2008 adventures. Join us !

Chachapoyas Archaeology
eXplore Kuelap, hike the Chacha Trail.
10-days of Chachapoyas archaeology
Moderate Challenge. May 2008 Member cost: 1475 USD per person.

Chachapoyas and Amazon
eXplore Kuelap, the largest ruin edifice in the Americas
16-days of Chachapoyas archaeology and Amazon Adventure
Moderate Challenge. August 2008 Pricing 2465 USD. Member cost: 2165 USD per person.

If May or August are not good times for your trip to Peru More trips in 2008 are here: Trips to Peru Ask for Camayoc Member Discount!

The Andes Mountains: 4500+ miles of continuous deep rock gorges, seemingly endless valleys, and ice-capped mountain peaks rising from the Caribbean Sea stretching the length of South America to a descent into the Antarctic Regions.

The Amazon: The winding rivers and creek beds of the Andes carve the terrain, headwaters of fuel for the mighty Amazon River. The few and far-between roads and paths scar a landscape where ancient civilizations arose and fell. Remote and oasitic stone ruins hide beneath the rainforest bromeliads. Remote Andean and Amazon communities await the infrequent visitor who travels with a passion for perseverance and teamwork.

A journey across the Andes Mountains marked deep with lost civilizations that cry for discovery and protection. A journey onward into the Amazon rainforest. Here the rainforest Indian communities have been safeguarding the forest and their culture for thousands of years .

OUR JOURNEY BEGINS.Chachapoyas Archaeology
May 2008
Snowcapped volcanoes and glacier mountain peaks barricade Chachapoyas to the south. Nearly impassable river gorges cut the Andes Mountains parallel to Chachapoyas on the west. Amazon jungle lands push to the east and north boundaries of the Chachapoyas region. Even in our modern-day, geographical boundaries isolate the Chachapoyas region.

Massive fortresses are perched on the tops of mountains, cliff-side tombs and richly painted sarcophagus lie amidst the jungle bromeliads. All slowly coming to light with a glimpse of what was perhaps an advanced civilization, an ancestral connection of Amazon Indians and Andean peoples.

In concurrence with the conquest of the Chachapoyas by the Incas, European diseases ravaged the native population. By the end of the 1500's the Chachapoyas Peoples were gone. Their lands, culture, cities, and fortresses once one of South America's most populative and progress civilizations, disappeared into the mountain mists. Only in the last 20 years has the grandeur of the Chachapoyas People begun to come to light.

Here one of the most spectacular pre-Inca ruin sites rests upon a mountain-top: Kuelap, rivaling any ruins in the New World complete with living quarters for thousands of residents and a most impressive stone wall fortification reaching 60 feet high in circumference to the city. It is the largest edifice of the Americas and estimated to be 3 times the volume of Egypt's largest pyramid. Surrounding Kuelap lies the mountainous and remote Vilaya Region.

Outside of the town of Chachapoyas is the Sarcofagos of Karajia (road and hiking, fairly strenuous):

Karajia is a spectacular funerary site. Here we will find 3-meter anthropomorphic wooden coffins located under a cliff. Mummies were placed inside each coffin. The Chachapopyas buried their dead in capsule-like tombs constructed of stone, wooden or cane poles and clay. Known locally as purunmachus (from the Quechua, purun wild and machu, old), the funerary statues lookout from cliffside perches overlooking the left bank of the Utcubamba River and several of its western tributaries.

Iyacyecuj Archaeological site, "Enchanted Water" Ruins: In June 2006 Dr. Peter Lerche headed up an archaeology team to protect a 600-year-old underground cemetery. Discoveries include five mummies, two of which are intact with skin and hair, as well as ceramics, textiles and wall paintings. Investigations included 5 caves, stone paved pre-Hispanic trails, archaeological centers like Cachimichi (pre Inca) and Corobamba (probably Inca-colonial).

During our visit to Chachapoyas we will have the opportunity to visit local communities and visit the Gocta Waterfall, one of the world's highest waterfalls.

OUR JOURNEY CONTINUES:Chachapoyas and the Amazon
August 2008 Trekking, rafting in the rainforest and visiting traditional
Indian communities.

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