Vilaya Tours started operating in the Chachapoyas area in 1998. In those days Chachapoyas was visited by few travelers and Vilaya Tours has been a leading pioneer in developing and promoting the area and Northern Peru. We are passionate about sustainable tourism and over the years we have supported various projects in the Chachapoyas area including four archaeological digs, a bird survey in the Leymebamba area, tree planting program and dog adoption.
We have a simple philosophy that when you travel with us “it is your tour not ours.” We don’t push you to do what we want just to get a sale. We make the days suit you to make sure you get the most out of a visit to the Chachapoyas area.
Vilaya Tours is recommended by the Footprint Peru Handbook, Lonely Planet, Moon Guides and Backpacking in Peru and Bolivia.
Rob Dover the founder of Vilaya Tours has always been passionate about mountains. From his roots in England’s Lake District where he hiked and climbed, he first came to the Andes in 1994 where he worked on an alpaca and llama farm in Ecuador for a year and later came to Peru. Rob first arrived Chachapoyas in 1997 to work on a voluntary project and decided to stay.
He returned briefly to England and trained in British (Summer) Mountain Leadership. He is one of the founders of the Amazonas Guides and the Amazonas Tour Operators Associations. In 2010 Rob with his exploring companion Nick Fletcher made an unsupported 3 week expedition to try and ascertain the north-eastern frontier of the Chachapoya culture. He now lives permanently in Chachapoyas with his wife, daughter and four dogs.
Sadie Sosa spent part of her upbringing in Chachapoyas and her mother is from the city. Sadie has worked in tourism industry for more than ten years, working as a guide and in the office. After various years of working in a range of businesses as an administrator, Sadie decided to return to her passion of tourism and graduated from the prestigious School of Tourism and Hotel Management of the University of San Martin de Porres. Sadie is involved in all aspects of Vilaya Tours from marketing, planning, operations and logistics .