Antankallo Waterfall

Matucana sits at 2,380 metres in the Rímac gorge, high enough above the coastal cloud that Lima spends half the year under, and the walk to Antankallo is the reason most people get off there. A path leads from the town up a side valley for about an hour, climbing gently past cactus, agave and small fields, and ends at a fall of around eighty metres dropping down a rock wall into a shallow pool. It is not a lush jungle waterfall - this is dry Andean canyon country, and the fall is a thread of water against bare rock, thinner in the dry months. The appeal is the combination of altitude, sun and a short walk two hours from Lima, which makes Matucana a standard weekend destination, and the Ferrocarril Central tourist train stops here on the days it runs. There are trout restaurants in town.

What you actually see

• The fall - around eighty metres down a rock wall into a shallow pool.
• The walk - an hour up a dry side valley through cactus and small fields.
• The canyon setting - bare Andean rock rather than forest.
• Matucana - a town above the coastal cloud, two hours from Lima.

When to go

April to November for dry paths, though the fall carries more water in the wet months. Weekdays are quieter. Three to four hours including the walk from town.

Honest expectations

The fall is thin outside the rains and less dramatic than photographs suggest. Strong sun and little shade on the path. At 2,380 metres, visitors from Lima feel the altitude. Busy with Lima day-trippers at weekends.

Nearby

Matucana is the base; San Mateo and the higher Rímac valley are east.