Caño Cristales (also known as the “river of five
colors”,"the rainbow river" or “the river that ran away from paradise”) is a Columbian river located in a remote, isolated area not easily accessible, however tourists
can fly into the nearby town of La Macarena. From there it is a
short trip into “Serrania de la Macarena,” the national park in which
Caño Cristales is located. The 20-meter-wide, 100-meter-long wonder river is only accessible by horse or mule and only a few travel agencies offer tours.
For most of the year, Caño Cristales is indistinguishable from any other
river: a bed of rocks covered in mosses visible below a
clear current. The river’s flow of water regulates the amount of sunlight reaching the
algae, and during the rainy season, it keeps the sun’s rays from
reaching the bottom. During the dry season, the water is too shallow to
sustain river life, but between these two seasons, or from September through November, conditions are just
right for the plant that lines the river floor(Macarenia
clavigera) to turn a brilliant red. It is offset by splotches of yellow and
green sand, blue water, and a thousand shades in between.
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