The Waterfalls That Never Flow

Hierve el Agua's rock formations reach thirty metres down the cliff.

Hierve el Agua sits seventy kilometres east of Oaxaca City in Mexico.

Two cliffs rise over fifty metres from the narrow valley floor.

Springs oversaturated with calcium carbonate trickle down the mountain face.

Ninety-five percent of the surface rock formations are calcium carbonate.

Two springs bubble up like boiling pots—not actually hot.

Swimmers float in artificial pools filled with turquoise green mineral water.

The lower pool sits very close to the cliff edge.

Spring water stays between twenty-two and twenty-seven degrees Celsius.

Traces of silver, barium and iron tint individual stalactites different colours.

Zapotecs built canals and terraces 2,500 years ago.

Lined canals here are the only known example in all of Mesoamerica.

Holm oak forest and cactus cover the rough terrain around the cliffs.

Calcium carbonate builds the petrified waterfalls one drop at a time.