Lying in a basin of the Andes Mountains 12,500 feet [3,800 m] above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the highest inland, navigable body of water in the world. Snowcapped mountain peaks, some of them more than 21,000 feet [6,400 m] high, give birth to most of the 25 rivers that feed Titicaca. Because of the high altitude, the climate is cold, and those not native to the area have to contend with altitude sickness.

Besides these two bigger islands, some of the estimated 40 “floating” islands on Lake Titicaca have also been reached with the good news. Floating islands? Yes, these are made of totoras, reeds that grow in some shallower areas of the lake. Totoras rise through the water and extend above the surface. To make an island, the locals bend the reeds, still rooted to the lake bottom, and interweave them to make a platform. The platform is then packed with mud and reinforced with additional cut reeds. People live in reed huts built on top.