and reeds is currently home to about 2,000 residents.
For visitors, the structures demonstrate a living version of pre-Columbian engineering that’s far more accessible than the Inca citadel to the north. For locals, they form the literal foundation of their cultural identity, which they have packaged into a unique and otherworldly tourism destination that is now integral to their economy.
