Blogs from Amazonas, Peru, South America
Yumbilla waterfall 3 times as high as the Eiffel Tower discovered near Chachapoyas
Published: May 3rd 2012South America » Peru » Amazonas » Chachapoyas
May 3rd 2012
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
April 27th 2012
Hi all, Just at an internet cafe before we head from Cusco to Puno to Lake titicaca, Isle Del Sol and La Paz! Just returned from Puerto maldonado on an overnight bus so today is our travelling day... Knackered.com. Tash seriously thought she was gonna die with the speed these buses turn corners.. In the Andes too! We arrived at Puerto maldonado a few days ago (can´t remember when, we dont even know what day of the week it is!) and hadnt booked any jungle treks so took a recommendation to Rainforest Treks . The bus station at Maldonado was interesting to say the least with tuk tuks and dogs everywhere. We arrived at the lodge in the morning and luckily they had space to book us onto their 4 day tour of the jungle and ... read more
April 21st 2012
After our gruelling Spanish lessons we flew to the Amazon for a ´rest'! we flew to the Amazon town of Iquitos and upon our arrival at the airport we heard a man shouting Panayi....... it was our jungle guide who gave us a warm welcome upon arrival... we were taken to our hotel and spent the first night exploring Iquitos town. The following morning we met our Amazon jungle guide Wilson who seemed friendly at first but soon started to say comments bordering on inappropriate! we boarded our boat and luck was not on our side as it became terrential downpour getting to our jungle lodge! we ended up getting completely drenched...and Wilson even offered to hold up a cover the entire time to protect us from the rain.. how sweet! we arrived at the lodge ... read more
April 2nd 2012
We have just spent four wonderful days in the amazing Amazon. After boarding our boat the MV Aqua we settled in for four days of excursions to lakes and tributaries that are all part of the Amazon. Each day we had at least two excursions aboard skiffs with our Naturalist guides (all locals trained in tourism) to seek wildlife. As it is the rainy season we were able to venture into areas that would normally be inaccessible (albeit some of them had to be persuaded with a machete that the guide pulled out and used where necessary). We really were in the jungle. Their enthusiasm was infectious even for those of us that really didn't thinkl bird watching would be all that interesting. We were all given a wildlife checklist to fill out when we saw ... read more
volunteers to build "the world's best eco-trek" to a waterfall 3 times as high as the Eiffel Tower
Published: February 15th 2012South America » Peru » Amazonas » Chachapoyas
February 14th 2012
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
February 1st 2012
Once Carlos had heard that we were planning a trip to Iquitos, he immediately told us the best way to get there. Forget all the other things we may have heard – his was easily the best route to follow. He hadn’t actually done it himself, but a friend he sent that way had enjoyed it. Faced with such overwhelming evidence like that, what option did we have. The plan, as far as your correspondent could work out, was to get to Tarapoto by coach, then take a collective (a little bus) to Yurimaguas followed by a boat to Iquitos. What could be simpler ? Well, we started by asking Carlos which bus to take to Tarapoto. He wasn’t too sure about this and mentioned something about having to get off at a roundabout outside a ... read more
July 22nd 2011
It was 10am when we boarded S.V Leonides , joining a sea of swaying hammocks strung side by side like a scene from ‘Papillon’, our presence further clogging the heart of a boat that rusted by the second. Below us a manic scene unfolded. Angry bulls, their horns tied with rope, were run on board into a pen brimming with cows anxious to make space. Chickens remained calm in their boxes, resigned to their own fate, whilst a line of men moved back and forth like ants, loading everything from sacks of rice to whole trees on deck. The undeniable energy of the moment made the prospect of sleeping above all of this for twenty four hours seem tolerable but this was mad, even Noah would have gasped at the sight, and just to top it ... read more
April 9th 2011
I've just showered (properly) for the first time in 5 days. Quite the effort I think. You see i've just returned from 4 days in the mountains around Chachapoyas. What a wonderful experience, challenging at times yes, but well worth the money and the effort. Olga and I arrived in Chachapoyas after a big adventure from Vilacabamba across the border....a trip that took one and a half days probably because of the fact we needed 7 individual means of transport! The most relaxed border crossing I've crossed thus far included a ten year old girl entering our details into the computer system, in between completing her homework, and waking up a Peruvian official from his afternoon nap to stamp us in! Yep pretty damn relaxed! Whilst it was a long journey, the views from Zumba, Ecuador ... read more
March 25th 2011
We made it home this morning at 2:00. Apparently there was a fire in the fuel depot at Miami airport on Thursday and all the flights coming and going through there have been delayed. I'll try and get everything caught up with photos this weekend. It's great having a reliable internet connection again. This was from last Saturday (am I actually a week behind?). When we went to Chipe we took a couple of hours and went to Kusu Chigamai. It is a village just up the Kusu river from the old Mission Station. We took a short trip to visit the village in the late afternoon. ... read more
March 24th 2011
Sorry, this is a long one and it has almost 100 photos. The internet connection in Iquitos was killing me. We're finally in Lima and leave for the airport in about 5 hours so this will be my only post tonight. This is about the trip to Chipe. I left out the photos of Kusu Chigamai. I'll get them up next. We left Chiclayo for Iquitos Tuesday morning and then we head back to Lima Thursday afternoon. Friday morning we get the 7:00AM flight to Miami and then home to LA. I’ll catch you up on Iquitos in my next post. Saturday – Jungle time It’s 12:30. We were supposed to leave for Chipe this morning. About 3 hours ago Greg came in and said hurry up and finish packing we need to go. That was ... read more
