Gocta Cataracts

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Gocta Waterfall

The Gocta Waterfall (in Spanish: la catarata Gocta), a waterfall with 2 drops, has been known for centuries to the local residents in Peru's province of Chachapoyas in Amazonas, which is approximately 700 kilometers to the north-east of Lima. Its existence was made public following an expedition in 2005 by the Edward Smith and Joseph Valle & German Stefan Ziemendorff with a group of Peruvian explorers. At the time of his discovery he successfully persuaded the Peruvian government to map the falls and to measure their height. On March 11 2006, following his third expedition to the falls, he held a press conference, the contents of which were published by several of the world's wire services. He stated that the total height was accurately measured at 771 meters (2,532 feet), based on information from the National Geographic Society, was the third tallest free-leaping waterfall in world after Angel Falls in Venezuela and Tugela Falls in South Africa.

The comments by Stefan Ziemendorff as to the waterfalls' ranking have been widely disputed since his press conference. Various encyclopedias, reference books, and webpages accessible through Google, list Gocta Cataracts as the world's fifth tallest, after adding the seasonal and not freeleaping Ramnefjellsfossen (Norway) and Mongefossen (Norway). Furthermore, The World Waterfall Database ranges Gocta as the 14th tallest [1]. For definitions of Waterfalls see also discussion.

The waterfall, which can be seen from kilometers away in the heart of the Chachapoyas region, has been christened Gocta Falls, after the name of the nearest settlement.

The daily El Comercio, whose reporter visited the place, said that the impressive waterfall had remained unknown to outsiders until now, because local people feared the curse of a beautiful blond mermaid who lived in its waters if they revealed its whereabouts.

On March 13, 2006 the Peruvian government announced to the press, published on that date by La República, that the area surrounding the falls would be developed as a tourist attraction, with a target date for sometime in mid-2007.