Roaming South America

Paucarpata, Perú

July 19, 2023

Villa de Santa Cruz de Paucarpata (Paucarpata), Perú, has a population of about 132,000. Paucarpata is the direct neighboring city to Arequipa. The two make up one large metropolitan area with a population of about 200,000.

In 1572, the mayor of Lima, Captain Juan Maldonado de Buendía, founded Paucarpata. Then in 1825, Simón Bolívar issued a decree to upgrade the village to a district. And finally, in 1858, the town was decreed a municipality. The name Paucarpata is a combination of two words - 'paucar' and 'pata'. Paucar is from the Quechua language and predates the Colombus years. It means flowery, shade, or plumage. Pata is a pre-Incan word that means 'platform'. The two together mean 'flowery platform'. In the photo album you can find pic of some of the inner-city farms, the terraced farming style that has been used since the time the Incas farmed these lands.

Paucarpata has a warm-temperate climate, even sitting on the coast. The average daytime high of 22° C (71° F), and the nightly average low of 11° C (51° F). The city's elevation is about 2410 meters (7906 feet). The average yearly rainfall amounts to 789 mm (31 inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: Paucarpata is the bigger side of Arequipa, a bedroom community I suppose, lots of shopping, residential and farming. The big mall is located here, as well. This is probably the 'working class' side of Arequipa. During one of my walks I took a dirt road that cut through some of the inner-city farmland and I met a group of five men, drinking beer, chatting, and playing music. They told me they are construction workers working on a nearby building and they were on their lunch break. One had a harp and played some songs for me (see pics in the photo album). They were very friendly and offered by a cup of beer. In my journey of eight countries in South America I have come to the conclusion that the Perúanos are the friendliest. Everywhere I go in this country people want talk and share stories.

My goal is 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 the towns listed below 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.

My Top 10 list has eight towns on it:

• Tingo Maria, Perú
• Moyobamba, Perú
• Puyo, Ecuador
• Catamayo, Ecuador
• Mazamari, Perú
• La Merced, Perú
• Encarnación, Paraguay
• Formosa, Argentina

During my travels in Ecuador I visited 32 towns/cities. In Perú, I visited 27 towns/cities; in Chile, only five towns; and in Argentina, I visited 16 towns. In Uruguay, I visited five towns, and in Brazil, three. And in Paraguay I have visited 26 cities. That's 114 towns/cities outside of the many, as in 60 or more, I visited in Colombia while living there for 9 1/2 years.

Next up: Chala, Perú.