Roaming South America

Juanjuí, Perú

August 14, 2023

Juanjuí, Perú, is a city in the northcentral-east part of Perú. It is alongside the Huallaga River with the Amazon region starting on across the low mountains on the east side. This valley is between the larger Eastern Range and the smaller Sub-Andean Belt. East of that is the Amazon Basin.

This was my second visit to Juanjuí. My first visit was in early February. Back then I like the town enough to put it on my top 10 list of potential new hometowns. During the trip here it was raining, all the way from Tocache, through/over the mountains, about five hours in a shared taxi. At times the rain was very heavy, not surprising as it is winter and the rainy season here. When I arrived the town was dry, for a while. The rain soon caught up to the taxi and dumped on the town. Finally, late in the afternoon I was able to go out walking, but it turned out to be quite muddy because there are numerous streets being completely rebuilt. Also, alongside the river they are building a new dike to protect the town, so those roads are all mud, as well. Unlike some of the towns I've visited in the last couple of weeks, here most of the roads are actually paved. My second day in Juanjuí was rain, rain, rain, lots of rain. By the end of the second day I came to the decision to remove Juanjuí from my top 10 list. It's pleasant enough but there are pleanty of other towns that are better.

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, Chile, Argentina, 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 130 towns/cities (not including more than 70 in Colombia), I've decided I will 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 have visited very few tourist attractions and archeological sites, etc, those will have to wait for another trip through South America.

My Top 10 list has these towns on it:

• 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 33 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 120 towns/cities outside of the 77 towns I visited in Colombia while living there for 9 1/2 years.

Next up: San José de Sisa, Perú.