Case file · Sacred site
The Boiling River and the Yacumama
In November 2011 geoscientist Andrés Ruzo reached Shanay-Timpishka, a stream in Peru's Huánuco region hot enough to kill animals that fall in, which healers at the Mayantuyacu centre say is heated by the Yacumama, the serpent mother of the waters.
2011 CE · -8.81, -74.74 · status: account
The account
Ruzo had heard of the river as a boy and been told it was a myth. With the blessing of the Asháninka healer Maestro Juan Flores he studied it, finding the heat comes from deep faults rather than a volcano, and argued for protecting it as both a sacred and a scientific site (TED, 2014; book 2016).
The sceptical view
Non-volcanic geothermal heating; the stream is real, the serpent is the local explanation.