The Bala Gorge (in Spanish 'Angosto del Bala' (or 'Estrecho del Bala')) in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

is where the

Beni River The Beni River ( es, Río Beni) is a river in the north of Bolivia. It rises north of La Paz and flows northeast. The Madre de Dios River is where its mouth is at. In the upper portion of its course it flows through highland forest and rainforest, ...

breaks through the Bala Mountain Range (in Spanish 'Serranía del Bala') about 12 kilometres south of

Rurrenabaque Rurrenabaque is a small town in the north of Bolivia on the Beni River. It is the capital of Rurrenabaque Municipality. In recent years it has become popular with international tourism as it is an easy gateway for visits to Madidi National Park ( ...

in Bolivia. (The Beni River flows from south to north). The Bala Gorge is in the Bolivian

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

and the west side of the

Gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

is in the

Madidi Madidi () is a national park in the upper Amazon river basin in Bolivia. Established in 1995, it has an area of 18,958km². Along with the nearby protected (though not necessarily contiguous) areas Manuripi-Heath, Apolobamba, and the Manu Bios ...

National Park. The boundary of the Park follows the Bala Mountain Range towards the west and the Beni River towards the south. (The Park is south of the Mountain Range and west of the River). A

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

project in the Bala Gorge has been proposed (about the year 1998). It has been given up, but the idea came up again in 2007. "Bala" means "bullet" or "cannon ball". The landmark "Bala" is the 'shot hole' in the Bala Mountain Range a little west of the Bala Gorge. The most notable view of the Bala Gorge (and the 'shot hole' Bala landmark) is from the north side, seen upstream from the Beni River, when passing the San Miguel del Bala Eco-Lodge, situated 3 kilometres north of the Bala Gorge. In 1971-1972 D. Sommer and his wife, evangelical missionaries, lived in a house at the foot of the mountain south west of the Gorge, in one of the areas where an indigenous group called the Ese Ejja lived at that time. The missionaries built a house out of jungle materials, but had to move away due to health problems, and later the house was destroyed when the river flooded.

References

"Triste reedición del mega-proyecto de la represa El Bala". By Marco Octavio Ribera
Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
"¿Mega-Proyecto para destruir la Madre Tierra?"
LIDEMA (Liga de Defensa del Medio Ambiente). (In English 'League for Defence of Environment'). Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
Photos and text by missionary D. Sommer
Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
Ese Ejja, A language of Bolivia
Retrieved on 2008-12-11. {{coord, 14, 32, 44, S, 67, 29, 55, W, region:BO, display=inline,title Canyons and gorges of South America Landforms of Bolivia Landforms of Beni Department