Ucayali | Places in Peru | Articles

Places in Peru

Ucayali

The Department of Ucayali Pucallpa, whose name means “red land” in Quechua, is the capital of Ucayali and one of the most progressive cities in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest whose inhabitants make a living from logging and agriculture. The Panos people initially inhabited the department. The Ucayali River is one of the most important highways in the central jungle.

Lake Yarinacocha, one of the largest in the Amazon rainforest, is just a few minutes away from Pucallpa, and the Shipibo-Conibo people have settled along its shores. The place is perfect for rest and relaxation in the many tourist lodges and for enjoying water sports such as water skiing, rowing and fishing.

The area is also inhabited by the descendents of the Panos, people full of hospitality and skillful artisans who sell their works. Also located in the department is the Padre Abad Boquerón Water Channel, a narrow canyon with several waterfalls with curios names like Velo de la Novia (Bride’s Veil) and the Ducha del Diablo (Devil’s Shower).

Coronel Portillo: Pucallpa and surroundings

Province of Coronel Portillo

Main Square, Pucallpa
This features modern construction surrounded by lush vegetation. The highlights include an obelisk of geometric lines, ornamental fountain, amphitheater, and busts of the founders and pioneers of the city placed as reminders.

City Hall
Jirones Tacna and Sucre across from the Main Square
It was built in 2001 and features an amazing cupola of transparent polycarbonate and a terrace overlooking the Main Square. There is also an art gallery inside.

Home of the sculptor,Agustín Rivas Vásquez
Jiron Tarapaca 861
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sat. 10:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Agustin Rivas was the renowned sculptor who used the roots of renaco trees that grow on lakeshores, riverbanks, and swamps in the area to carve his works of mythical and ethnic figures and wild animal and plant life from the region. Among his most well known pieces is the figure of Cristo de Petróleo, which is today in the Vatican.

Eduardo Meza Saravia School of Art
Avenida Las Alamedas, Block F, Lot 15
District of Yarinacocha
Visiting hours: Mon. – Fri. 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Eduardo Meza Saravia was a master of the Amazonian painting style, and the school features examples of Neo-classic, Figurative, Surrealist, and Shamanic styles. There are also theater and music classes as well as a clay ceramic workshop where you can watch the steps involved in creating utilitarian and decorative pieces.

Home of the painter,Pablo Amaringo Shuña – Usko Ayar Neo-Amazonian School of Painting
Jiron Sanchez Cerro 465
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sat. 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Pablo Amaringo is a shaman whose Neo-Amazonian paintings feature an emphasis on landscapes, shamanism, and angelic images, where biodiversity, cosmology, mythology, and esoteric themes are depicted.

City Clock Plaza
Intersection of Jirones Ucayali, Tacna, Tarapaca, and 9 de Diciembre
This served as the first Main Square for Pucallpa and was built between 1950 and 1951. Set here are the bust of Miguel Grau Seminario, Peruvian naval hero, and a huge clock that crowns a 25 meter high tower that used to be a lighthouse for the boats arriving at the city.

La Lupuna Square
Almost 2 km from Pucallpa and intersecting with kilometer marker 4 of the old Yarinacocha Highway (15 minutes by car)
Your attention is drawn to the gigantic kapok tree, 200 years old and the only timber trees in the suburbs of Pucallpa. Among its branches, you can see a 60 cm metal cross since the locals say that strange beings like goblins, gigantic animals, and other creatures lived in the area, and it was difficult to travel there.

Septrionistic Shirambari Community at Barboncocha
Near kilometer marker 6 of the Federico Basadre Highway, District of Yarinacocha (20 minutes by car from Pucallpa)
In the Septriónica Shirambari community, which in the Campa Indian language means “brave man”, you will find a small lake, 5 km deep with warm and murky waters, known as Barboncocha. It is surrounded by family gardens of coco, mango, guaba (icecream bean), rose apple, orange, and other fruit trees as well as bushes and geraniums. The waters are fed by a canal from the Shirambari Gorge where you can paddle canoes, fish, and camp.

Biodiversity Foundation Research Center
Kilometer marker 13 of the Federico Basadre Highway, District of Yarinacocha (30 minutes by bus from Pucallpa)
Forested area of some 3 hectares, here they develop ecological crops by cultivation systems of collars, containment walls, pilancos, and nests. There are ten ponds/fish farms for local fish (shiruí catfish, shuyos, boquichicos), and you can fish in these ponds, hike in the jungle, find medicinal plants, wild fruits, timber trees, and butterflies.

Pucallpa Natural Park and Regional Museum
4 km from Pucallpa (10 minutes by car)
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sun. 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
It was created to protect and to preserve different species of wild plant and animal species like monkeys, crocodiles, jaguar, deer, peccarys, agoutis, otters, yellow spotted river turtles, herons, toucans, parrots, and others that are at-risk or almost extinct.

You can also see timber, medicinal, palm, and fruit trees as well as wild bushes. There is also a small lake where you can take boat rides and see Amazonian fish and water plants like water lilies and water lettuce.

Inside the park, you will find the Pucallpa Regional Museum, a conservation center for some representative species of Amazonian wild life and a center for fossil remains discovered along the Ucayali, Pachitea, Aguaytía, and Urubamba rivers. One of the most attractive pieces is the jaw bone of a huge crocodile or megaterio that once lived in the Amazon Rainforest 10 million years ago. There is another hall which exhibits cultural expressions from the ethnic groups of the region like traditional clothing and Shipibo-Conibo ceramics of different time periods.

Yarinacocha Lake
7 km northeast of Pucallpa (15 minutes by car)
The water is warm and still, and it is an old meander of the Ucayali River that was created when the river changed course. During the rainy season, the lake joins the Ucayali River through canals or “caños” and allows a huge variety of fish to swim in its waters again, thus periodically rejuvenating its waters. You can fish, water ski, swim, row, and see fresh water dolphins in the lake. In Puerto Callao, the main dock of the lake, you can rent boats that will take you to different mixed and Shipibo-Conibo indigenous communities.

San Francisco, Nuevo Destino, and the village, 11 de Agosto o “Basketweaver’s village”, called this because many of the women weave baskets out of plant fibers that are collected in the forests for a living, are the most important ones. They knit baskets, purses, fans, hats, bread baskets, and a wide assortment of other utilitarian items from arrow grass heart, bombonaje straw,andbanana tree bark.

San Francisco Indigenous Community
14 km from Puerto Callao in Yarinacocha on the left-hand shore of the lake (1 hour by motorboat or peke peke (motorized canoe) from the port or 30 minutes by car from Pucallpa)
It is the oldest and most populous village among the region’s Shipibo-Conibo indigenous communities. They are hunters and collectors and farmers, and they preserve their customs and culture through their artistry, language, rituals, dances, music, clothing, cuisine, and the use of medicinal plants and materials found in the area for building their homes. You can hike, camp, and observe wild flora and fauna in the surrounding areas. The villagers also perform shamanistic ceremonies, complete with rituals and the consumption of ayahuasca, a hallucinogen that the shamans use to enter their trances and gain wisdom and supernatural powers.

Santa Clara Indigenous Community
15 km from Puerto Callao in Yarinacocha on the left-hand shore of the lake (1 hour and 10 minutes by motorboat or peke peke (motorized canoe)
It is another Shipibo-Conibo indigenous community. The inhabitants preserve their ancestral culture and make a living by farming, handicrafts, and fishing.

Cashibo-Cocha Lake
6.5 km from Puerto Callao in Yarinacocha (20 minutes by car)
This small lake is of tectonic origin and is perfect for sport fishing and boat rides. Along its shores, you will find different mixed-race and Shipibo-Conibo indigenous settlements with the most important ones being the Santa Teresita and San Salvador indigenous communities. The Cashibo Canal connects Cashibo-Cocha Lake to Lake Yarinacocha.

Nuevo Destino Indigenous Community
16 km from Puerto Callao in Yarinacocha (1 hour by motorboat or 15 minutes by car from Pucallpa)
It is a Shipibo indigenous community where it is possible to buy handicrafts. In some places, you can still barter for goods.

Chullachaqui Ethno-botanical Garden
9 km from Puerto Callao in Yarinacocha (30 minutes by car)
Telephone: (061) 59-6627
Founded in 1988, the purpose of this research center is to preserve and to reforest Amazonian plant life and to elaborate and sell medicinal plants. They have registered information on 2,300 species of medicinal plants and identified curative properties of some 600 like the stonebreaker plant, velvet leaf, jargon sacha root, chuchuhuasi bark,cat’s claw,achiote, and dragon’s blood. The place offers natural medicine consultation. You can also fish and take a canoe ride on the Ishishimi Lake that is located on the grounds of the garden.

Lake Pimienta and Lake of La Juventud
34 km from Pucallpa by the Federico Basadre Highway until Campo Verde (30 minutes by car). Then 5 km from Campo Verde until Pimienta Cocha at the intersection with the Ramal Highway to Tournavista (7 minutes by car)
These lakes were constructed purposely between 1970 and 1975 when the waters were dammed by Japanese immigrants, mainly fishermen and cattle ranchers, established a colony there. Many hydrobiological species live there, and in the surrounding areas, you find extensive plantings of black pepper trees and large citrus fruit tree orchards as well as cattle ranches.

Lake Imiria
200 km southwest of Pucallpa, District of Masisea (4 hours by motorboat on the Ucayali and Tamaya rivers)
It owes its name to the small, floating, plant with a reddish-yellowish flower, imiria. When the waters rise, water lilies and putuputos cover most of its shores. It is of tectonic origin, and aquatic plants form floating islands that are blown away on the winds, instantly changing the beautiful landscapes. It is a perfect place to fish or take boat and canoe rides. Its mirrored surface covers 38.14 km2, and it has many different access points along the shore called “resacas” and some fifteen islands covered with vegetation. Along the shoreline, mixed-race and Shipibo-Conibo indigenous settlements have been established. The most interesting ones are Junín Pablo and Caimito.

Lake Chauya
5 hours from Pucallpa, District of Masisea (by motorboat on the Ucayali and Tamaya rivers) and 1 hour from Lake Imiria (by the Chauya Canal)
It is of tectonic origin and contains abundant hydrobiological resources and aquatic plant life, which creates floating islands that are moved by the winds.

Peruvian Amazon Rainforest Research Institute (IIAP) – Ucayali
Near kilometer marker 12 of the Federico Basadre Highway (35 minutes by bus from Pucallpa)
It is possible to see agroindustrial and agroforestry technology and production, aquiculture, vermiculture, ornamental plants, medicine and biocides, but the most important parts to see are the fish farms where they raise paiche, pacu, pacotana, and tilapia fish.

Cumacay Lake and Gorge
Passing through the District of Masisea by the Ucayali River, close to the mouth of the Pachitea River, you find the Cumacay Gorge where you can enter the Cumacay Lake, one of the largest lakes and replete with fish species. The most important species fished from the lake are the paiches, piranhas, and river dolphins, a species believed to be able to turn itself into a human being and steal the women of the area settlements.

Pacachi - Antigua Ahuaypa – Belén
3 hours from the District of Masisea by chartered boat, you arrive at the indigenous community of Pacachi, inhabited by members of the Shipibo–Conibo group. They still preserve their ancestral customs and traditions. Antigua Ahuaypa and Belén are also Shipibo–Conibo indigenous communities that have built their settlements on the shores of the Ucayali River, keeping the same customs and habits as the former.

Province of Purus

Main Square
This modern plaza is emphasized by a line of flags, its fountain, and the rotunda.

El Anguillal Lake (Eel Lake)
The lake is perfect for fishing. The name comes from the large population of silver eels, an electric eel, that live in its waters.

Bola de Oro, Pankirentsi, and Tres BolasIndigenous Communities
From Puerto Esperanza, navigate downriver on the left bank of the Purus River
You will find the Bola de Oro Indigenous Community, consisting of Shandinahua people, who make a living through farming, fishing, and hunting. Farther downriver, there is the Asháninka community of Pankirentsi, an agricultural community that still follows the traditions of their ancestors. The next one is the Mastanahua community of Tres Bolas, whose population fashions baskets. The region is covered in lush vegetation and filled with birds.

San José, Conta, Nativa Pinkiniki, Cantagallo, and San Martín Indigenous Communities
From Puerto Esperanza, navigate upriver on the the Purus River
The populations of these five Cashinahua communities mainly farm, hunt, and fish and have wisely held to their traditions, customs, and language. You can buy handicrafts like feather headdresses, decorations, and article knitted from cotton (cushma robes, amahacas, bags).

Zapote, San Marcos, Nueva Esperanza, Miguel Grau, and Cocha “ Sopa de Cocha” Indigenous Communities
From Puerto Esperanza, navigate upriver on the the Purus River
There are several communities from the Culina, Sharanahua, and Cashinahua indigenous people groups. The inhabitants maintain their customs, language, and traditions. They mainly fish, farm, and hunt to live. In this region, you can fish, swim, ride in canoes, observe the wild life and plant life, and hike.

Province of Padre Abad

Aguaytia
161 km from Pucallpa by the Federico Basadre Highway
There are two hanging bridges, 800 meters long, that span the Aguaytia River. One was built between 1939 and 1942, and both are considered to be the longest in Peru. From a modern seawall, it is possible to view typical boats arrive and depart towards different Cacataibo and Shipibo-Conibo indigenous communities. The landscape belongs to the eyebrow of the jungle, a mountainous environment with narrow passes and steep slopes that plunge into deep valleys. You can see off in the distance a part of the Azul Cordillera.

Padre Abad Boquerón Water Channel
183 km from Pucallpa (4 hours by bus) or 22 km from the village of Aguaytia (20 minutes by car)
Located in the Azul Cordillera (called that way because of their color when seen from a distance), it is the only channel eroded open by the Yuracyacu River, a tributary of the Aguaytia River, and it features rocky walls taller than a 100 meters. Along this 2 mile corridor, you can see around seventy crystal clear and cold waterfalls. The most torrential of them are the Velo de la Novia (Bridal Veil Falls) and la Ducha del Diablo (Devil’s Shower Falls). It is possible to see paintings on some of the rocks, and the cloud forests shelter a huge biodiversity. The Boquerón was discovered in 1757 by the priest Francisco Alonso de Abad, and the discovery helped in the construction of the Federico Basadre Highway.

El Velo de la Novia (Bridal Veil’s Falls)
Padre Abad Boqueron at Azul Cordillera
This is the most torrential waterfall in the area. Its crystal clear and cold waters start their descent from the mountains. The first 40 meter section shoots its waters through a wide channel which begins the second segment, 60 meters long, that continues widening until reaching an average of 6 meters near the pool of green water, and then finally empties into the Yuracyacu River. Lush vegetation, predominately ferns, begonias, orchids, and palm trees, which hang in defiance of gravity, encircle the area.

La Ducha del Diablo (Devil’s Shower Falls)
Padre Abad Boqueron at Azul Cordillera
It has an average fall of 100 meters in just one drop. Its crystal clear and cold waters bathe a huge rock where nature has carved a sort of diabolical-looking face. The fall forms a 10 m2 pool, and there is a lookout nearby where you can see the Yuracyacu River.

Alexander Von Humboldt Experimental Station
86 km from Pucallpa by the Federico Basadre Highway
It possesses 1,766 hectares of tropical rain forest and a huge biodiversity where there are species of timber trees 200 years old that reach a height of 60 meters like the mahogany, tornillo,mohena, Brazilian mahogany, capirona, cedar, aceite caspi,sandbox tree,giant kapok, Brazil nut tree, and others. You can also find clove vine, jargon sacha, cat’s claw, sanango nightshade, along with other medicinal plants as well as palm and bamboo trees, orchids, ferns, liana vines, and mushrooms.

The station is the habitat of a huge diversity of Amazonian wild life like macaws, parrots, paucares, and partridges, snakes like jergones, loros machacos, boa constrictors and whipsnakes, mammalian herbivores like peccarys and agoutis. In addition, there are butterflies, insects, and bats.

Santa Rosa Falls
Leaving Villa Aguaytiía by the Federico Basadre Highway, you arrive at the village of Santa Rosa (2 hours and 30 minutes by car). You must hike through rough terrain from the village to arrive at the waterfall (1 hour)
Surrounded by lush vegetation and animals typical to the area, this approximately 150 meter waterfall forms a 10m2 pool, which usually features two rainbows.

Villages of La Punta, Centro Yurac, Shambillo
In this area, there are different fruit trees growing throughout the different altitudinal tiers. From Villa Aguaytia along the Federico Basadre Highway (7 minutes), you arrive at the village of La Punta, which has dwarf fan palm and pineapple trees. In Centro Yurac by the banks of the river with the same name, there are cacao, camu camu, papaya, and banana trees. Shambillo has oil palm tree plantations.

Puerto Azul Indigenous Community
From Villa Aguaytia, navigate the Aguaytia River (1 hour and 30 minutes by motorboat)
The route permits a wonderful view of the Azul Cordillera, and the surrounding countryside is full of fruit tree plantations like papaya, banana, and others. Once in the community inhabited by the Cashibo–Cacataibo people, visitors can appreciate their artworks, typical dress, customs, cuisine, and their language. Nearby, you can see all types of flora and fauna that the people use for food.

Sinchi Roca Indigenous CommunityFrom Villa Aguaytia, take the Federico Basadre Highway until the village of San Alejandro (2 hours by car). Then, take a chartered motorboat on the San Alejandro River for 2 hours until reaching the Sinchi Roca community.
The inhabitants, Cashibo–Cacataibo people, still live as their ancestors did (dress, decorations, hunting weapons, fishing gear, cuisine, and language). There are different paths that allow you to experience the surrounding nature.

Province of Atalaya

Main Square or Juan Santos Atahualpa Plaza
This is a modern style square and has a statue of Juan Santos Atahualpa. The cathedral of San Antonio de Padua is found near the plaza.

Chapel of the Franciscan Mothers Convent
Near the 29 de Mayo Plaza
This was the first church built in the town, and the original rectory for the first Franciscan missionaries still stands. They arrived from Italy to convert the area. Built in 1928, 29 de Mayo Plaza, on its own account, was as the first square to be constructed in the Province.

Villa Atalaya Seawall
The seawall offers a panoramic view of the Tambo River before it empties into the Urubamba River to form the Ucayali.

Aerija and Misión Unini Indigenous Communities

Village of Diamante Azul (Blue Diamond Village)
Located south ofVilla Atalaya
These communities belong to Campa-Asháninka peoples. They still live the way their ancestors did in every way.

Aerija and Quipachari Gorges
From Villa Atalaya (15 minutes by car)
These two gorges are located close to Aerija and feature natural pools surrounded by lush vegetation. Aerija comes from the Arahuaco language and means “bees”. Quipachari is the Arahuaco name of the seeds the women use to decorate their skirts.

Canuja Gorge
8 km from Villa Atalaya (river and overland travel required)
The water flows out of a pool between enormous rocks. It then snakes around and empties into the Tambo River. Nearby, there is a hydroelectric power station and menhirs of “Canuja” stone with carvings on them that appear to be river snails, stars, suns, and lakes.

Tigre de Piedra o Toro Echado (Stone Tiger or Fallen Bull)
20 minutes from Villa Atalaya by boat or by hiking from the banks of the Tambo River (1 hour)
It is a 6 ton monolith that is 5 meters long and 3 meters high and surrounded by forest. There are carvings on it that are still indecipherable.

Encantada Lake (Enchanted Lake)
20 km to Villa Atalaya by car. Then, a 13 hour hike from there to the Union Canuja Indigenous Community, located on the banks of the Tambo River.
This is a mountainous region and forms the descending course of the Unini River. Its waters are home to ornamental fish, crocodiles, and wild ducks.

Corintoni Waterfalls
It is a 30 minute hike from the Mision Unini Indigenous Community. There you can see the Mencoremon hill, a great mystical site for the inhabitants.

The Corintoni Waterfalls are found in nearly virgin territory.

Macaw Clay Lick
2 hours from Villa Atalaya (river travel required)
On the hill that separates the descent of the Urubamba and Inuya rivers, there is a clay deposit, rich in mineral salts, where hundreds of birds, among them macaws, parrots, and other Amazonian birds, congregate daily to supplement their diets. The clay works as a neutralizer for the toxins found in the fruits and seeds the birds eat.

Cueva de las Dos Ventanas o Cueva de Buenos Aires
(Two Windows Cave or Buenos Aires Cave)
55 minutes from Villa Atalaya (river travel)
The Buenos Aires Cave is called this for its proximity to the indigenous community of the same name. It is located in the middle of a forest and has a triangular entrance in the form of a grotto. Inside, there is a type of mezzanine that leads to two natural windows, which remind the viewer of cat’s eyes, and to a small rivulet. It is home to various creatures like huge bats, barn owls, and insects.

Sapani Gorge
15 km from Villa Atalaya (30 minutes by chartered boat) or by the highway that reaches Unini (1 hour by car)
The gorge’s waters are cold and crystal clear and form natural pools that are encircled by lush vegetation. The ground nearby is rocky. There are several waterfalls at the water’s source.

Tambo Ushco Cave
9 km from Villa Atalaya (overland travel required)
This cave houses several pools of crystal clear, cold water where fish and other crustaceans live. Inside, you can find naturally carved pitchers.

El Gran Pajonal (The Great Pasture)
25 minutes from Villa Atalaya (by airplane)
El Gran Pajonal has a mountainous and broken area of 1,715 km2, and it is encircled by the Perene, Pachitea, Tambo, and the Upper Ucayali Rivers. The population still maintains their traditional way of life.

Useful Information

Altitude
Capital:Pucallpa (154 m.a.s.l.)
Lowest point: 135 m.a.s.l. (Nueva Requena)
Highest point: 350 m.a.s.l. (Esperanza)

Climate
The weather in Pucallpa is rainy and hot, with rain during three seasons (fall, spring, and summer). The average annual temperature is 26ºC (79ºF), maximum is 38ºC (100ºF), and the minimum is 21ºC (70ºF). Most of the rain happens in the months from December to April. June is when it experiences the climatic phenomenon called “frios de San Juan”, which last three to four days and come with extreme drops in temperature that range from 12ºC (54ºC) to 16ºC (61ºF).

Access Routes
By land: Lima – La Oroya – Cerro de Pasco – Huánuco – Tingo María – Aguaytia: 840 km (20 hours by bus during the dry season).

By air: Daily flights from these cities to Pucallpa:
Lima (1 hour)
Iquitos (50 minutes)