Roaming South America

Chip Wiegand

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There are 116 blog posts for you to enjoy.

Huancayo, Perú

April 13, 2024

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Huancayo, Perú, sits at an elevation of 3259 meters (10,692 feet) in a high mountain valley called Mantaro Valley. The greater metropolatin area has a population of around 380,000 people, making it the fifth most populous city in Perú. Huancayo is the cultural and commercial center for all of the central Andes Mountains communities. Being so very high in the sky at more than 10 thousand feet it is also quite chilly. Yes, daytime highs reach the low 70s for a couple of hours, but beyond that, it's downright cold. During a few months of the year the night temps drop to near zero. I don't do well in such cold climates so I spent only two nights here, as I did in the previous mountain towns/cities I have visited.

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Mazamari, Perú

April 11, 2024

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Mazamari, Perú, sits at an elevation of 664 meters (2180 feet) pretty much in the center of Perú.The economy is supported mostly with cacao, coffee, and based on what I have seen around town - oranges. I wrote about Mazamari after my previous visits, the first post is dated February 18, 2023 and the second was posted on July 27, 2023, so I won't be writing a lot this time.

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Oxapampa, Perú

April 8, 2024

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Oxapampa, Perú, sits at an elevation of 1814 meters (5951 feet) at the center of Perú. This region is called Selva Alta, or High Jungle. The economy is supported mostly by raising cattle and growing coffee. This little town has countless tour agencies and coffee shops, which serve locally grown coffee. The Huancabamba River runs through the middle of the city, which is in a small valley.

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La Merced, Perú

April 6, 2024

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La Merced, Perú. This was my second visit to La Merced, and for this journey, the first rain I've seen since before leaving Colombia back on March 2. I wrote a full blog about La Merced on Feb. 13, 2023. This time my visit is a stopover halfway between Lima and Oxapampa. I hate long bus rides, meaning any bus ride longer than six hours. The bus ride from Lima to Oxampampa is more than twice that.

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Tarma, Perú

April 5, 2024

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Tarma, Perú was founded in 1875. Tarma has a population of around 44,000. The town sits at the bottom of a valley high in the Andes Mountains in central Perú. The Tarma River runs through the town. The town, while sitting on a valley floor, also sits at an elevation of 3053 meters (10,016 feet) so it is a bit on the chilly side here at night.

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Chip Wiegand

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Contact me:

chip at wiegand dot org

I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.

I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.