10 Reasons to offer Northern Peru with Tanit Trails.
Are your clients looking to get off the beaten track, travel for longer yet still be amazed by each new encounter? If so we would like to recommend looking more closely at what Northern Peru has to offer and what the Peruvian DMC Tanit Trails can offer your clients.
Here are our Top 10 things you may not know that Northern Peru has to offer:
1. Amazon Communities & Gastronomy - Tarapoto & Surrounding Area
2. The Third Highest Waterfall in the World! - Gocta Falls
3. Whale Watching from July to November - Piura Region
4. Luxury Beach Stay at Wellness Boutique Resort - Kichic - Mancora Beach
5. 200 Mummies - Leymebamba Museum
6. Diverse Pre-Inca Archaeology Sites - El Brujo Complex , Chan Chan, Temple of the Moon, Huaca Rajada, Tucume, Kuntur Wasi
7. Fishing Boats made from Reeds “Caballitos de Totora” - Huanchaco
8. Beautiful Spanish Colonial cities of Cajamarca and Trujillo
9. Gorgeous eco-lodges and small properties with oodles of character and charm.
10. Largest Left-Hand Surf Break in the world for Surfers! - Puerto Malabrigo
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1. Tarapoto - Off the Beaten Track Amazon Community Experiences
When most people visit the Amazon in Peru they go to the more Southern area around Puerto Maldonado or do a luxury cruise in the Northern area around Iquitos. If you have clients interested in the culture, community and gastronomy of the Amazon they will love a trip to the lesser-visited and fascinating area of Tarapoto and surrounding communities.
Tarapoto Market, Tobacco & Chocolate Factory, Traditional Lunch
"El Huequito" market in Tarapoto is the perfect place for an introduction to Amazon culture. Experience the wide variety of exotic local produce and ingredients that are farmed and made in this region and also get to experience the daily life of the locals. The Cigar Factory, “Tabacalera del Oriente,” is especially interesting because it is a small business that employs mostly women as a way to give them more opportunities in a region that is often ruled by men. At the factory guests see the slow, careful process required to take the tobacco leaves from their collection to fermentation, drying and at the end, the extremely careful handcrafting required to make each cigar. "Tesoro Amazonico" is a modern production facility where guests can see how local chocolate is made right from the Cacao Pod and seeds to a great quality chocolate bar. A visit to Tarapoto must always include a traditional Amazonian lunch in the best local restaurant of traditional food in Tarapoto!
Chasuta Community, Women’s Cooperatives & Cooking Class: Recovering traditional culinary recipes from the Amazon.
The local community of Chasuta is a humble, Amazon Village that suffered during the 80s and early 90s from the terrorism that occurred during this period. Instead of falling into despair, the people in this community and in particular a few very determined and strong women decided to organize themselves in small associations. They built up interesting small business initiatives to support their families and improve their quality of life. Visitors here can visit the Misky factory where some amazing women are making truly innovative products from Cacao and “macambo” fruits. Another great project to visit is an association lead by Ms. Blanca devoted to recovering traditional culinary recipes from Amazon community heritage. Here guests can participate in a cooking class and learn about typical ingredients and ancient recipes. Another very interesting traditional initiative here to visit is the work being done to produce traditional ceramics.
Learn more about what Gastronomy experiences Tanit Trails can offer HERE
WHERE TO STAY? In this area, we recommend staying at the Pumarinri Amazon Lodge.
2. Gocta Falls - 3rd Highest Waterfall in the World.
A fabulous, lesser-known spot to explore is the Gocta waterfall which is, believe it or not, the third-highest waterfall in the world at a height of 770 metres! Clients can enjoy a view of the falls right from their hotel but we highly recommend encouraging them to take a hike with our guide to get a closer view. The walk takes guests through cloud forest with a wide variety of fauna and flora including monkeys, toucans, orchids and giant ferns. Take the time to admire this impressive waterfall!
Where to stay? In this area, we recommend clients to stay at Gocta Natura Reserve or the Gocta Andes Lodge
3. Whale Watching - July to November
The northern seas off the coastline of the Piura region is where the cold ocean current of Humboldt coming from the south meets the warmer current of El Niño coming from the north-west. This mixing of currents creates an extremely rich oceanic ecosystem that is visited by hundreds of Humpback whales from July to November. Species such as Whale-shark and Orca Whales have also been spotted in the area.
4. Luxury Beach Stay - Kichic Hotel - Mancora Beach
Unlike the southern coast, the weather at Mancora Beach is always warm and the sun shines all year long. This area is therefore the perfect place to relax by the beach and Kichic Hotel, with only nine beautiful rooms, excellent gastronomy and a wellness focus, is the perfect place to stay.
5. 200 Mummies, An Ancient Fortress & Mausoleums
Leymebamba Museum with 220 Mummies : The Museum of Leymebamba was built to preserve the unique archaeological treasures that were found in the mausoleums of Condor´s Lake. The museum houses more than 2,000 archaeological findings, including 220 mummies discovered on the cliffs by the lake. It also features an orchid and endemic plant nursery.
Kuelap fortress: Take a cable car to Kuelap fortress, the most famous archaeological site of Chachapoyas. This site features a 600m long and 20m high wall. Built around 1000 AD, Kuelap covers an extension of almost 6 hectares and is located at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level, on a plateau dominating the Utcubamba valley. The archaeological complex features about 350 structures and was abandoned after the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors. Although influenced by the Incas, they were never conquered by them.
Hike to Revash Mausoleums: Revash is a late Chachapoya funerary complex with chullpas (mausoleums) built high into limestone cliffs, at an altitude of 2,800 m (9,182 ft) above sea level. Constructed of rock and adobe, plastered and painted pink and cream, they look like little houses but are in fact, tombs.
Where to stay?
In this area, we recommend clients to stay at Kentitambo Lodge.
6. Diverse Pre-Inca Archaeology Sites
There are several important Pre-Inca sites that your clients may enjoy visiting in Northern Peru including:
El Brujo Complex: El Brujo pyramid rises about 98 feet above the surrounding desert and covers an area of roughly 330 by 330 feet. It was built with tens of thousands of adobe bricks. Its walls are covered with polychrome reliefs that show war motifs, goods, animals, plants and net-fishing. Just some years ago, a well-preserved tattooed mummy of a young woman, who belonged to the Moche Royalty, was discovered deep inside El Brujo pyramid. She has been called “Señora de Cao” and is exhibited in the “Lady of Cao” Museum. The museum is financed by the Wiese Foundation and is a little jewel of museography in the country
Chan Chan, the capital of the Chimu civilization, built around 1200AD, is the largest pre-Colombian South American urban centre, almost 18 square km (11 square miles), and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population is believed to have reached 50,000 and it was built entirely of adobe. Its walls are decorated with geometric figures and animals. It comprises more than twelve citadels, and a maze of living quarters, walls, ramps, gardens, etc. At its height, Chimu culture covered 1,000 km of Pacific coastland. The Chimu surrendered to the Inca around 1470.
Huaca de la Luna: Temple of the Moon is an exquisitely decorated building, representing the spiritual center of the Moche culture. The monument consists of a series of temples built one on top of the other. Together with a number of rich ceremonial objects, archaeologists have found about 40 skeletons of sacrificed soldiers
Huaca Rajada ("Cracked Pyramid"), where the world-famous Tomb of the Lord of Sipan was discovered. Admire fabulous gold artefacts, precious stones and the ancient Moche civilization’s history.
Tucume, an imposing 26-pyramid site of the Lambayeque culture and Huaca Las Balsas which is a small mound that is located on the southwest corner of the Tucume complex with several overlapping construction phases, all decorated with magnificent murals and beautiful reliefs with mythological motifs. This place is also associated with the residential and domestic sectors.
Kuntur Wasi archaeological site, an extremely interesting ceremonial centre belonging to the formative period built around 1200 B.C. This site is organized around several superimposed ceremonial platforms on top of which stands a pyramid temple. On the site, you will find stone sculptures and monoliths representing characters where human and animal traits mix to form one creature, as in the Chavin Culture.
7. Fishing Boats made from Reeds “Caballitos de Totora” - Huanchaco
In the small fishing town of Huanchaco, you can enjoy a seafood lunch and watch local fishermen on their traditional reed boats known as “Caballitos de Totora” or "Little reed horses" - named as such for the way they are ridden. These reed watercraft have been used by fishermen in Peru for the past 3000 years to transport their nets and collect fish in their inner cavities.
8. Beautiful Spanish Colonial cities of Cajamarca and Trujillo.
Trujillo, where spring is eternal, was founded by Don Diego de Almagro in 1534. Because of its fertile valley, rich in sugar cane, Trujillo never had to worry about money, so thoughts turned to politics and life’s grander schemes. It has a reputation for being a hot bed of revolt (Inca rebellions, independence and 20th century revolutions) and has many statues of heroes of Peruvian Independence. Admire the Plaza de Armas (main square), churches, spacious mansions of the 17th and 18th centuries, with their artistic window railings in wrought iron and their massive wooden doorways. Once such mansion is Casa Urquiaga, where Simon Bolivar resided for a period.
Cajamarca City is a beautiful colonial city which was in fact built over the ruins of an Inca city. Cajamarca was where Atahualpa, the last Inca, was captured by 200 Spanish conquistadors despite being accompanied by an army of close to 50,000 of his men. Cajamarca boosts a fine Cathedral, San Francisco church, a medical museum and the famous resque room, which was filled by gold and silver to pay for the Inca´s ransom, which actually never happened. Out of town, Cumbemayo is a very interesting area, featuring an amazing stone-forest, ancient petroglyphs and a water channel, considered to be one of the most interesting works related to hydraulic engineering in pre-Columbian America.
9. Gorgeous eco-lodges and small properties with oodles of character and charm.
As mentioned above, Northern Peru has some gorgeous properties such as:
Mancora Beach: Kichic Hotel.
Tarapoto: Pumarinri Amazon Lodge.
Gocta Falls: Gocta Natura Reserve or the Gocta Andes Lodge
Leymebamba: Kentitambo Lodge.
10. Largest Left-Hand Surf Break in the world for Surfers! - Puerto Malabrigo
Puerto Malabrigo for the largest left break in the world for surfers and there are many other great surfing spots up and down the coast including El Brufo. If you want to travel with an expert surf guide and teacher and coach we can also arrange that. We have teachers for beginners and expert coaches for intermediate and expert surfers. Kite surfing is also available.
I do hope you found this information on what Northern Peru and Tanit Trails can offer you and your clients. Do contact us at Travel Kinship to set up a meeting to discuss what Tanit Trails can do for you and your clients. Please also connect with Tanit Trails on SquirrelFish to get access to their images, videos and example itineraries.