Tarapoto and San Martín: a week of discovery

One base, one outing a day

The programme keeps Tarapoto as its only base, for six nights: you head out to one outing each day, and come back in the evening to the town’s restaurants and services. The distances are short (14 km to Ahuashiyacu, 39 km to Lamas, 57 km to Sauce, according to the OpenStreetMap calculation), but it is hot and humid, and the roads are tiring: two days are left free.

Tarapoto is in the “selva alta”, the forest of the first foothills: cooler and more accessible than the plain around Iquitos. The CDC nevertheless recommends the yellow fever vaccine for most of San Martín, and malaria is present below 2,500 metres east of the Andes. See health.

Day by day

Day 2, the laughing water. The Ahuashiyacu waterfall, “the water that laughs” in Quechua, falls in two drops; the second ends in a pool where you can swim. Come early or on a weekday: the site is very busy at weekends.

Day 3, Lamas. The “three-storey town” is spread over a hill on several levels; according to tradition, part of its population is descended from Andean peoples who took refuge in the forest in the 15th century. The Wayku, a nearby quarter, is the main centre of the Lamista Quechua-speaking community: it is a place where people live, not a museum. The visit is arranged in advance, around a pottery or weaving workshop, paid to the person who runs it; ask before taking photos. See meeting people.

Day 4, cacao. If a visit is arranged, a farm or a cooperative shows the whole chain: the pod picked by hand, the fermentation of the beans, drying in the sun, roasting, then chocolate or coffee. Otherwise, a free day in town, and a lunch of Amazonian cooking.

Day 5, the Laguna Azul. Sauce lies on a large lagoon surrounded by hills: a boat, a swim, fish at midday. About an hour’s drive each way according to the road calculation, often more.

Day 6, the spare day. If rain caused an outing to be cancelled, it can be made up here; after heavy rain, ask whether access to the waterfall is open. Otherwise, the market, food, rest.

When it rains

It rains all year round, more from October to April. On days of heavy rain, keep to the outings that do not depend on a trail: Lamas, a cacao farm, the town. The waterfalls and the tracks can be postponed.

Budget: the items to add up

Variant: two nights by the Laguna Azul

A day or two nights? In a day, you see the lagoon between two journeys; with two nights, what you buy above all is time. Before booking, ask what is accessible without another transfer: the shore, swimming, the boat, the meals.

Variant: the Alto Mayo, three nights in Moyobamba

Moyobamba, the regional capital, founded in 1540, is nicknamed the “city of orchids”. Tingana is a swamp forest of aguaje palms, managed by a community association, which you explore by canoe, in silence. This variant sacrifices Ahuashiyacu and Sauce: you exchange two day trips for a whole region. Choose a theme (orchids, birds, flooded forest) and the contact person who goes with it.