Mamaq Tambo Lodge — Hotel in Valera

We looooooooved it here. The rooms were super comfy and fit our family of four easily. Each little house is separate from the others so that you have total privacy and a killer view of the falls (and like 8 other falls besides). Our kids loved hanging out with the dogs and cats and chickens, which made for a fun place to come home to every day. Judit, the cook, trained in a 5 star resort nearby and her food totally exceeded expectations, everything was fresh and delicious, and she was great about accommodating our kids' picky tastes. Every morning we had fresh bread, eggs, juice fruit... and every night was something spectacular. It was fun eating by the bonfire on our last evening. We took a rest day, just hanging around and had a blast cruising around town (a short walk down hill) and lounging by the pool/pond. It's such a nice spot will beautiful landscaping, and sounds of wildlife at night. I was originally worried that 5 nights was too long to spend here, but it was the perfect amount of time for us.||Carmen arranged all of our jeep transportation and guides around Chachapoyas (airport, Kuelap, Karajia) with Cocachimba locals. It was fun visiting some of the off-beat spots like our guide's trout farm, or the "museum" of the retired professor who collects meteorites and carves gnomes out of Chirimoya roots! Carmen also helped book tickets to Kuelap (I had trouble accessing the website from the US). You can walk to Gocta falls from the lodge, and we went with Francesco (the co-owner) who is super fun and upbeat and great with kids. ||This whole region blew us away. Until the Jaen airport is back in commission, there will be very few visitors here, although the infrastructure is quite developed and the roads are well maintained. There's lots of other sites and falls that aren't very well documented online. Almost all of the tourists we ran into were Peruvian. We really loved following in the footsteps of the Chachapoyas! || I'm really glad I stayed here and not in Chachapoyas town! Thanks so much Carmen,...

Absolutely delightful! A gorgeous, comfortable and absolutely well designed fitting architecture in the middle of breathtaking nature. Situated up in the Cocachimba highlands with the Gocta cataracts at plain sight, in the eastern side of the northeastern Peruvian Andes. The design of every piece of architecture, even that of the service, uses local natural resources, and blends with it's surrounding nature... green, grey, brown, beige, tanned, yellowish, orangy. The roomy, comfy, bungalows as well as the common areas are clean, organized, appropriately decorated. The staff offers the best of Peruvian warmth and friendliest of availability. Their chef and their kitchen personnel spoil us guests with organic, fresh food and a variety of international cuisine.

This lodge is a place to come back to just for rest, excellent food and drinks after visiting surrounding attractions such as Chachapoyas, Jaén, Gocta cataracts, Kuelap, Nuevo Tingo, Cocachimba etc. On the other hand, I had no need to leave this lodge at all, none at all!! It is the kind of place to stay in all day long, relaxing, in pijamas if you wish, seating around, listening to the sound of silence or to gentle music, dozing off, reading or catching up with work. Going for a slow, cadenced walk around just to explore the surrounding community is a must.

A secondary gain is the state of well-being that being up here triggers in the physical and mental bodies. One senses the energy and a healing effect that emanates from the surrounding "Apus"--terrestrial physical, metaphysical titans originating from the crust of the Earth containing massive life energy of which José Maria Arguedas wrote amply about, except now up in the Amazonas "selva alta" of Perú's northeastern Andes. A similar experience one can also share with Thomas Mann's "Magic Mountain". These five days here at Mamaq Tambo Lodge are "the best". We'll comeback...

Wow!! My wife and I had an AMAZING time at Mamaq Tambo!! Carmen is so attentive and responsive. The little slice of heaven they have carved out of this remote area is so wonderful. Carmen and Francesco have really put a lot of thought into their design. The lodges are wonderful and well-designed. They have so many plants and trees on the property and use much of it in the delicious meals that are made on-property. This place is wonderful for relaxing and for setting out on the many possible adventures that surround the area. There are many places on-property to read, meditate, relax, and unwind. The showers were hot (we tried to use water sparingly, as it is a precious commodity). Now, let’s talk about food! Judith (the chef) was OUTSTANDING. She prepares the food and many drinks from scratch and EVERY meal we had there was INCREDIBLE. We only planned to eat dinner once there but ended up eating there 3 out of 4 nights with the last dinner being at the fire pit. Judith is a sweetheart and you won’t be disappointed having her prepare some amazing dishes for you! If you are in town to hike Gocta, take Carmen’s advise and go the back way then come back into Cocachimba the “front” way. We are super-happy we did it that way. The town is less than a 10-minute walk. We had the trail and waterfall to ourselves. For transportation, Carmen set us up with Elvis, who was great!! He took us to and from the airport and to Cerro el Tigre, and two other miradores. His vehicles are super clean, he has reasonable prices, and he is just a nice guy! Highly recommended him. We had a blast in Cocachimba. The people are so nice and you will not regret staying at Mamaq Tambo. Thanks again to...