Tequendama Falls

This article is about a waterfall. For the province, see Tequendama Province. For the town, see San Antonio del Tequendama. For the museum, see Tequendama Falls Museum. For the skyscraper, see Seguros Tequendama Tower. For the archaeological site, see Tequendama (archeological site).

Not to be confused with Tequendamita Falls.

Tequendama Falls.

The Tequendama Falls (Spanish: Salto del Tequendama) is a 132m high waterfall on the Bogotá River, located about 30 km southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of San Antonio del Tequendama. Established in ~10000 BCE, El Abra and Tequendama were the first permanent settlements in Colombia. One of the country’s major tourist attractions, the falls are located in a forested area 20 miles (32 km) west of Bogotá. The river surges through a rocky gorge that narrows to about 60 feet (18 m) at the brink of the 515-foot- (157-metre-) high falls. During the month of December the falls become completely dry. The falls, once a common site for suicides, may be reached by road from Bogotá.

The Legend

See also: Muisca mythology

According to Muisca legend, the waterfall was created by Bochica, who used his staff to break the rock and release the water that covered the Bogotá Savannah. According to another legend, during the Spanish conquest and evangelization of the Americas, in order to escape the new colonial order indigenous people of the area would jump off the Salto Del Tequendama and become eagles to fly to their freedom. Native Americans in the areas colonized by Anglo-Saxon people were just killed by them.

Recovery of the Falls and its Surroundings

Main article: Urban water management in Bogotá, Colombia

The river that feeds the falls is currently considered to be one of the dirtiest in the world.

“The Tequendama Falls has the dubious honour of being the largest wastewater falls in the world…Liquid wastes from the city are flushed untreated into the Bogotá River at the lower edge of the sabana, a few kilometres upstream of the Tequendama Falls. Downstream from Bogotá, the river is filled with sewage…” (The International Development Research Centre, Canada, http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-29703-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html)

A historic hotel building, now a museum that overlooks the waterfall is under going restoration aided by the French Government.

See also

• Tequendama Falls Museum
• List of waterfalls by type