Roaming South America

Tarapoto, Perú

August 17, 2023

Tarapoto, Perú, is a city in the northeast part of Perú. It is between the larger Eastern Range and the smaller Sub-Andean Belt where it sits at the base of the mountains. East of that is the Amazon Basin.

This was my second visit to Tarapoto. My first visit was a couple of days in early February. Back then, I wasn't impressed and today, again, I am not impressed. Yes, the small city is the jumping-off point into the Amazon region. Yes, there are many, many attractions throughout the mountains outside of the city. Yes, the central plaza is now finished and open but less impressive than those I've seen in towns half the size of Tarapoto. Yes, there are countless tour agencies waiting to take tourists out to the many, many waterfalls, lakes, caves, etc, in the mountains. But, as for the city itself, there is nothing interesting, no beautiful architecture, no particulary interesting parks. It's just another run-of-the-mill noisy small city.

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
• 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: Moyobamba, Perú.