When we hear the word island the first nation that comes up in
our mind is Mauritius;
does this mean Mauritius is the only island that is worth visiting for a
traveler? Is Mauritius the only travel destination when it comes to island? There
are many other fantastic and far-fetching islands across the globe. Shall we look
at these islands?
Floating islands, have you heard of them? Floating islands
are generally a natural phenomenon and are either a mass of floating aquatic
plants or mud or peat. Floating islands are otherwise referred as tussocks,
floatons or sudds. Here is a sneak preview of some of the fantastic and out of
this world floating islands.
- Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
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| Amantani Islands in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia |
Lake Titicaca in Bolivia is a place for a number of floating
islands, both natural and artificially created. The shape of this lake
resembles a puma hunting a rabbit. Floating islands of Lake Titicaca include
Amantani, Taquile, Isla del Sol, Isla de la Luna, Suriqui and Uros. Isla del
Sol is one of the largest islands in Lake Titicaca. Motor vehicles are not allowed
in these floating islands, they rely on manual labor for farming and fishing;
however, these lakes have few steamships. Majority of the people in these
islands rent their homes for tourists and serve them home cooked food.
- Loktak Lake, India
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| Phumdis in Loktak Lake, India Image source: Wikipedia |
Loktak lake is the largest freshwater lake in India and
contains floating islands called Phumdis’ these are exclusive to Lake Loktak of
India and is in Manipur state. This floating island has the largest floating
park in the world called “The Keibul Lamjao National Park.” Phumdis are
heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter covering an area of
15.4 sq miles. Visitors can enjoy different geometrically shaped phumids in
Loktak Lake.
- Vlasina Lake, Serbia
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| Vlasina Lake, Serbia Image source: Wikipedia |
Vlasina Lake is a semi-artificial lake in Serbia that has
two islands, namely, Dugi del and Stratorija; these two islands are permanent
islands. Floating islands occur in this lake when the water breaks from a
height to tiny chunks of peat. The largest floating island in Vlasina Lake is
the “Moby-Dick” with an area of 8 ha.
Many more lakes have floating islands built artificially that
look so natural. Stay tuned to know the artificially created floating islands
around the world.
