Experience the best of Chachapoyas

Chachapoyas lies at about 2,300 metres in the Amazonas region, in the Andean cloud forests on the eastern slopes above the Amazon basin. Founded by the Spanish in 1538, it has a central plaza, whitewashed houses with red-tiled roofs and carved wooden balconies, and a cathedral, and it is a base for exploring a region that was home to the Chachapoya, the Cloud Warriors.

Kuélap, a walled fortress of the Chachapoya culture, stands on a ridge at about 3,000 metres, with stone walls up to twenty metres high and hundreds of circular houses inside. Gocta Falls drop in two tiers for about 770 metres in the forest, among the tallest in the world. Other sites include the Karajía sarcophagi, clay figures set in a cliff, and the Leymebamba museum, with mummies from a lake high in the mountains.

Stews of beans and potatoes, tamales wrapped in leaves and cuy, guinea pig, are the traditional dishes, with coffee and cacao from the valleys of Amazonas. Days are mild and nights cool, and the rainiest months run from December to March.