Blogs from Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru, South America

Proposed trip to Northern (tropical Andes) Peru In 2007 a gigantic waterfall was discovered in Peru’s Dept. of Amazonas. This was officially measured to be 895 meters high, 17 times as high as Niagara Falls, or about 3 times as high as the Eiffel Tower. Charles Motley has been working in this zone to benefit the natives, building lodges for the villages near some of America’s best ruins for 25 years. When the Yumbilla waterfall was discovered, a village asked Charles to develop a sustainable tourist infrastructure to give them an incentive to preserve their ecology. On investigation of many waterfalls, a decision was made to create perhaps “the world’s best ecological trek” to not only access it, but many others, 4 being as high as any of the continental USA. This trek follows a narrow ... read more

Amazon Waterfalls Association 501 c 3 has a project developing a sustainable tourist income in Peru's northern Dept. of Amazonas to give that zone an incentive to protect their ecology. They discovered a waterfall in 2007 that is 17 times as high as Niagara Falls or about 3 times as high as the Eiffel Tower. The trek is 15 miles long and passes 7 gigantic waterfalls, 4 higher than any of the continental USA. This follows a narrow cliff ledge covered in a pristine Amazon Forest (most others are 2nd growth), and we have 5 of the world's most exotic and endangered species. Part of our project is propagating 10,000 feeding trees of fruit or flowers for the hummingbirds, and planting some along the trail, and the surrounding land around our preserve. Some things lacking are ... read more

Chachapoyas, Kuelap, and farewell to Peru Chachapoyas is a lovely town that sits quietly in the jungle in Peru's central north and rarely gets visited by tourists because there isn't really anything else within about a ten hour bus ride in any direction. The streets and main plaza are lined with white houses with dark brown wooden balconies and doors, and cafes, shops, and resteraunts are all concentrated within easy walking distance around the Plaza de Armas. I spent the first day sleeping off the bus trip in a really nice hostel with probably the most enthusiastic shower i've encountered so far, and drinking coffee and eating yukas fritas in cafes (Yukkas are a root vegetable that i encountered in boiled form on the Machu Piccu trek. Kind of like a potato but more fibrous and ... read more

Hi all, We leave the coast region of Peru, heading to Chachapoyas, situated more than 14 hour ride east from Trujillo, in the mountains. We intend to spend a couple of last days exploring another aspect of Peruvian ancient cultures. Our goal is the fortress of Kuelap. We arrive at 0530 in the morning, but no worries - Peruvians are early birders so there is no problem at all to find a descent hotel, adjacent to the Plaza del Armas (main square), and set a guided tour to 2 interesting archeological sites, not far from Chacha' (local nickname for the city). Pueblo del muertes ('city of the dead) and Karajia, are 2 burial sites, located in the remotest places one can imagine. Both burial sites are clinging to sheer cliffs, and it took us a 2 ... read more

So… we crossed the border into Peru on December 2nd and arrived safely in the city called Jaen, after a long journey of about 14 hours (!), using almost all means of overland wheeled transportation, we pulled off the motorbike taxi near the Cesar Hotel in Jaen and took a deep breath of relief. We left the small village Vilcabamba, which turned out to be a disappointment, with the 6:30am bus to Zumba on the way to the neglected border point La Balsa. We were ‘lucky’ to stop half way at the village of Palanda for their celebration of a 12th anniversary for the region, this hindered us for about an hour and a half with scores of marching bands of children closing the route for their celebrations, and although it was a nuisance to be ... read more