El Dorado

The solid gold raft found in 1968

El Dorado
the stories of El Dorado which is spanish for "The gilded" are many,but what the original name in the Chibcha Indian Language really refers to is not really known it could be a king. a city, a kingdom, or perhaps even an empire? or all of it. what is known is that this king or kingdom where very rich in gold and treasures. it is said it was located deep in the Amazon jungle in South America.

A story that was told to the Spanish explorer Sebastian de Benalcázar by an Indian.
says this was in fact a king of a rich kingdom. and in a yearly ritual the king was taken out on a "sacred" lake covered in gold dust and then took a leap from a ceremonial raft into the water while priests sprinkled the water with gold powder. other valuable items of gold and emerald where also put in the lake as offerings made to an indian goddess


Other accounts from south american history seems to support this story to.in that it actually existed such a practice. performed by the Muisca indians, and the lake is said to be lake Guatavita in Colombia.but the the Muisca indians had been at war and suffered defeat by a neighboring tribe, and the old customs had died out long before the Spaniards arrived in the 1500s

Many expeditions have tried to find the place, including the conquistadors Franciso Orellana and Gonzalo Pizarro, who in 1541 made an expedition which ended with a catastrophe, but Orellana became the first European to sail the Amazon River

Nevertheless, the story became a big legend and was the focus of treasure hunters of several centuries. looking for the gold in lakes throughout the south americas and along the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. first known was an expedition by Sebastian de Benalcázar at lake Guatavita , and in his footsteps followed one adventurer after another, these expeditions did often cost many lives of both the expedition participants and the Indians.Europeans suffered from tropical related sicknesses and attacks from the indians with their vicious poisoned arrows,Indians who had the misfortune to live nearby or cross path with them where often taken as slaves or killed

Attempts to empty lake Guatavita of water has been done several times in history since the 1500´s with little or no success.but in 1911 an English gold company managed to drain the whole lake completely .but the bottom which almost completely consisted of deep thick mud quickly started to dry and soon it had hardened to impenetrable cement. heavy amazon rain soon refilled the lake again. 
the company was forced to auction out the few gold objects it had found to avoid ending up in bankruptcy.all in all it is estimated from historical accounts that about 100kg of gold has been salvaged from lake Guatavita since the 1500s. but that number could be much larger .in 1968 a miniature raft of solid gold was discovered in a cave at the lake. the artifact is complete with the golden king and his priests aboard the raft

lake Guatavita in Colombia

Other then lake Guatavita there has been a number of other places in South America suggested as the location Eldorado. One of these is "Manoa", which occurs in a book by the Englishman Sir Walter Raleigh. It is however believed by historians nowadays that "Manoa" is a pure "invention" by Raleigh. and the chances of finding the real "Eldorado" by searching for "Manoa" is therefore very slim.

There is a bit of a conflict in the south americas of which country is the true home of El Dorado: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Venezuela all lay claim to El Dorado. but it seems that Colombia would be the best candidate with   lake Guatavita where gold actually has been salvaged. and no one knows what is still hidden on the bottom embedded in the thick mud

nowadays the word El Dorado has become a metaphor used to describe an utopian imaginary place of peoples dreams and hopes