The gorgeousness to the left was the next day’s adventure. Se llama Gocta, and at times, it is the third highest in the world (over 771 meters and therefore twice as tall as any building in the US). Now, the reason I say “at times” is because during the rainy season, it gets beat out by another waterfall, but regardless, this water is falling a long, long way. To get close enough to actually feel the spray on your face means spending a little over an hour in a car, then following it up with a few hours of hiking. But trust me, it is worth it. The hike itself isn’t bad, and there is
a ton of great scenery along the way. The flowers are beautiful, but it is the forest itself that I found the most interesting. Of course, anything green is dear to my heart right now, but this 
forest had such a jungle feel to it – old trees, moss growing everywhere, vines hanging down, 
everything feeling so untamed and free. It was like hiking through the jungle, only at a 
much more pleasant temperature so you weren’t sweating your face off. Well, we were definitely sweating, but that had more to do with the hike than with the temperature. And I definitely recommend bringing rain gear for this hike, because in the off chance you get lucky and it doesn’t rain on you, you’re still going to want that jacket when you get closer to the water fall. Water falling that distance doesn’t seem to feel any obligation to land in the pool provided for it at the bottom of the cascade. In fact, water that has fallen that far doesn’t seem to feel the need to follow any of the rules set for it by gravity either. I’m trying to figure out how to convey just how tall this thing was. These pictures on the right give you a 
bit of an idea. Those three people in the corner of the photo give some idea of scale, but I think you have to be there to really understand. There was simply no way to get a picture of the entire thing when you got near it. It was beautiful. It took its time descending, swirling and dancing, like some kind of music for the eyes to enjoy. I could have sat there and watched it for hours, except that I was soaked within minutes of getting close to it. That first photo that has the entire waterfall was taken from about an hour’s hike away. That’s how high we’re 
talking. Then it was back up and down the trail to get back to our taxi, which then took us about halfway back, where we grabbed lunch and hopped on a bus heading to Tarapoto.
We weren´t really looking forward to this bus ride, because it was an 8 hour drive and there was a chance we would be standing on the bus the whole way. However, we had a great bit of luck in that not only did we not have to stand, but the bus was brand new with air-conditioning and lots of leg room, and the road we drove on was actually paved. The scenery grew steadily more forest-filled, and was one of the most scenic drives I have ever been on. Late that night we rolled into Tarapoto, where the next phase of the trip began. I´ll save that for the next email, though.
