Uros Floating Islands and Taquile Island Peru tour offers an extensive insight into life on the two major islands of the highest navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca.
This full-day tour of Lake Titicaca is designed to offer you the most with an English-speaking licensed local tour guide.
Uros Floating Islands are a group of islands of Lake Titicaca. These islands are home to Uros People. They have built them entirely using layers of totara reeds that can be found on the bottom of the lake.
Uru people have been around since the Pre Inca Empire. As they faced threat, they built these reed islands with thatched roof houses and preserved their age-old traditions and customs.
Uru people have introduced several sustainable practices including the use of Solar Panels and sewage treatment systems to protect the lake from contamination.
Their primary source of income is hunting and fishing. They have also implemented community-based tourism programs to allow travelers to witness their traditions and culture which in turn allows them to generate income.
Taquile Island Peru is popular for knit handicrafts which are made by men from a very young age. The island houses around 2200 Quechua-speaking people. Their main source of income is farming, fishing, and knitting.
Despite the outdated view that textile and knitting work is solely a task for women, the men of Taquile Island are the ones who do the majority of the intricate thread work. Through the division of labor, the women are in charge of weaving while the men are responsible for knitting.
Boys as young as 8 years old are taught the craft and the most popular item is the chuyo hat which is worn by many locals. Additionally, women also participate in the creation of these items by making yarn and doing other related tasks.
As a result of skillful craftsmanship, the fine textiles of Taquile Island are globally renowned. The tradition has been protected by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
The inhabitants of the picturesque island are well aware of how attractive it is and the traditional Spanish clothing they wear. The people of the village have developed an exclusive system to manage the tourist destinations, activities, and how people come and go.
Join us as a solo traveler, as a couple, or in a group and discover the traditional life on the two iconic islands of Lake Titicaca Peru.
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Puno Hotel and Hostel pick up
07:15 A.M.
At 0700 AM, you will be picked up from your hotel in Puno. Your full-day tour of Lake Titicaca begins with a transfer to the main boat pier where you will be boarding a motorized boat for a 25 minutes journey to Uros Islands, Peru.
As we will be docking on the shores of Uros Island, locals will be extending a warm welcome to their houses. Our English-speaking local tour guide will be introducing you to the traditions and customs of Uru people. Most of them continue to communicate in their traditional language, Aymara.
Uru people have been around since the Pre Inca Empire. As they faced threat, they built these reed islands with thatched roof houses and preserved their age-old traditions and customs.
Accompanied by the head of the island, you will get an overview of how they built these islands using Totora Reed from the bottom of the lake. Locals will then invite you to their houses to give you an insight into their way of life.
Once you have had your fill of the traditions and culture of the Uru people, you can embark on a short ride on a traditional reed boat to the main island. This activity is completely optional and costs 10 Soles per person. You can pay this to the head of the community who will be using it for the welfare of the people.
The main island of Uros houses a small market where they sell their handmade crafts. If desired, you can buy one or simply take a walk and soak in the views and serenity.
Once you have enjoyed the views, we will embark on a 2.5 hours boat ride to Taquile Island Peru. You can walk up to the deck to contemplate the views and immerse in the enormity of the Lake.
Taquile Island Peru nestles at 3950 meters above sea level (12959 ft). As we dock into the pier, the guide will be giving you an introduction to distinct species of birds found here. We will begin with a hike up the hill to the main plaza which is also the viewpoint.
The distance from the boat pier in Taquile to the main plaza is 8.2 kilometers (5 Miles). The hike is mostly up the hill and takes around an hour. We strongly recommend that you leave your belongings at your hotel or at our office and just carry a day pack.
Along the way up, you will be getting a panoramic view of Lake Titicaca. You will also see many locals dressed in their traditional attire doing their daily chores.
We will have a brief stop along the way where our tour guide along with the village head will be explaining the process of dyeing and knitting the wool. You will be getting a detailed introduction to the life and tradition of locals here.
After experiencing the essence of nature and culture during the full-day tour, we will be serving lunch at a restaurant overlooking the shimmering waters of Lake Titicaca. If you have any special meal requests then please let us know at the time of booking the tour.
After lunch, at 0230 in the afternoon, we will embark on the boat for our ride back to Puno. We will reach by 0430 in the evening.
Our representative will meet you on arrival at the boat pier and will transfer you to your hotel in the center of Puno city.
The Uros islands are beautiful! Totally recommended.
