The Pongo de Mainique ('gate' in Quechua) is a ''

water gap A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a pra ...

'' (canyon) of the

Urubamba River The Urubamba River or Vilcamayo River (possibly from Quechua ''Willkamayu'', for "sacred river") is a river in Peru. Upstream it is called Vilcanota River (possibly from Aymara ''Willkanuta'', for "house of the sun"). Within the La Convención ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Inside the water gap, the river is constricted to a width of . The Pongo de Mainique is long. The elevation of the river is approximately . The steep cliffs on each side of the river rise sharply to mountains with elevations of more than . The Pongo de Mainique is the only break in the Vilcabamba mountain range. It also divides the Urubamba River (a

headwater The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition Th ...

of the Amazon River) between the turbulent Upper Urubamba and the more placid Lower Urubamba. It is considered the most dangerous

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

pass on the Urubamba; however, many boats traverse it, depending on seasonal river conditions. According to legend, the river was once crossed by the so-called

Inca Bridge The Inca Bridge or Inka Bridge refers to one of two places related to access to Machu Picchu, in Peru. One of the two was built by the Incas as a secret entrance to Machu Picchu for the Inca army. The Inca Bridge (trunk bridge) This Inca Br ...

, although the Pongo was outside the boundaries of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...

. The bridge no longer exists. The Pongo de Mainique is a global

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the c ...

. According to the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...

, "the lowland rainforests and mid-montane

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...

s within a radius of five miles (8 km) of the Pongo possibly comprise the single most biologically-diverse site on the face of the Earth." The

rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade ...

s of the Pongo de Mainique were used as a filming location for key scenes of

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

's 1982 film '' Fitzcarraldo'' starring

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor, equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality. He appeared in over 130 film roles in a c ...

. In a 2006 survey of "15 of the world's top travel writers" by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'',

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fo ...

actor and BBC travel documentarist

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin ...

named it his "favourite place in the world".

References

External links

; Pictures and text * – Click "Next page" for two more screens. ; Pictures {{Cite web , author = Vanackeren, Guy , year = 2003 , title = Kiteni et le Pongo de Mainique , language = French , work = Aventura Latino Americana , url = http://www.perou.net/ala/fr/Kiteni&Pongo.html – Pictures of the Pongo de Mainique (4th to 8th) Canyons and gorges of Peru Landforms of Cusco Region Water gaps