Lake Chungará

Interesting facts

The Parinacota landslide that created the lake happened roughly 8,800 years ago and was about three times larger than the 1980 collapse of Mount St. Helens.

Some 5 to 6 cubic kilometres of volcano slid about 23 kilometres west, leaving a natural dam around 40 metres high across the valley.

Hummocks of the same avalanche debris trapped smaller pools nearby, forming the Cotacotani lakes, which the lake still feeds by underground seepage.

The lake holds about 0.4 cubic kilometres of water and about four fifths of its inflow comes from a single stream, the Río Chungará.

Around ten metres of sediment have settled on the lake floor since the landslide dam first held back its water.

The name is thought to come from Aymara, meaning roughly covered with moss, though another reading links it to a word for beard.

Rainbow trout introduced in the 1990s now share the lake with its two endemic fish, a pupfish and a catfish.

A 1970s project to divert the lake's water to the Azapa valley near Arica was halted because of the environmental damage it caused.

Why it is worth it

Lake Chungará lies at 4,517 metres on the Altiplano of northernmost Chile, close to the Bolivian border,. The setting is what makes it unforgettable: on its northern side rises Parinacota, a near-perfect snow-capped cone of 6,342 metres, mirrored in the still water on calm mornings, with its twin Pomerape just beyond. Together the pair are known as the Payachatas. The water is a deep, cold blue against tawny puna grassland, and the thin, very clear air at this altitude makes every colour sharper than at sea level.

The lake owes its existence to a catastrophe. Some thousands of years ago, the earlier cone of Parinacota collapsed in a gigantic landslide, and the avalanche of debris swept across the valley and blocked the course of the Lauca River. Water pooled behind the natural dam, and Chungará was born. The lake is about 8.75 kilometres long and covers some 22 square kilometres. Other volcanoes ring the basin, among them Quisiquisini and Ajoya.

Chungará is part of Lauca National Park, and its shores are busy with life adapted to the high Andes. Chilean flamingos feed in the shallows, giant coots build large floating nests of water plants, and Andean gulls, crested ducks and puna plovers work the edges. The lake also holds two fish found nowhere else, a small pupfish and a catfish, both named after Chungará. In 1985 the Chilean Supreme Court blocked a plan to divert its water for irrigation, a decision that kept the lake intact. Sunrise, when the wind is still and Parinacota's reflection is complete, is the moment to be here.

Getting there

The practical gateway is Arica on the Chilean coast, about 124 kilometres away in a straight line and served by Chacalluta International Airport (ARI), about 126 kilometres from the lake. From Arica, Route 11, the international highway to Bolivia, climbs onto the Altiplano and runs along the southern and western shores of the lake, so it can be reached by car or on a tour from Arica. The climb from sea level to over 4,500 metres is rapid, and many visitors break the journey for a night at a lower altitude to acclimatise.

From the encyclopaedia

Chungará is a lake situated in the extreme north of Chile at an elevation of 4,517 metres (14,820 ft), in the Altiplano of Arica y Parinacota Region in the Lauca National Park. It has a surface area of about 21.5–22.5 square kilometres (8.3–8.7 sq mi) and has a maximum depth of about 26–40 metres (85–131 ft). It receives inflow through the Río Chungara with some minor additional inflows, and loses most of its water to evaporation; seepage into the Laguna Quta Qutani plays a minor role.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lake Chungará

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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From the encyclopaedia