Noel Kempff Mercado national bolivian park (part3)

The Huanchaca Plateau is a drained by numerous perennial rivers and streams which merge and form the deadwaters of teh Verde and Paucerna Rivers. Precipitous escarpments, 600 to 1800 feet high, bound the plateau, often crating spectacular wateralls; Arco Iris and the Federico Ahlfeld falls on the Paucerna River are considered to be two of the continent's finest.

The Huanchaca Plateauat sunset, taken from the savannah grasslands looking southeast from Los Fierros.

On it's way to the Rio Itenez, the narrow Paucerna River winds its way through dense towering rainforest. Slowly travelling downstream through this remote and pristine wilderness, one many frequently see Jaguar and Giant otter, an exciting and unforgettable highlights to this unique expedition. The first to discover the Huanchaca Plateau was the legendary British explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett.

Fawcett discovered the plateau in 1910 while exploring the Verde River and demarcating the national boundaries for the Bolivian government. It is believed that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous novel The Lost World was based in part on Fawcett's exciting accounts of the Huanchaca Plateau.

A frequent sight along the Itenez, Paucerna, and Verde Rivers are families of Gian Otters and Southern River Otter. These two species are rare and threatened throughout their range.