Gocta, Catarata

La Cataracta Gocta or Gocta Falls is a tall, moderate to high volume waterfall located in the upper Amazon basin in Peru. The falls drop a total of 2,531 feet in two leaps. The upper tier falls about 700 feet in a purely vertical fall, the lower drops about 1770 feet in a nearly vertical drop into a huge amphitheater, with the remainder of the height made up between the two steps. Though the volume of the unnamed river the falls occur along can fluctuate greatly with the seasons, the falls can be considered one of the major waterfalls of South America and measure up as one of the best falls on the planet.The falls have been known to the locals for centuries, but the outside world was largely ignorant of this splendid waterfall. Catarata Gocta was not widely known prior to 2002 when a German Engineer by the name of Stefan Ziemendorff urged the Peruvian Government to survey the falls after his visit led to suspicions that it would be among the great falls of the world. The documentation and resulting press influenced the development of the falls as a tourist attraction. The name of the falls stems from that of a nearby village. There are current plans to reinforce the local infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of visitors to the falls.