Roaming South America

Tarapoto, Perú

February 4, 2023

Tarapoto, Perú: Tarapoto was founded in 1782 with the full name of Santa Cruz de los Motilones de Tarapoto. Tarapoto is the main tourist town for people going into the Amazon. The town itself is nothing special, no interesting architecture, the parks are small and few and in need of a lot of attention. The traffic noise is terrible, as is the case pretty much everywhere in South America. People come here to use it as a jump-off point to the Amazon, not to visit the city itself. Besides bringing in tourist heading into the Amazon, Tarapoto's other main source of income is retail services and agriculture (coffee, corn, rice, cocoa, tobacco, and more). Outside the city, in the mountains nearby, you can find many waterfalls, lakes, rivers, climbing and hiking areas, and mountain biking trails.

Tarapoto has a rainy equatorial climate (which means it is a humid tropical climate). The average daytime high of 32° C (89° F), and the night average low of 19° C (65° F). The elevation of the city is 350 meters (1148 feet) and up (the city is built on a hillside). Tarapoto averages 58.3 mm (2.3 inches) of rain per month.

So, my impressions: It's surprisingly sandy, and reminds me of being in a coastal town. It's also a normal South American town—noisy, terrible traffic, narrow sidewalks no friendly to people with disabilities. But, that's all just the norm in this part of the world. Visitors complain about it, but those who live here get used to it. I wouldn't say I like the hot and humid afternoons, they remind me of Barranquilla, Colombia, only here in Tarapoto it's even more humid, while in B'quilla it's a bit hotter. The town has no good parks, the central plaza is in the midst of renovations so it's closed. The main church at the edge of the plaza is not old or big or special in any way. Would I recommend anyone visit Tarapoto? Sure, if you plan on going to Iquitos in the Amazon, or spending most of your time outside of town in the mountains. But, don't bother visiting Tarapoto if you only want to see the city.

This is my goal: to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70, that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28° C (72-83° F) and night temps of 14° C (57° F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-300,000. I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the countries mentioned above and then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people. And, now that I have visited more than 30 towns/cities, I've decided I will probably want an inland town. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but, getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least, here in Ecuador. I've also decided that any town with more than 100,000 population will be too big. I've decided that any small town/city (less than around 80,000 population) that meets the temp specifications and has a supermarket and ATM is one worth considering to live in.

At this point in my journey I have three towns on my Top 10 list - Moyobamba, Perú, and Catamayo and Puyo, Ecuador. In my travels in Ecuador, I visited 31 towns/cities.

Next up: Juanjuí, Perú.