Caño Cristales

Caño Cristales gets its colours from living plants on the riverbed: when water levels and sunlight are right, the endemic aquatic plant Macarenia clavigera turns red to magenta, forming bands of colour with yellow-green algae, dark grey quartzite and clear running water. Unlike Río Celeste, whose blue comes from light scattered by mineral particles, the colours here shift with the season and water level, and you can only enter with a licensed operator.