Lake Iguaque is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

located in the

Boyacá Department Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia". Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mount ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. The lake and the surrounding area was declared a Flora and Fauna Sanctuary in 1977.

Geography and climate

Lake Iguaque is located northeast of

Villa de Leyva Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNE ...

and is part of the SFF Iguaque. The predominant

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

is the

páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

, with presence of

frailejón ''Espeletia'', commonly known as 'frailejones' ("big monks"), is a genus of perennial subshrubs, in the family Asteraceae. The genus, which is native mainly to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, was first formally described in 1808. The genus was n ...

plant,

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s and

puya The Puyas are archaic Manipuri manuscripts. They encompass a wide spectrum of themes including genealogy, literature, history, royalties, administration, creation and cosmology, philosophy, poetry, religious beliefs, etc. Saroj Parratt noted ...

s. The average temperature is 12 °C. The route of access to the natural reservation is:

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

–

Tunja Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...

(147 km) /Tunja –

(39 km). The visitor center Furachiogua offers accommodation for up to 48 persons, and

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

zone.

Cultural value

Lake Iguaque was considered a sacred place for the

Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

. According to

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

, mankind was originated in the Iguaque lake, when the goddess

Bachué The goddess Bachué (in Chibcha language: "the one with the naked breast") is a mother goddess that, according to the Muisca religion, is the mother of humanity. She emerged of the waters in the Iguaque Lake with a baby in her arms, who grew to ...

came out from the

with a boy in her arms. When the boy grew, she married him and their children populated the Earth. They are considered the ancestors of the human race. Finally Bachué and her husband disappeared unto the lake in the shape of

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

Biology

The in 2006 described sweat bee ''

Neocorynura muiscae ''Neocorynura muiscae'' is a species of sweat bee of the genus '' Neocorynura'' in the subfamily of Halictinae of the family of Halictidae. It was first described by Allan H. Smith-Pardo and Victor H. Gonzalez in 2006.

'' was found in the sanctuary near the lake and named after the Muisca.''Neocorynura muiscae'' found at an elevation of 2850 m
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References

External links

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Tourism at Lake Iguaque
{{Muisca navbox, Mythology and religion Iguaque Iguaque Iguaque Geography of Boyacá Department Iguaque Iguaque

Lakes A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

Geography and climate

Cultural value

Biology

See also

References

External links