Pucallpa - Frontier Town of the Peruvian Amazon

Danny Catt — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 11:18:56 -0800

Pucallpa, Peru - A Frontier Town

What a treat it is to arrive in a new and unfamiliar city and have an old friend and colleague meet you with open arms and a host of friends. A past instructor and colleague from BCIT, Roald Kley has a long history in Pucallpa, Peru.

Roald Kley

Over 20 years ago he worked for a forestry company here in Pucallpa (while on a break from BCIT) and now (in 2007) he spends part of his year on the coast of British Colombia and part of the year in the Amazon basin. While in Pucallpa, I stayed in the home of one of Roald’s long time friends, Winston Vasquez and his family. I was made to feel right at home. Winston is a member of the local Rotary Club and has extensive experience in the forest industry (in Peru and other parts of the world). It was so nice to be included as part of the family, particularly when you are so far from home (thanks Caricia, Carlos, Winston & Mirtha). I should mention that Winston and his family have started a bed and breakfast (I was the first customer) so if you find yourself in Pucallpa and you would like to stay with a wonderful, generous and knowledgeable family give Winston and Mirtha a call and they will take care of you!

Yarinacocha near Pucallpa, Peru

The town of Pucallpa was described to me as a frontier town, the wild-west so to speak. Along the riverfront boats and their cargo are in constant motion transporting wood, fruit, people (and who knows what else) up and down the river. Pucallpa is along the banks of the Rio Ucayali a major tributary of the Amazon. While the Rio Madre de Dios (where I was a couple of days ago) originates in south-east Peru then cuts through Bolivia before joining the Amazon in Brazil, the Rio Ucayali starts in the Andes, flows north towards Iquitos, near which it joins the Rio Maranon to form the Rio Solimoes. The Ucayali derives its enormous sediment load from the Andes and feeds it to the Solimoes River which eventually joins the Rio Negro near Manaus, Brazil and becomes the Amazon.

The countries of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela are all part of the Amazon basin, which means they all contribute waters into the worlds mightiest river – the source or headwaters though are considered to be in Peru.

Pucallpa on the Ucayali River

My original plan was to spend only a couple of days in Pucallpa and then head up or down river. But Roald kept coming up with ideas of areas to explore and so I ended up using Pucallpa as a base for a number of days. I was given an excellent introduction to the area (from the waterfront, to the main city plaza, churches and the local nature reserves as well as the Laguna Yarinacocha, a gorgeous lake close to the city). There is a local nature reserve on the outskirts of the city but it is more like a zoo than a reserve. It did though give me a chance to see some of the fauna typical of the region (from primates to wild cats).

Caricia with Constrictor

We also visited a breeding facility for both reptiles and amphibians (from caimans to frogs!) located not far from Laguna Yarinacocha.

White Caiman (or Crocodile)

San Francisco & Santa Clara

Roald also wanted to take me to a local village not far from the city to meet the Shapibo Indians, one of the local indigenous groups. We ended up visiting two villages: San Francisco and Santa Clara. Although the two villages are only a 30 minute walk from one another, for a visitor they can feel quite different. The reason for the differences is related to the level of development of the two. San Francisco is accessible by both boat and road, while Santa Clara can only be reached by boat (or by foot from San Francisco). Residents of San Francisco have road access to the ‘city’ of Pucallpa, they have electricity and even street lights (I am not sure whether they have running water or if they have to use wells). Santa Clara on the other hand relies on solar panels for their electricity, has no road access, no street lights, and they get their water from wells.

Kids Swimming at San Francisco, Peru

Upon arriving at San Francisco we were greeted by a large Crystal Beer billboard sign. If you are keen to shop for local textiles you can go to a special market area built for the tourist industry. Despite being very small, San Francisco has a distinct touristy flavour.

Shapibo Woman

Santa Clara on the other hand has more of an authentic feel to it. When we visited Santa Clara (the day after visiting San Francisco) we arrived by boat, met and chatted with the village leader and his wife and were welcomed to the community. Perhaps it is a bit selfish (on my part) to prefer the less developed community (the whole idea of sustainable development is to ensure that all people have access to resources (food, water, fuel) to improve their standard of living. I am not sure what it is about traditional cultures and lifestyles that we humans (at least some of us) are so keen to see and experience. That said, it was a very valuable experience to visit and enjoy both communities.

Musical Group in Pucallpa

A Musical Evening

On one of my last evenings in Pucallpa Winston invited musicians to his home to play and sing. It was a most enjoyable evening!

Catt-Trax 2 - Pucallpa

Pucallpa - Frontier Town of the Peruvian Amazon