A Rare Review: The Welcoming Refuge of Mama Simona
I don’t normally write reviews. Yes you’ll often find a few lines of practical information at the end of my articles regarding where I stayed or where I ate in a particular town or city, but I’ve never dedicated an entire blog post to providing a review of a specific hotel, hostel, restaurant, or cafe. […]
Catarata de Gocta: Peru’s ‘Lost’ Waterfall
Standing at 771 metres tall, Catarata de Gocta is ‘unofficially‘ the fifth highest free-leaping waterfall in the world (there is some dispute online as to where it officially ranks), only falling behind the likes of Angel (Venezuela), Tugela (South Africa), and Utigordsfoss, and Mongefoss (both in Norway). Yet this towering cascade of water, which is […]
Kuélap: The Kingdom of the Cloud People
Following a 6-hour journey on a cramped minibus (albeit through some beautiful mountain scenery), it was lovely to arrive into Chachapoyas with our accommodation already booked for us (thanks to the incredibly kind folk at La Casa de Seizo in Moyobamba). Our hostel was run by a young Peruvian husband and wife (apparently they’re not […]
Orchids and Hummingbirds: The Wonders of Waqanki
Waqanki Orchid Center was the primary reason we decided upon an overnight stop in Moyobamba in the first place, but as a result of our unexpected but amazing experience at La Casa de Seizo, we didn’t make it here until day 3. Waqanki Orchid Center is a private family-run reserve located in the Mayo Valley […]
Back to Nature in Moyobamba at La Casa de Seizo
Considering that I hadn’t yet braved a Peruvian bus journey since I landed in Lima almost 2 weeks ago, I thought I’d ease myself into the experience of travelling along Peru’s precarious mountain roads by breaking up the 8-hour journey to Chachapoyas. Moyobamba was an easy 2-hour run from Tarapoto, and there was an orchid […]
Tarapoto: A Surprising Little Town
I wasn’t expecting to like Tarapoto. In fact I didn’t have any expectations about the place whatsoever. Tarapoto was simply the closest populated area that we could fly to from Iquitos in order to re-connect with Peru’s road network, and continue our journey through what I would soon discover to be a vast, diverse and […]
Amazon Adventures with Heliconia Lodge (part two)
Whilst falling asleep to the cacophony of jungle sounds around me had been complete bliss, waking up several times in the night as a result of a deafening rain storm hadn’t. I was still at the point where I was drifting in and out of sleep when our 5am alarm sounded. The plan had been […]
Amazon Adventures with Heliconia Lodge (part one)
Much as I’d loved my time in Iquitos, where the vibrant buzz of city life blends beautifully with the slow pace of life on the Amazon, after 3 days in the city it was time to move on. Where we was going, roads would be replaced by rivers, and South-east Asia style tuk-tuks, rusty cars, […]