Sky's The Limit

From jungle hiking and sandboarding, to soaring through the skies at head-spinning heights, Peru’s incredible topography invites all manner of adventure. Our tip? Pack for action. Words: James Draven

- James Draven

“I’ll tie this around your head,” says Claudia, my guide, producing a grey sweatshirt from her rucksack as we stand on the edge of a canyon precipice, “and then you won’t be able to see how far down it is.” She smiles encouragingly. I’m having a moment of mild vertigo, but I explain to Claudia that I don’t think blindfolding me just before I cross a narrow, washed out mountain pass — at least 650  above the valley floor — will help.

I live by the coast in the UK, and — along with the absence of falling hazards — there are a number of advantages to the seaside lifestyle. One plus point rarely mentioned, however, is all of that lovely, dense, oxygen-rich air.

Up here, in Peru’s rural Amazonas Region, at 7,500  above sea level, my chest swells, greedily snatching lungfuls of the thin atmosphere. Nevertheless, I’ve never felt so alive. We’re hiking to Gocta Cataracts, overlooking dense cloud forest, along a track that passes agricultural huts. They’re festooned with billowing, varicoloured washing lines and kaleidoscopic plastic jugs that similarly swing on strings, drying out in the morning sun. Smouldering bonfires perfume the air. The scene is so redolent of sacramental smoke and prayer flags that I can’t tell if my heart pounds to race scarce oxygen around my system, or because I’ve fallen in love with the views.