Whilst out there we witnessed first hand the burning of mountains.  A local farmer had come out to check on his animals and set fire to the hills.  He does this to spark new plant growth for his cows to eat and bring the rain.  Unfortunately the burning is a haphazard affair and may burn a small patch of large bunch grasses or it may burn a whole mountain.   We observed him get out his matches and light area after area, one big fire filling the valley with smoke and entering the forest.  He said he knew it was wrong because you can be fined now, but he said that burning his patch of forest would be okay because in the next valley there are still thousands of hectares.

That night in our tent we kept watch as fire started to get closer.  We had set a point that if the fire reached it then we would move camp.   As the dew fell the fire died down.  However, we could see the red glow from other fires in the distance that raged throughout the night.

Fire devastating a mountain - lit "to make it rain"

Back in Chachapoyas a permanent blue haze hung in the air and there was niggle in the back of my throat.  For the time being at least while there is still vegetation the rains will come and hence the burners will be proved right.  It may take a week of burning but eventually the rain has to fall.  But what does the future hold?

Did you know that there are many nightly buses where you can recline in a large seat similar to business class from a few years ago and hence travel in comfort?  So you can get a good night sleep and travel around the country at a very reasonable price compared to the current price of airfares.

You not only save on the difference between airfare and the bus ticket.  You also save on a night of accommodation.  You can leave Lima for example at 8pm and be in Chiclayo ay 6am the next day ready to start a tour and with current airfares you may saved $180!

The major companies have their own bus terminals and manage their own security.  The services are direct and hence don’t stop on route to pick up extra passengers or let passengers off other than the designated bus terminal.

Recommended companies are:

Cruz Del Sur – between all major cities of Peru.  Imperial and Cuzero Services have very comfortable seat

Movil Tours – major cities of northern Peru. Bus cama (Bed bus) and Semi Bus Cama (half bed bus)

Oltursa – major cities in the north, Lima and Arequipa.

These companies all have a restroom aboard and serve dinner.  They can do credit card transactions so you can assure your seat before you travel.

Tips for Bus Travel:

-          The good services are Air Conditioned and just like an airplane you can become dehydrated.  Make sure you have water with you.

-          Ear plugs.  Not essential but sometimes useful if you don’t want to hear a DVD that is being played.

-          At certain times of the year, such as around the 28^th July when Peruvians celebrate Independence Day, seats may be harder to come by so it is recommended to reserve and buy your seats at least two weeks before hand.

For more information contact Vilaya Tours.

The Cloud Warrior's City of Vira Vira

Vira Vira drapes over a high grass covered mountain and consists of round houses built by the Chachapoya culture.  The view from the summit when the clouds are favorable is spectacular: a valley leading to the Amazon forest to the east and a round lake to the north, nestled between steep rocky mountains.

It is a tough trek to Vira Vira involving a 4000m high pass and winding your way  through hills once heavily populated.  Terraces, tombs and roundhouse remains are testament to an important and advanced culture.  Recommended before embarking on the trek is to have two or three days acclimatizing – walking to Gocta Waterfall, visiting the sarcophagi of Karajia and of course the ancient walled city of Kuelap.  Then after a visit to the Mummy Museum of Leymebamba you start the 5 day walk to Vira Vira via Tajopampa a site surrounded by archaeological remains including the massive tomb sites of La Petaca and Diablo Huasi.

The Northern Peru Special Adventure is the perfect way of getting to know pre-Inca Peru and experience that rare occasion of being away from it all.  For more details see http://www.vilayatours.com/viravira-trek.html

Why fly instead of drive?

The route from Chiclayo to Chachapoyas is roughly 460km, taking about 8-10hours and you pass through a myriad of landscapes.  It is certainly worth it if you have the time.  Currently due to necessary road improvements and particularly between Bagua and Pedro Ruiz there are delays due to the road works and flying for many might be the best option.

For those in a rush to get to the paradise of the Chachapoyas area, the flight leaves after the arrival of the LanPeru flight from Lima – meaning you can get from Lima to Chachapoyas any day of week in 3 hours.

For those on the budget and also not bothered about seeing the landscape on route there is the night bus service with either Movil Tours or Transervis Kuelap.

Pacasmayo was a very important port a century ago with a train tracks running down to the pier.  People from the northern highlands would take the train from Chilete on the Cajamarca road to Pacasmayo and then a boat to Lima.  The train tracks have been taken up long ago, but the station and the pier remain.

So why stay in Pacasmayo?  Tranquility is the immediate word that comes to mind.  Sitting on the balcony of either of the two hotels (La Estacion and Pakatnamu) on the seafront with only the sound of the waves while the sun dips, is a perfect end to a day.  Fitting Pacasmayo in to a northern Peru tour is easy and beneficial.  You arrive in Trujillo on a evening flight.  The next day you see the main attractions of Trujillo and leave the city via the way of El Brujo.  Now instead of backtracking to Trujillo, carry on to Pacasmayo.

There are sites worth visiting in the Pacasmayo area too for the traveler with time.  For surf lovers, the waves are some of the best and longest in Peru.  Cañoncillo is a group of lakes in the desert.  For the serious archaeology lover there is the Chimu site of Pakatnamu on a bluff and the Moche pyramid of Dos Cabezas.

I am no birder but became very interested in this Marvelous Spatuletail in 2000, when I was asked to accompany James Hecht, a photographer whose gig is taking photos of rare birds. We went to the Pomacochas, north of Chachapoyas and found a great site where three males would regularly come to feed. James chose his flower and aimed his camera and waited with the patience a Zen student would admire. After 6 days James had 180 shots and was very happy with 11 of them – which meant they were exceptional.

Years later I returned to the same area to work for the BBC who wanted to film the courtship sequence of the male. The male has two long slender tail feathers that end in spatulas. The spatulas he shakes above his head like a castanet player as he tries to lure in the female, who is quite drab compared to him. Then he starts a dance of flying rapidly over her head, twisting in the air so that he constantly looks at her. Next he hovers around her maintaining the eye contact of a tango dancer. If the charm works they then fly off together.

The final sequence can be seen on the David Attenborough Life BBC TV series in the program about birds. Or if you want to see the bird in the wild then the recommended places are at:

Huembo – on the road between Pedro Ruiz and Pomacochas – a reserve with many feeders and many other hummingbirds apart from the Marvelous Spatuletail.

Kentipata – opposite the Museum of Leymebamba. The feeders were put up 4 years ago when there were only two hummingbird species on the land. Now there are seventeen different species which include the Marvelous Spatuletail.

For the purists, a good place to see the bird without feeders is on the land of Santos Montenegro at the highpoint just before the town of Pomacochas.

My favorite journey direction is from Leymebamba on the Chachapoyas side to Cajamarca.  Why?  Because this is a journey of sensory overload and by the time one gets to the rolling hills between Celendin and Encañada 30mins before Cajamarca a time of reflection is needed – aka. shut eye.

Road across Maranon between Leymebamba and Cajamarca

Leymebamba is at 2200m (7215ft) and the road climbs past the Mummy Museum up to a the lip of the Marañon Canyon at 3615m (11855ft).  On a the best days you are here early and a sea of cloud obscures the valley bottom, yet you can see your road ahead some 5 hours driving time at the western side of the Canyon.  The total descent to the crossing point is 2800m (9180ft) and you drive by high grassland, cloud forest and dry forest.  You will need to be wrapped up warm at the top and ready to speel of layers as you descend.  Just above Balsas on the way down is Hornopampa – Oven Plain – well name as here the heat really kicks in.

Balsas is the lowest point of the journey and is where you cross the Marañon via a suspension bridge.  This is a great place for a leg stretch and try the roasted in-their-shell peanuts.  The drive on the western bank passes many different cacti as it winds up towards the Limon Plain.  At Limon you can see the road zigzagging above to the western edge of the canyon – the best stopping point point is before you get to the last hairpin.

Just beyond is the market town of Celendin which is famous for straw hats made and worn there.   From there the road twists and turns, gently climbing to a flat pass.  The last section from Encañada is particularly beautiful in the afternoon light is a through an agricultural area.  A little further and you get the first glimpse of Cajamarca spreading out in the valley below.

Lonely Planet used to say to travel this road was for “die hards” only.  It is still a long day, but the road condition has greatly improved and journey times and bumpiness reduced. Vilaya Tours offers the route as one of the ways of accessing or leaving the Chachapoyas area.

Here is the video of the day Condorcito was taken up the side of the River Atuen gorge to his release site.

Condorcito has he became known was in a sorry state. More than anything he needed food, a rest and launch site to get back to his cliff. So Condorcito was put in a cage and given steak. Meanwhile the authorities had found out about the bird and wanted to take him away to be rehabilitated. The problem with their plan was to take the bird 100s of miles away, yet where Condorcito comes from, the condor population is small and so it was imperative that he wasn’t taken out of the area. While Condorcito gulped down steak a war of paper and words were being fought. In the end reason won through and the permission for his release in the Leymebamba granted.

On the 18th December 2009, in a specially made cage Condorcito was carried by four men, 550m up the steep forested gorge to a height of 3100m. There we had to wait for almost 5 hours for the rain to clear before allowing Condorcito out. It was a magic moment when he finally walked out of his box, where we stretched out his wings. He needed some help to get his wings fully stretched and exercised. After 1 hour – he still hadn’t flown.

On the 19th December the men climbed the gorge again to where Condorcito had spent the night under an overhang in his cage. They then made a better launch site at the top of a cliff overlooking the birds nesting site. The parent birds came in to view and with two flaps of his wings Condorcito was over the gorge and flying.

Since then Condorcito has been seen on numerous ocassion still with his parents.