Caño Cristales

Caño Cristales is a Colombian river located in the Serrania de la Macarena province of Meta. The river is commonly called "The River of Five Colors" or "The Liquid Rainbow", and is even referred to as the most beautiful river in the world due to its striking colors. The river appears in many colors, including yellow, green, blue, black, and especially red caused by the Macarenia clavigera (Podostemaceae) at the bottom of the river. The rocks of the Macarenia date back to 1.2 billion years ago. They are a western extension of the Guiana Shield of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil, whose rocks are considered to be among the oldest in the world. The rocks of the region belong to the sedimentary cover of the Guiana Shield. The Macarenia encompasses three ecosystems rich in diversity of flora and fauna: the Andes, the Eastern Llanos, and the Amazon rainforest. It is, therefore, of great significance in global biology. "Every new germs gap rush stations", says José Eustasio Rivera, in La Vorágine, referring to this type of vegetation. In the jungle of the Macarenia, plants struggle to find nutrients in the soil, while a population of various fungi help break down the trunks of fallen trees. The small circular pits, -giant's kettle- that characterize the river bed, have been formed by pebbles or chunks of highly dense minerals. When one of these harder fragments falls into one of the cavities, large or small, it is rotated by the water current and begins to carve at the cavity wall and increases the dimensions of the pit.