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Waterfalls New, Old and For Sale

We love lists of the world's biggest stuff. What we don't love is when they keep changing them. Recently the Gocta waterfall near Chachapoyas in Peru was "discovered" and added to the list of the world's tallest waterfalls. Of course, a big bunch of Andean inhabitants have known about it for eons but they were trying to keep it a bit hush-hush: Being on those big lists isn't all it's cracked up to be, when every Tom, Dick and Harry starts traipsing by your front door for a five minute photo-op.

What gets us about the Gocta is not so much the debate about whether or not tourist access should be improved (there's a plan to shorten the 5-hour hike to get there by building a road and opening it all to visitors from 2007) but whether it's actually as big as it sounds. News reports reckon it's now the third tallest waterfall in the world, but when you go to the experts at the World Waterfall Database it ranks a relatively measly 15th; although they do agree on the height of around 2,530 feet. Hmm. It's very unsettling, all this indecision: Better stay home til they make up their minds, in case we visit the wrong waterfall. Better still, stay home with our own waterfall, currently for sale on E-bay.

[Image via MountainGypsy/Flickr]

Related stories:
What Exactly Is a Waterfall? [World Waterfall Database]
Waterfall For Sale on E-bay [Newsday.com]