Titicaca
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Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca has the distinction of being the highest navigable lake in the world.  This means it is not only located at an improbably high elevation — 3,812 m (12,507 ft) above sea level — but that it is also large enough and deep enough (107 m / 351 ft, on average) to support commercial shipping.  Both the Peruvian coast guard and landlocked Bolivian navy patrol the lake's waters.
     
In terms of surface area, Lake Titicaca (8,372 km² / 3,232 sq mi) is ranked as the 20th-largest lake in the world, and second in South America behind Venezuela's salty Lake Maracaibo.  It is also a candidate for the international list of "natural 7 wonders of the world" — a distinction similar to that which Machu Picchu received in 2007.
The earliest settlements around the lake date from 200 BC, and the ancient Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) culture left behind many monuments and artifacts before disappearing around 1000 AD.  The origin of the name Titicaca is unknown, but may be a combination of words from Aymara and Quechua, still spoken by local indigenous peoples.
The Incas also traced their beginnings to Lake Titicaca.  According to legend, the first Inca, Manco Capac, emerged from a crag on Isla del Sol, an island now on the Bolivian side of the lake, in the late 12th century.  Nevertheless, their Cuzco-based empire did not come to control this region until the late 15th century.

Puno Bay
The Peruvian regional capital sits on a large bay, a western arm of Lake Titicaca.  The shallow waters of Puno Bay support a type of sedge called totora, which grows in abundance across the eastern portion of the bay.
     
Closer to shore, green "water lentils'' clog the port, feeding off the sewage which makes its way into the lake from the city.  Efforts are underway to clean up the mess, and promote lakeside tourism.
 

 

  

Islas Flotantes

The "floating islands" of the Uros are the most popular tourist destination on Lake Titicaca.  They are nestled among the fields of totora in Puno Bay, about a 20-minute boat ride from shore.
   
There are 42 islands in the man-made archipelago, each composed of layer upon layer of dried totora.
 

 

  
Totora is also the main material from which the Uros build their houses and boats. Totora is partially edible, and supplements the Uros diet of fish and waterfowl.
The Uros originally spoke their own language, but intermarried with the Aymara over the centuries.  Their unusual floating existence began as a defense against the aggression of other tribes, the Collas and Incas.
 

 

  
Nowadays, a few hundred descendents of the original Uros still live on the springy floating islands, anchored to the lakebed about 5 km (3 miles) east of Puno.
 

 

  
  Their children attend elementary school on the islands, but must go to the mainland to finish their education.  
The Uros eke out a living from tourism, producing handicrafts for sale to the hordes of sightseers who visit their islands, and ferrying intrepid holidaymakers in their totora boats for a small fee.
     

Isla Taquile
Located about 45 km (28 miles) east of Puno, Taquile Island is another popular port of call on Lake Titicaca.
Unlike their Aymara-speaking neighbors, Taquileños (as the islanders are known) speak Quechua.  Their island, which they call Intika, has been inhabited for thousands of years, and is home to several Inca ruins.  In fact, Taquile was one of the last outposts of Inca resistance during the Spanish conquest of Peru.  The island eventually came into the possession of one Count Rodrigo of Taquila, from whom it received its Spanish name.
 

 

  
 

 

  
Taquileño society is organized around the Inca moral code of "Ama Sua, Ama Quella, Ama Llulla" — "do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy".  This industrious lot busies itself with farming, fishing, and catering to the 40,000 tourists who visit the island each year, with profits often shared collectively by the community.
Another legacy of the colonial era was a prohibition on the wearing of traditional indigenous dress, so the islanders adopted the Spanish peasant costumes still in use today — while adding touches of local color.
 

 

  
Taquileño men knit their own woolen caps, whose colors denote their marital status and social position, while the women embroider skirts and blouses, and weave colorful waistbands for their husbands.
     

This page was first published 14 February 2008, and last updated 17 August 2008.