Gocta Falls

The 770-metre Gocta Falls drops in two stages through cloud forest in the Chachapoyas region — one of the tallest waterfalls in the world, and barely known outside Peru until 2005.

Most visitors join an organised tour from Chachapoyas: a minibus or taxi takes you to the village of Cocachimba, where a local guide is obligatory. The standard trek goes first to a viewpoint (about two hours), then another hour to the base of the upper fall. The return trip is slightly downhill and faster. Bring rubber boots if there has been recent rain — the trail gets muddy.

You can also walk from the village of San Pablo de Valera to the base of the lower fall, a longer five-hour trip. In the dry season the path is easier; just after heavy rains, the whole hillside comes alive with dozens of smaller falls feeding the main cascade.

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A story
Gocta's existence as a major waterfall was effectively unknown outside the local communities until 2005, when a German engineer named Stefan Ziemendorff measured it during a survey and reported it as one of the tallest falls in the world. Local people had known about it for generations but kept it quiet — there was a belief that a mermaid guarded the falls and that publicising the location would bring misfortune. The village elders were eventually persuaded to allow access, and within a few years Gocta had become northern Peru's second most visited attraction after Kuélap.

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