Even if the weather in Chachapoyas is pretty unsteady with lots of rain and sun and rain and rain again…we wanted to explore more of the surrounding area. Next to Kuelap another remarkable place to visit is the Catarata Gocta (Gocta Waterfall).
The waterfall was long time a hidden secret as the people living nearby tried to avoid it. They knew about its existence but also were afraid of it because of ancient legends. It was a German scientist who finally “discovered” the Gocta in the early 2000s.
As we heard about its beautiful surrounding and the height of 771 meters (!) we definitely wanted to see it. Especially Christian, as he hasn’t seen enough waterfalls already in Iceland two years ago! 😅
With a bit of a bumpy start we made our way to the small village nearby, Cocachimba. Fully motivated we started the hike to Gocta. Of course it started and stopped raining all the way…One local guide who could also speak some French and German told us that “the rain is wet” (and it really was)! 😄🌧️
The hike we already read about was…long…very long and pretty exhausting! What kept us hiking on was the jungle like view and from time to time you could already see the waterfall. After about 2.5 hours (!) finally reaching Gocta we were already pretty wet but also speechless by its impressive appearance. Due to the rainy season (and it really rained a lot the last couple of days!) it got even bigger and more impressive.
Having the long hike in mind we started making our way back in the never ending rain and were pretty glad when we reached Cocachimba for a lunch break. Soaking wet but still impressed and happy we made it we arrived back in Chachapoyas. And even saw a huge rainbow on our way back! 🌈
