The construction of a large reed boat for tourism

The experimental large reed boat or balsa was developed for tourism along the River Desaguadero and around the edge of Lake Titicaca. Its construction depended at first on the seasonality of reed-harvesting, carried out several months ahead. The photos of the boat construction show how the Urus use characteristic Andean techniques of knotting and braiding, seen in kipus, and weavings, but adapted here for their aquatic life.

The Urus are master reed-boat builders; Thor Heyerdahl worked with them building his famous boat Kon Tiki.

The Rotary project permitted the Irohito Urus to experiment with a larger boat than they had even built, 12m long and 3m. wide, to take 8 persons; it has a covered boathouse on top, and all the necessary items for security and life-saving. First the Urus collected some 200 lengths of the highest quality reeds (called totora in Spanish) from the lakeside. Then a grand master builder directed a team of 10 men in the boat construction. The inner reed bundles were wrapped in layers of plastic so that the boat would endure longer, as the normal life of a reed boat is only some two years. The finishing touch to the boat was a wonderful wildcat mask, a reminder that funding had come from Sudbury Talbot, whose mascot is the dog of this name.