August 10th, 2015
First off let’s take a second to welcome two very special guests back to the blog. That’s right I’ve reunited with Rob and Bethan from Wales. They’ve had a terrible experience volunteering in a monkey refuge a few hours outside of Tarapoto, Bethan getting a potentially deadly parasite in her belly which luckily antibiotics are quick to wipe away.
I meet up with them at Yuntawasi hostel , which ends up being an amazing comfy and social place to stay, (Dorm 24 Soles) in the evening after my flight from Iquitos, and, bless Bethan’s heart she’s made a Lemon Meringue Pie, and it is incredible!! At any rate of to the journey at hand. The next day we head out alongside two girls from Belgium and one from Germany towards one of many waterfalls found around the town in the mountainous jungles of north central Peru. Huacamaillo falls. A place which gets it’s name because lot’s of macaws (guacamayo’s) live nearby and the cultural legend is that one died falling from the air right where the pool is and thus created the waterfall.
To get here just ask the friendly staff at Yuntawasi hostel for which collectivo to take, then it’s a simple moto taxi to the collectivo stop (3 Soles or less) , hop in the collectivo (about 5 soles each) and then hike the trail and pay the 3 Soles entrance fee to go to the falls, though if you go later in the day, there may be no one there to collect that fee.
The six of us fill the collectivo perfectly. (well, with two in the trunk) and after maybe 40 minutes drive we’ve reached the trailhead. I’m still feeling under the weather from Iquitos, but am hoping I’m recovered enough for this 75 minute hike to the falls. As it turns out, I’m really not, and as the sun starts beating down on me, I start to get dizzy and exhausted, and eventually fall back from the group a ways. Now normally, I’d probably just have turned back, but we’re are talking about a waterfall here, so I’m determined, and criss crossing the cool running river certainly helps provide some relief.
The walk has been described as pretty flat, and while it’s not mountain climbing, it’s certainly not even ground, especially the final sections, which almost kills me as I scramble up the rough hewn wooden steps on the path, a tour group of french people mostly passing me, as i shed pounds in the form of sweat.
But then, I’m down the steps, across the stream and stumbling around a shielded rock corner into view of the 20 meter falls, and in a single moment, it’s all worth it as I peel off most of my clothes and plunge into the crisp cool pool at the bottom of the falls, which is an ideal temperature, depth and size for swimming, much like the waterfall that started my love affair back when I was 16 just outside of Montezuma Costa Rica.
Not only is the pool perfect for swimming the waterfall itself seems perfectly crafted for people like me, who like to feel the full force of the water flowing down on them. Here there’s two options. First I swim up to the very bottom of the falls, find some purchase against the rocks and climb in to the thunderous cascades, getting a free back neck and face massage in the process. It’s utterly exhilarating and something I end up repeating well over a dozen times during our time at the falls, even encouraging others from our parties to do the same.
Next I head up alone to the mid section of the falls and find a new place to get some, splaying out for a few pictures before sitting there in the gentle rain like spray of the falls chatting in Spanish to four young local men who are full of questions about Canada and what I think of Peru. Another reason I love South America, one language gets you through so much of the continent.
After a few hours at the falls rain starts pouring down and we decide we’d better head back before the water levels rise too much on the river. Mercifully with the sun gone from the sky, the walk back is much much easier and we all get back to Tarapoto before sundown, thrilled with our day at Huacamaillo falls.
