Treasures in Peru's Amazon: Pucallpa

In Pucullpa, you can shape clay handicrafts, take authentic iconography home with you (tattooed on your skin) and learn more about ayahuasca from the Shipibo tribe

“Magical, delightful and traditional,” “an unforgettable experience,” “a visit that must be repeated,” are some of the expressions from tourists after visiting the native community of San Francisco, located just an hour from the city of Pucallpa.

It is considered one of the most representative communities of the region (they still preserve their customs and their traditions, as well as their language). However, San Francisco offers much more than just a cultural trip, explains Giovanna Vega, General Manager of Amazon World, an agency that offers this package to travelers.

The Ancestral Route

In order to arrive at San Francisco, crossing Lake Yarinacocha is necessary. The trip takes an hour, during which you can appreciate the richness of flora and fauna that characterizes the Amazon. A group of small natives will welcome you with a song in their native tongue and they will accompany you from the port to a “maloca” (a typical residence in the area) which is developed for tourist activities which have taken place there for the past two years. It is here where you will find women with long hair and painted faces, and shirtless, barefoot men with dodgy looks and big stomachs. In this instant, you will feel that you are in another world, in the deepest part of the jungle, where time has ceased to move.

To the rhythm of the drum

While the adults play different wooden instruments that they themselves have made, the children will invite you to dance in the intense heat, which at this time, is more than 32°C. The beating of the drum marks the rhythm of the jumps, and the flutes sweeten the tone. While holding hands and forming a circle, the tribe and their visitors don’t stop laughing, as they feel they form part of a festival that climaxes in the applause of the dancers.

Original Souvenirs

Afterwards you may visit Graciala Valles, a native expert in pottery that will demonstrate her talent before the astonished eyes of the visitors. The best part is the handling of the cold dough, formed from a mix of earth and water, and making your own dish and taking it home as a souvenir. Also, women may put their original designs on part of their body as well. For this temporary tattoo, which will last a few weeks, they use a natural dye with which they have dyed their hair since their ancestral times.

Mystic Adventure

The trip will continue until you arrive at the house of the Shipibo painter Alberto Muñoz, who will explain his art and the relationship that it has with ayahuasca. This artist and teacher, who holds the sessions in which one drinks from this traditional plant, explains how the community uses the ayahuasca for medicinal purposes. If you can not drink ayahuasca, when you leave this place you will know much more about its characteristics and you will have the opportunity to try it on your next visit. If you have more time, the program can include other activities such as traditional fishing, where you will have the opportunity to learn how to make arrows.

After various hours of cultural exchange, the time will come to say goodbye. Tourists usually acquire many of the handmade products of the tribe. The prices of their artwork range between 10 and 30 soles. As you board the boat, you will be surrounded by children. The spectacle will climax when they launch themselves from the raft into the deepest part of the lake.

Travelers should spend a day with the tribe, but if they so choose, they can stay living with them for up to a month.

Much More to Visit

If you are planning to go to hot Pucallpa, you can see the cathedral built in 2005, which shows off wood-work and stained-glass made by the craftsmen of Chacas, in Huaraz. Don’t forget to try a succulent patarashca or the famous juanes accompanied by a refreshing local fruit juice. And when night arrives, there is nothing better to do than enjoy a good drink in the discoteca El Perico, located just minutes away from the center. This discoteca also has a restaurant and room for 700 people.

How to Get There

From Lima there are two daily flights to Pucallpa via LAN Peru. The flight lasts 55 minutes.

Discover Arequipa: The fog forests of Antiqua

Atiquipa is a town so small that it hides in the hills of the coast of Arequipa. Only a large welcome sign at kilometer 600 of the Panamericana Sur serves as a confirmation for travelers that they are on the right track and if they take the detour in the direction opposite to the sea, they will find the town.

In the town itself, there is not much to see and the main attractions of the district are scattered around it. Secluded beaches, archeology and nature are the favorite options for those looking to satisfy their explorer soul.

Coming from Lima, we suggest you visit first some pre-Hispanic towns.

One of these is Pueblo Viejo (kilometer 589 on the highway). To get there you must walk for about 40 minutes. You will be able to appreciate their masonry-based buildings with columns, lintels and niches. Then in Ayparipa (kilometer 599), you can see the colcas (deposits) and platforms standing out in the landscape. The Waca gorge in Puerto Inca (kilometer 610) is an archaeological complex you shouldn't miss. The famous chair of the Inca can be found there.

Steep inclines are a constant feature in these walks, so wear sneakers or good hiking footwear.

Of course, the coastal landscapes are the protagonists; especially those decorated by cliffs, green hills and pristine beaches like Jihuay (kilometer 601), or rustic towns like Silaca type (kilometer 596), where it is almost a duty to take a dip in the pools of clear water.

How to get there

Atiquipa is a district in the province of Caravelí, Arequipa.

It's best to go in car, since public transport is difficult to find.

Almost Like Heaven

It is also worth your while to venture into the town of Atiquipa. Go by motorbike or car to the top of the nearby hills, where, 900 meters above sea level, the ecosystem creates a sort of cloud forest. Here, the local people have placed plastic mesh structures, which function as “fog lamps.”

The fog redistributed water and preserves the vegetation, fauna and agriculture intact.

Atop those hills, a cool breeze blows so it is best to wear something warm, even more so if the day is cloudy. The journey takes about 90 minutes.

Get away from modern life and discover Peru through rural tourism.

SUGGESTED PERU TOURS

The enchanted forest of Chaparrí, in northern Peru

The Chaparrí Ecological Reserve is fascinating. Entering it gives you the feeling of being enchanted, in the middle of nowhere and, at the same time, in the center of the world. It makes you feel reconciled with nature, full of life and relaxed to the extreme.

In this natural paradise there is no Internet, no cell phone signal and no cable channels. However, it just takes one look at the impressive landscape of endless dry forest to realise that those urban details are unnecessary.
Waking up to the sweet melody of a bird, having breakfast together with hummingbirds and reading a book while breathing fresh air is a luxury that you can enjoy here.

If you enjoy walking, this place has long trails to do it and you will most likely be surprised by a coastal fox, which is the smallest of South America, or by a spectacled bear pulling fruit off a tree. But fear not “because the animals that inhabit Chaparrí do not feel threatened and therefore do not attack,” explains its director, Heinz Plenge.

Variety
The reserve is located only 70 kilometers from Chiclayo. It covers 34,412 hectares of dry forest and is named after the imposing mountain that dominates the region.

This is an area that suffers long periods of drought that may last up to three years.
In this place there lives about 30 spectacled bears, Andean condors and the White-winged Guan, which was thought to be extinct until this place brought it back to life.

Chaparrí is also home to over 220 bird species, 36 of which are endemic and 5 threatened. The best hours to view these birds are dawn and dusk when the temperature drops. “If you are looking to see bats or the nine species of owls that exist here, you should go for a walk at night,” advises the scientific director of the reserve, Rob Williams.
You can go for a day to tour major areas or may choose to stay overnight at the lodge that operates inside the reserve, thus being able to live a full natural experience.

For a Day
The tour begins at the interpretive center, where a guide will explain more about the fauna and flora of the reserve.
Walking through the trail you will run into a well of natural water that comes from the vines. You will also see small amphibians and plants everywhere.

In the snake-house you can observe 15 species of boas including the famous rattlesnake, which is one of the most poisonous in the area and the cat snake, so called because it only eats mice.
“Another important point is the shaman or Mochica priest ramada, where spiritual sessions are held, tomas de San Pedro and other mystical tourism activities,” says the guide and resident of the area, Juan Carrasco.

And the most fun part for the children will be feeding the young bear that is in captivity. “He is the only one in that condition and we can not release him because he was rescued from a circus, where they removed the teeth with which he feeds,” says Carrasco.

How to get there


Start in Chiclayo and take the route to Chongoyape, which is right next to the airport. You must take a detour to the left on km 63. 150m away you will see the Asociation for the Conservation of Nature and Sustainable Tourism of Chaparrí where you will meet with you assigned guide and pay the entry fee. Then you will drive along a paved road for an hour.
More about Chaparrí

Last year, the Chaparrí Ecological Reserve received more than 5,000 visitors. 85% were domestic tourists.

The reserve has five rangers, who are residents of the surrounding community and know the animals and secrets of the reserve.

Know that it is forbidden to make loud noise, because animals can feel threatened.

Smoking or lighting fires without permission is prohibited.

It is important to wear neutral colors. It is not forbidden, but you should avoid wearing red or orange.

Do not forget to bring insect repellent, sunscreen, a hat, flashlight and a rain cover.

Tennis shoes are perfect for hiking through the area.

Weather
In Peru's summer months (December through March) the area is green. During the winter, it is so dry that it reveals all the species that inhabit it. It is also known that the area is inhabited by wild cats, ocelots and stealthy pumas, which have only been seen by the cameras that were hidden in the plants to study the fauna.

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