Three days were enough to fall in love with this city. Tingo María, with its amazing and majestic jungle, made me want to stay much longer! I applaud with much love all the families of this city who, during the 80's and 90's, suffered because of the terrorism that threatened Peru and also because of the drug traffickers; but this did not prevent them from continuing to work with impetus and thus, little by little, they have managed to create this beautiful city. I also applaud how they have been able to take advantage of their natural resources and use them to create Sustainable Tourism, where the economy does not take advantage of the population and does respect nature. They are a sign that working together, everything is possible.
Traveler friends, I am more than happy to tell you about this second part of the trip I made in January of last year, since this is a place that left me with many memories and to which I would return a thousand times. Join me on this trip down memory lane through the city of Tingo María.
The great step from the Andes to the Amazon!
In the previous post, I told you all about my trip to Huánuco, and part of this planned trip (not so well… in the next post you will know why!) was to visit the city of Tingo María for a few days. This is part of the Huánuco region and is only 2 1/2 hours away by car. Let me tell you that, of all the times that I have traveled by car... this is the time that I enjoyed the most, and that is that you have the opportunity to see the passage and the change that there is between the enormous and rocky mountains of the Peruvian Andes, towards the green and leafy mountains on whose slopes an infinity of flowers grow, among them the hortencia, which you will see in all sizes and in a thousand colors. I was lucky enough to be a co-driver, so I was in the front row to see this natural spectacle. Let us remember that Tingo María belongs to the geographic region of the High Forest or 'Rupa Rupa' and it is, for this reason, that it is surrounded by mountains full of forests. But! Don't worry about the altitude! Even if it has mountains, Tingo María city has an altitude of 647 meters above sea level, so altitude sickness will not be a problem.
Total fun at Tingo María Falls!
There was no better way to enter Tingo María than being super relaxed! The weather that day helped a lot, it was warm, so arriving at the Cueva de las Pavas Spa was propitious! Remember that, when you travel to the jungle, you should always carry two things on hand: Swimwear + Towel. Basic friends, basic! At any time you can find a waterfall, lagoon, spa, that simply invite you to take a dip in them.
Very close to the Cueva de las Pavas spa, is the Santa Carmen waterfall, here we had a lot of fun, because there is greater depth in the water and that allows you to climb to the top of the trees and throw the water at yourself! To be honest... I didn't do it haha. But in my group there were adventurous and determined people, who climbed to the highest branch of the tree, and, although they took a while to do it... in the end they jumped into the refreshing water of Santa Carmen. A very pleasant place to rest is on the large rocks that surround the small lagoon, which are warm from being under the sun. Yes indeed! Put on full repellent! Or, if you can, I recommend buying repellent bracelets that work perfectly and are eco-friendly.
Magic place!! The Cave of the Owls!
This was the place I was so looking forward to visiting, and the one that motivated me to add Tingo María to this trip. The Cueva de las Lechuzas is already located within the Tingo María National Park, which was established as such in 1965, in fact, it is one of the oldest Protected Natural Areas in Peru.
After driving about 30 minutes, we stopped next to the Monzón River, a mighty river that, at the same time, transmits a serene and even hypnotizing energy. I remember staring at the movement of the river for several minutes. Then, you walk down an avenue full of stalls selling exotic drinks, sweets, handicrafts, etc. I'll tell you about that in a moment, until you reach the entrance to the Cueva de las Lechuzas. The costs to enter it are the following: s/.30.00 for foreigners, s/.10.00 for Peruvians and s/.5.00 for locals.
After paying the entrance ticket, we began with a walk of almost 10 minutes on flat ground, where we saw different types of trees, many of them medicinal. Our guide was fabulous, he knew all the flora and fauna of the place, so he gave us information during the journey, until we reached the famous, but misnamed, Cueva de las Lechuzas.
Here I came to find out that there are no owls that inhabit this place, but there are some birds very similar to them called guácharos, which sleep during the day – producing many sounds – and, at night, go out to look for their favorite food: palm nuts.
Through a ladder, we went up until we reached the large opening of the cave, which is approximately 20m wide and 25m high. When you see it from the outside, you may not feel the emotion, but when you are already inside the cave and look towards the entrance, that is where the magic is formed! Our guide, and this is something that happens every time I enter a cave, began to tell us about the different forms of stalactites and stalagmites that you can find while walking through the cave. I must mention that it is about 400m that you walk in the cave, although we were told that there is much more to investigate. Once inside, you also find a variety of insects, birds, etc, yes! I don't want to scare you, but prepare yourself mentally to see huge cockroaches, we didn't happily see flying cockroaches, and it's not like they're where you walk either, because the route is along an elevated wooden path, and it's under this , where are these insects that scared more than one. But don't worry... because once you continue touring the place, you even forget about them.
The magic happened when we reached the end of the 400m, we were in the middle of the darkness, where only the sound of the guácharos could be heard, and, if you illuminated the upper part for a few seconds, you could see families of bats squashed between them. The guide told us to close our eyes for a minute to feel all the sounds, which was incredible, and when we opened them, he told us to turn around, that's when I was overwhelmed with emotion, seeing the opening of the cave from that corner, it's completely different, you can see, through it, the green mountains, the perfect blue sky, surrounded by this frame created by the rock formations.
After that moment of connection with nature, we returned to the side of the Monzón River, where the exotic drinks were. Some took the opportunity to buy coconut water and, to our surprise, that day a new rule was installed in Parque Tingo María, which completely prohibited the entry of plastic into the park. For this reason, they developed bamboo-based sorbets! I really hope that other national parks do the same! It is a good way to reduce the polluting garbage that is left in natural areas.
Hike through the enchanted forest!
The Laguna de los Milagros, is located just 30 minutes from the city of Tingo María and is a paradise in the middle of the jungle, an 8m deep lagoon formed by the water that flows from Cerro Belén, which we appreciate as soon as we arrive at the lagoon and to which we headed using a boat.
When we arrived at the edge of Cerro Belén, a group of women, inhabitants of the place, who became our guides, were waiting for us. They explained to us about the medicinal plants that grow in that place such as ayahuasca, chakraruna, garlic, etc. Likewise, they introduced us to trees that I had never heard of, such as walking trees, named for their roots outside the ground, which look like limbs and give the sensation that they are moving. This enchanted forest also shrouds some mysteries, as its inhabitants told us about the presence of the famous Chullachaqui, who goes out every night to explore the forest, and even one of our guides claims to have seen it.
Without a doubt, one of the most important trees in the place and the star of this tour is the 'Lupuna' tree, the ancient tree, which is 60m high and has a trunk so wide that it invites you to run towards him and hug him. That moment was very special, because within my group, there were children who, seeing the tree, ran towards it saying 'WOooWWWw' and we were all surprised by its size and its millenary history. This tree surrounds many myths and legends, and is one of the most respected trees by the indigenous population; although, there are bad people who are looking for it to cut it down illegally. In my opinion, the communities, the tourism sector and the municipalities should work together to protect these trees that are part of the native communities, and that are admired by all those who love nature.
Finally, we finish our tour looking for the famous Huayruro seeds, which are believed to function as an amulet. This walk is ideal to do with children, because, at various points in the forest, ecological, safe and very fun games have been enabled, even adults used them! And as expected, after doing the walk, which left us very hot, we took a dip in the Laguna de los Milagros, and we stayed there for about 1 hour.
The sunset that Sleeping Beauty gave us
Surely you have heard that Tingo María is known as the city of Sleeping Beauty, right? And it is that there is a mountain range that surrounds the city and that creates the silhouette of a woman lying down as if she were sleeping. I had the opportunity to go to the Sleeping Beauty viewpoint just at sunset, when the sky turned dark blue with lilac and purple tones, I had never seen a sunset like this, the lights of the city were turning on and the light of the moon was reflecting in the Huallaga river. This atmosphere made the silhouette of Sleeping Beauty very clear, and, although there were many sounds around me (it is a place very visited by locals and tourists), I took a few minutes to meditate and be grateful for having been there, in that beautiful city. It was the perfect way to say goodbye to Tingo María, with the promise that I would visit her again.
And so I spent my three days in Tingo María, a place that makes you fall in love with its nature, with its stories, with its thousands of legends and even with its exotic drinks. His Sleeping Beauty makes us wake up from a deep sleep, to be able to see that we are surrounded by wonders and that, if we work in community, we can protect them. I applaud the great work of all the park rangers whom I met on this trip and who I really hope to see again to continue marveling together.
Useful data:
Altitude: 647 meters above sea level (Tingo María city).
Access routes: Air and land.
Holiday Dates:
– June 19 – 24: Regional Festival of San Juan
– September 24: Virgin of the Mercedes (Pumahuasi)
– October 15: Anniversary of Tingo María
– December 8: Virgin Immaculate Conception (Tingo María).
For more information about this destination, go to: https://www.peru.travel/es-pe/donde-ir/huanuco.aspx
