Gocta Cataracts
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. It was discovered in 2002 by the 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). The measurement, therefore, makes it the fifth tallest free-leaping waterfall in world after Angel Falls in Venezuela, Tugela Falls in South Africa, Ramnefjellsfossen (Norway) and Mongefossen (Norway). Arguments that the waterfall is the third-highest do not take into account that either Ramnefjellsfossen and Mongefossen have been cited as the third and fourth highest for years in various publications.
The waterfall, which can be seen from a kilometer (more than half a mile) 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 was unknown 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.