Roaming South America

Mazamari, Perú

February 18, 2023

Mazamari, Perú: population: about 30,000 for the entire metropolitan area. In 1873, Franciscan missionaries arrived and started cultivating coca and rubber. In 1913, there was an uprising by the native people and the missionaries were run out of the area. That was followed by an influx of immigrants from Austria, Hungary, and Germany. Between 1930 - 1940 the missionaries returned. They built a farmhouse, school, chapel, and airfield. In 1956, the airfield was finally officially opened after years of toiling at clearing the land. In 1958, a committee was formed to build a highway from Mazamari to Satipo. Since 1965 the airport has been used for training police paratroopers.

Mazamari has a tropical climate. The average daytime high of 25° C (78° F), and the night average low of 17° C (63° F). The city sits at about 674 meters (2212 feet). Mazamari averages 1364mm (54 inches) of rain per year.

So, my impressions: Mazamari is very small. It has no supermarket, but it does have a few decent minimarkets, as well as the Mercado and just about any other kind of store you could need. There are several nice parks and a tourist restaurant that has a nice property alongside the river. The city has nothing for tourists, but the mountains around are full of places to see. There are many tourist agencies waiting to take tourists up into the mountains. There are several ATMs and a couple of banks here, as well. The city is clean and pleasant, and the people are very friendly. The valley is very pretty and quite small. On my last day there while out walking, I met a woman who said "Hi" to me, in English. I asked her if she speaks English and she said yes, so we talked for a few minutes. She's a 2nd-grade school teacher there in Mazamari. She was the only person I met in Mazamari who could actually converse in English.

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.

My goal is to visit the towns and discover which one calls out to me - "Chip, Chip, make your new home here, this is your new home town". That hasn't happened yet, but there are four towns listed below that are very close to giving me that feeling. At any rate, I am not visiting tourist attractions or archeological sites, etc, those will have to wait for another trip through South America.

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

Next up: Lima, Perú.