Your Travel Experience with chilepro
Excursion to the Peguche waterfall
Galapagos PRO recommendation: This excursion should not be missing in your Otavalo experience.
Peguche Waterfall is one of the main tourist attractions in Otavalo (a city that hosts one of the most important indigenous markets in the Andes) and its surroundings. This beautiful 18-meter high waterfall is considered an indigenous ceremonial site, as purification baths are held here a few days before the Inti Raymi festival (Sun and Harvest Festival, June 21). This waterfall rises at the foothills of Imbabura volcano, right at the northern tip of Lake San Pablo, which is 4 km south of Otavalo at 2,670 m. Its waters flow downstream through the Peguche River of the same name, which changes its name to Jatun Yacu (big water) as it freely cascades down the waterfall.
There are several legends that surround this waterfall. The most important one is about a golden bowl inside the waterfall, accompanied by two black dogs. Next to the bowl sits the devil, holding in his hand a small plate filled with sand. The falling water gradually washes out the sand in the plate every day until it empties the plate. At this point, the devil takes the soul of the person who enters the waterfall at that moment.