gocta falls is the third largest waterfall in the world and was only discovered a little more than ten years ago. pause and ponder about how incredible that is…considering how small the world we live in today and that so much of it is only now being discovered…wow…
anyways, it was quite the adventure out there. it was a 30 minute drive to a town. once you get to the town, you must take a local guide with you, and you proceed to begin your 4.5 mile hike each way (taking 2 ½ – 3 hours each way), where you hike up and down 2 ½ mountain sides to get to the base of the falls. you do have the option to take a horse for 25 soles…which i highly recommend….in fact, you are crazy, like me, not to. the hike back was probably one of the more challenging hikes i have even done, but every bit of it was worth it. to put it into the perspective, there were probably 25 people in our group. only one started on a horse…the pregnant lady. half-way through the hike to the falls, there was a chance to request a horse for the way back for 20 soles…at that point 20 people were requesting horses…
on the hike you will see plenty of toucans, and if you are lucky you will get to see some monkeys…and if you are not lucky, you will see a puma. i only saw toucans, which was more than what most other people saw. and even though i just about died while hiking, i can easily say that this place was one of the most beautiful, majestic places i have ever seen.
the view on the drive out to the falls.
view of the falls from the town where we started the hike.
view while hiking….there are going to be a lot of pictures of waterfalls in this post….not apologizing…
white orchid.
our first uphill hike of the day…this uphill lasted a good 25 minutes…
the view of the town where we started from…
i was there.
sunburned from the day before, and my legs still itch from the mosquito bites…
a really awesome-looking mushroom.
when we finally were able to see the base, but no longer the top half of the falls.
i did what any normal person would do after hiking in hot, hot heat for 3 hours to the waterfall: i rushed to climb and swim underneath it…duh…
don’t worry mom, i was being careful…ish…carefulish…
way off in the distance, you can see two pale-people spots directly underneath the waterfall…the one on the left is me…the power of the water was incredible.
i could not get over the folds.
the green was absolutely breathtaking.
some awesome-looking beetles.
what i should have taken…no regrets…
right before i hiked 1 hour straight uphill…nbd…(i obviously had no idea what i was about to encounter…).
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