from: Dilwyn Jenkins: The
rough guide to Peru; Rough Guides, New York, London,
Delhi; 6th edition September 2006; www.roughguides.com
Regions Chanchamayo and Satipo
Chanchamayo Valley marks the real beginning of the central
selva directly east of Lima. Buses depart daily from the
capital to the valley towns of San Ramon and La Merced.
Separated by only 10km of road, some 2500m below Tarma, they
are surrounded by exciting hiking country. Getting there
from La Oroya, the road winds down in ridiculously
precipitous curves, keeping tight to the sides of the Río
Palca Canyon, at present used for generating hydroelectric
power. Originally a forest zone inhabited only by
Campa-Ashaninka Indians, the last century saw much of the
best land cleared by invading missionaries, rubber and
timber companies and, more recently, waves of settlers from
the Jauja Valley.
Satipo, a small frontier town , is a few hours deeper into
the rainforest and, although there's really little tourism
infrastructure here yet, it's a reasonable base from which
to explore (p.532).
San Ramon
[between Lima and La Merced]
The smaller of twin settler towns, SAN RAMON, is probably a
nicer place than La Merced to break your journey, though the
latter is the communications hub and better for road
connections deeper into the selva.
Accommodation in San Ramon
Calle Progreso is pretty basic.
Hotel Conquistador
[Jirón] Progreso 298, T. 064-331157, Fax 331771
one of the best hostels in San Ramon
[Hotel] Progreso
Calle Progreso
El Refugio Hotel
Avenida El Ejercito 490, T. 064-331082
3 star hotel with private bathrooms and fans [ventilation]
provided
Hostal Golden Gate
Carretera Marginal Km 102 at Puente Herrera [Herrera
bridge], T. 064-531483
also offers private baths.
Gat Gha Kum
Carretera Central Km 96 in the Zona Salsipuedes, T.
064-331538
small, somewhat remote, but arguably the most attractive
hostel in the San Ramon area
Hospedaje El Rancho
Calle Tulumayo s/n Playa Hermosa, T. 064-331076
Food in San Ramon
Restaurant Chanchamayo's
Avenida San Ramon s/n
serves some of the best-quality regional and international
(p.532) food, including steak and fries
Chifa Siu
Calle Progreso 440
for Chinese food
Broaster Chanchamayo
Calle Progreso 380
chicken is delicious and worth stopping for (p.533).
La Merced
Arrival
Buses from Lima are several daily and need 5-6 hours
(p.568).
The town
The market town of LA MERCED, some 10km further down the
attractive valley, is lager and busier than San Ramon, with
more than 12,000 inhabitants, a thriving market, and several
hectic restaurants and bars crowded around the Plaza de
Armas (p.533).
Tours around La Merced -
the bus terminal and bus connections
Buses leave more or less constantly from the Terminal
Terrestre in La Merced, where it's just a matter of checking
out which bus, combi or car is going where, and when
(p.533). To Satipo are several buses daily, a trip of 2-3
hours. To Lima are several buses daily, a trip of 5-6 hours.
To Pucallpa is a bus weekly via Puerto Bermudes [along the
Pachitea river], a trip of 24 hours (p.568).
Accommodation in La Merced
Accommodation in La Merced is plentiful.
Casa Blanca
Carretera Central Km 100.2, T. 064-331295
perhaps the best of accommodation in La Merced, on the entry
into town from San Ramon; here there's a large pool (also
open for general use, $1.50), a good restaurant and brand
new comfortable rooms.
Hotel Reyna
Jirón Palca 259, T. 064-531780
which has twenty clean bedrooms, some with private baths
Hostal El Rosario
Avenida Circunvalación 577, T. 064-531358
smaller and less central.
Hostal Los Victor
Jirón Tarma 373, T. 064-531026
on the Plaza de Armas, has rooms with or without baths and
is one of the better budget options.
Food in La Merced
Shambari Campa
Jirón Tarma 389
serves some good local dishes
Broaster Chanchamayo
Jirón Junin 580
good for chicken
Restaurant El Gaucho
Avenida Ancash s/n
good for meat (p.533)
Attractions around La
Merced
Waterfall El Tirol 5km: Also
nearby,
about 5km from the town, the Catarata [waterfall] El Tirol
waterfalls have a 35-meter drop into an attractive plunge
pool.
Botanic garden "Jardín
Botánico" 15km: Close to La Merced, the Jardín
Botánico El Perezoso ["The sloth"]
, 15km from town, is said to have some
10,000 species of plants; it requires about two hours for a
thorough visit. To get here it's ten minutes in a car to the
Pueblo of Playa Hermosa, then a pleasant 45-minute (2km)
walk along a dirt tack surrounded by orchids and lianas
(p.533).
Tours from La Merced
For local tour companies, the best options are Peruvian
Discovery, Jirón Arequipa 161, 2nd floor, T. 064-532605,
e-mail: siremartinez@hotmail.com, offering all inclusive
packages
or tours to a variety of waterfalls, as well as Oxapampa,
Chanchamayo, the Huagapo cave, Satipo, Villa Rica, Pozuzo
and Tarma;
or Selva Tours, Jirón Tarm, T. 064-335275, e-mail:
selvatour1@hotmail.com, who mainly cover Oxapampa, Pozuzo
and the Perene Valley (p.533).
Satipo
History: Rubber boom -
paved road - new settlers coming - indígenas Ashaninkas
are driven away - and new paved roads
A real jungle frontier town where the indigenous Ashaninka
Indians come to buy supplies and trade, SATIPO is accessible
by a three- to four-hour bus ride east from La Merced. First
developed around the rubber extraction industry some eighty
years ago, it now serves as an economic and social center
for a widely scattered population of over forty thousand
colonists, offering them tools, food supplies, medical
facilities, banks and even a cinema. With the surfacing of
the road all the way from Lima, a veritable carpet unfurling
through the jungle valleys, many more recent settlers have
moved into the region, but the rate of development is
putting significant pressure on the last surviving groups of
traditional forest dwellers, mainly the Ashaninka tribe, who
have mostly taken up plots of land and either begun to
compete with the relative newcomer farmers or moved into one
of the ever-shrinking zones out of contact with the rest of
Peru. You'll see the tribespeople in town, unmistakable in
their reddish-brown or cream
cushma robes. Satipo is the southernmost
large town on the jungle-bound Carretera Marginal, but the
road is continuing further and should soon reach Puerto
Ocopa [Ocopa port] - a passable dirt track already does, and
buses travel along it - from where it's possible to get
river boats down the Río Tambo to Atalaya (p.534).
Accommodation in Satipo
Hotel Majestic
Jirón Colonos Fundadores 408, T. 064-545762
the best accommodation of Satipo. It has wonderfully cool
rooms but no hot water.
Hostal San Jose
Avenida Augusto B. Leguia 684, T. 064-545105
is quite large and the beds are clean
Hostal Palmero,
Calle Manuel Prado 228, T. 064-545020
has over 40 beds and is bearable but noisy
Other basic accommodation is available around the market
area and along the road to the airstrip (p.534).
Satipo market
The town also boasts a couple of small airstrips and a
bustling daily market, which is best at weekends (p.534).
For money change or ATM, the Banco de Credito is opposite
Café Yoli on [Jirón] Manuel Prado (p.535).
Food in Satipo
Café Yoli
Jirón Manuel Prado 234, between the plaza and the market
is great for coffee, juices, snacks and breakfasts
Restaurant Turístico Oasis
Jirón Junin 628, T. 064-545915
wide range of jungle cuisine available in a large,
ethnically decorated place where you can also buy local
crafts, mainly of Ashaninka origin.
Laguna Blanca
Avenida Marginal via Río Negro
one of the better restaurants around Satipo
More plantation than jungle
around Satipo
The town sits in the middle of a beautiful valley, though
today the landscape around the town is more orange
plantation than virgin forest; the best way to get a feel
for the valley is by following a footpath from the other
side of the suspension bridge, which leads over the river
from behind the market area, to some of the plantations
beyond town. Here you can see the local agriculture at
closer quarters, as you pass some rustic dwellings (p.534).
Satipo frontier settlements
and bandits
Further afield, local colectivos go to the end of the
Carretera Marginal into relatively new settled areas such as
that around San Martín de Pangoa - a frontier settlement
that is frequently attacked by armed bandits or terrorists
who live on coca plantations in the forest (hence the
sandbags lined up outside the police stations). The only
reasons to come here are en route to Puerto Ocopa (p.534).
Tours from Satipo into the
jungle
Satipo is an ideal town in which to get kitted out for a
jungle expedition, or merely to sample the delights of the
selva for a day or two (p.534). There aren't many tour
operators working in this part of the Peruvian jungle yet,
more will inevitably follow given the stunning eco-tourism
potential of the region (p.535).
Port town Puerto Ocopa
Puerto Ocopa is the end of the road and a port where
riverboats can be caught for traveling deeper into the
forest, or to visit some petroglyphs and waterfalls on the
Río Mazamari (ask at the
Restaurant
Oasis for details), which is also a popular fishing
spot (p.534).
More tours from Satipo
Highest waterfall of Perú
in the Otishi national reserve: The mountain ranges
south and east of the Tambo and Ene rivers, respectively,
have recently been made into the Parque Nacional de Otishi.
On the Río Ene side of this new national park, the highest
single drop waterfall in Peru -
las Cataratas de Parijaro [Parijaro
waterfalls] - is a veritable jewel even among Peru's vast
collection of impressive natural assets.
The remote nature of this site and the total lack of
infrastructure makes it very difficult to reach as an
independent traveler, but the UK-based
Ecotribal (Lima, T.
01-222-5708 or, in the UK T 0044-07968-731247,
www.ecotribal.com) operates eco-adventure tours in the
region, including treks and river rafting to the Parijaro
waterfall, on the edge of the Parque Nacional de Otishi in
collaboration with the local Ashaninka communities (bookings
should be made six months or more in advance of the
departures which are usually in July or August). The local
company Satipo Adventure, Jirón San Martín 828, T.
064-546113, e-mail: satipotours@yahoo.es or
satipoadventure@hotmail.com run conventional trips in the
forest immediately around Satipo (p.535).
Bus from Satipo to
Huancayo: Instead of retracing your steps via La
Merced and San Ramon, you can follow a breathtaking direct
road to Huancayo - Los Andes buses do the twelve-hour
journey daily (May-Oct) (p.534).
Flights from Satipo:
For the adventurous, a flight to Atalaya, deeper into the
central selva, is an exciting excursion, though this is way
off the tourist trail and any potential visitors should be
warned that facilities are few and it's real jungle frontier
stuff. Two commercial air-taxi companies fly most days, or
on demand if you can pay the $400 per hour air-taxi rate, to
both Sepahua and Atalaya (p.534).
Oxapampa
Settlers on the Río
Chontabamba - Amuesha natives fighting for their land
against the settlers
Pretty well off the beaten track, some 78km by road north of
La Merced, and nearly 400km east of Lima, lies the small
settlement of OXAPAMPA, dependent on timber and coffee for
its survival and situated on the bank of the Río
Chontabamba. Most of the forest immediately around the town
has been cleared for cattle grazing, coffee plantations and
timber. Furious over the loss of their lands, the indigenous
Amuesha Indians are battling for their land rights on local,
national and international levels.
Strongly influenced culturally and architecturally by the
nearby Tyrolean settlement of Pozuzo, this is actually quite
a pleasant and well-organized frontier town, with a
surprisingly good place to stay, the Hotel El Rey (p.535).
Tours around Oxapampa
Waterfall El Encanto 12km:
Only 12km from town you'll find the Catarata El
Encanto (The Spell or Enchantment Waterfalls), which has
three sets of falls; rainbows frequently appear and
there are deep, dangerous plunge pools.
Parque Nacional Yanachoja
Chemillen with Yanesha natives 25km: Just 25km from
Oxapampa lies the Parque Nacional Yanachoja Chemillen, a
12,000-hectare reserve dominated by dark mountains and vivid
landscapes, where grasslands and cloud forest merge and
separate. There are quantities of bromeliads, orchids,
cedars and even the odd spectacled bear, some jaguar and
around 427 bird species here, including a large variety of
hummingbirds. It's also home to around sixty Yanesha Indian
communities.
Vila Rica plantation center
72km: The town of Vila Rica, some 72km [south
east] from Oxapampa, lying at 1480m in the
ceja de selva, offers
overland access to the Pichis and Palcazu valleys, the
region's principal producers of coffee, pineapple and coca.
Safety information
Visitors to the
Oxapampa and Pozuzo areas are recommended to check in
advance of going with their embassy or the South American
Explorers' Club in Lima who should have the very latest on
what's happening in this region and whether or not it's safe
to travel here (p.535).
(Mon-Fri 9.30am-5pm, Wed until 8pm; e-mail
limaclub@saexplorers.org,
see p.124) has good information, including
maps,
listings and travel reports, available to its members
(p.88).
Addition
People are fishing with a fork. In Codo de Pozuzo there is
enough fishes carachama (rich fish but only for soup) and
doncella (for eating).
Pozuzo
Tyrolean stile town, German
language and German habits in Pozuzo
Some 80km down the valley from Oxapampa, along a very rough
road that crosses over two-dozen rivers and streams,
POZUZO's wooded chalets with sloping Tyrolean roofs have
endured ever since the first Austrian and German colonists
arrived here in the 1850s. This town is a peculiar
combination of European rusticism and native Peruvian
culture. As part of the grand plan to establish settlements
deep in the jungle - devised by President Ramon Castilla's
economic adviser, a German aristocrat - eighty families
emigrated from Europe in 1857. The local dance and music is
still strongly influenced by the German colonial heritage.
Many of this unusual town's present inhabitants still speak
German, eat schitellsuppe, waltz very well and dance the
polka.
Accommodation in Pozuzo
The Hostal Tyrol and Hotel Maldonado are the best places to
stay. There's not a lot to see here apart from the
nineteenth-century Capilla San José de Pozuzo, located on
the plaza. The church is a wooden rectangular structure
containing wooden images of the Virgin brought from Germany.
Trucks from Pozuzo leave every couple of days from opposite
the
Hotel Bolívar
in Oxapampa; buses and colectivos for Pozuzo can also be
picked up on the plaza in Oxapampa or the bus depot in La
Merced (p.536).
Additions
Tingo María
from: Alan Murphy: Peru Handbook; Footprint Handbooks, 2nd
ed. 1999
 |
Map of the town of
Tingo María with tourist information
Hotels (squares):
1. Hostal Marco Antonio
2. Hostal Mieses
3. La Cabaña
4. Viena
Eating (points):
1. Gordon's Café
2. Marco Antonio
|
Tingo María with 20,560 inhabitants on 655 meters (phone
code 064) is on the middle Huallaga, in the Ceja de Montaña,
or edge of the mountains. The climate here is tropical, with
an annual rainfall of 2,642 millimeters. The town can be
isolated for days in the rainy season. The altitude,
however, prevents the climate from being oppressive. The
Cordillera Azul ["Blue Mountains"], the front range of the
Andes, covered with jungle-like vegetation to its top,
separates it from the jungle lowlands to the east. The
mountain which can be seen from all over the town is called
La Bella Durmiente,
the Sleeping Beauty.
The meeting here of Sierra and Selva makes the landscape
extremely striking. Bananas, sugar cane, cocoa, rubber, tea
and coffee are grown. The main crop of the area, though, is
coca, grown on the
chacras
(smallholdings) in the countryside, and sold legitimately
and otherwise in Tingo María (p.458).
Little zoo and botanical
garden
A small university outside the town, beyond the Hotel
Turistas, has a little museum-cum-zoo, with animals native
to the area, and botanical gardens in the town. Entrance is
free but a small tip would help to keep things in order
(p.459).
NB: Danger of theft
Watch out for gangs of thieves around the buses and do not
leave luggage on the bus if you get off. Note that this is a
main narco-trafficking center and although the town itself
is generally safe, it is not safe to leave it at night. Also
do not stray from the main routes, as some of the local
population are suspicious of foreign visitors (p. 458).
[Thanks to salary cuts of the Peruvian government and
privatization and shut down industries by privatizations
people are so poor that theft or prostitution sometimes is
the only income].
Tours around Tingo María
Owl cave 6km: Six
and ha half kilometers from Tingo, on a rough road, is a
fascinating cave, the Cueva de las Lechuzas ["Owl cave"].
There are many owl birds in the cave and many small
parakeets near the entrance. Take a motorcycle-taxi from
town, US$1.75. It's US$0.45 for the ferry to cross the Río
Monzón just before the cave and entry to the cave is
US$0.90. Take a torch, and do not wear open shoes. The cave
can be reached by boat when the river is high.
Gorge Cueva de las Pavas
13km for swimming: 13 kilometers from Tingo is the
small gorge known as Cueva de las Pavas, which is good for
swimming.
El Velo de las Ninfas
["veil of the nymphs"] is a magnificent waterfall set in
beautiful jungle, with lagoons where you can swim.
Cuevas de Tambillo 10km for
swimming: 10 kilometers away, on the Huánuco road,
are the
Cuevas de Tambillo,
with beautiful waterfalls and pools for swimming.
