Susanne Masters
Until recently, Colombia wasn’t considered particularly safe to visit and Cano Cristales, in the middle of Farc guerrilla territory, was definitely not a place for tourists. In a world of Photoshopped images, Cano Cristales is a swimmer’s fantasy made real – a river that runs with the colours of the rainbow.
A few years ago the Colombian government reclaimed La Macarena, the closest town to Cano Cristales. At the end of 2016 the ratification of a peace deal between government and the Farc made it much easier to visit Colombia. When I started looking at places to swim there I thought I could fit in a Caribbean island, the Pacific coast with humpback whales and waterfalls in the jungle as well as Cano Cristales.