Tarapoto lies farther down in the Río Mayo watershed from Moyobamba and is surrounded by mountainous cloud forest that tumbles into the flat, steamy lowlands of the Amazon basin. This is an area of impossibly steep cloud forest, known for waterfalls, orchids, and unusual birds.

Tarapoto was founded in 1782, at the base of Cumbaza and Shilcayo Rivers, and named after the endemic palm tree, Taraputus, that grows there. It has always been famous for its rich agricultural lands, which yield corn, banana, manioc, cocoa, tobacco, tea, coffee, palm oil, and a variety of tropical fruits. Its role as a center of commerce between the Amazon and the upper regions was cemented by the construction of the Margin Highway to the coast in the 1960s.

During the 1970s, however, coca cultivation destroyed much of the area’s valuable land and Tarapoto became the place where drug traffickers built their lavish homes. During the 1980s, Tarapoto was at the center of the territory belonging to the MRTA, or Movimento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru. Over time, the organization developed ties to the area’s drug dealers. During the Fujimori presidency, Tarapoto’s prominent drug traffickers were jailed and the MRTA was completely defeated.

Tarapoto is now a safe place to visit and is making a dramatic comeback as a tourist destination, especially for those who fly in from Lima with just a few days on their hands. The leader of the tourist comeback in Tarapoto is the Puerto Palmeras resort (Carretera Marginal Sur Km 3, tel. 042/52-3978, cta [at] puertopalmeras [dot] com, www.puertopalmeras.com), which operates several lodges in the area. Though pricey, its accommodations and tours are worth it.

Getting There

Tarapoto is connected by air to Lima, Iquitos, Yurimaguas, and Chachapoyas, and the airport is a US$2 motocar or US$4 taxi ride from town. LAN (Ramírez de Hurtado, tel. 042/52-9318 or Lima tel. 01/213-8200, www.lan.com.pe) and Star Perú (Lima tel. 01/705-9000 www.starperu.com) have regular flights and are in the same price range.

Tarapoto has been an important jungle crossroads ever since completion of the Carretera Marginal in the mid-1960s. The highway east toward Moyobamba and the coast is in excellent shape; the muddy road west to Yurimaguas is a spectacular, potholed mess; and the highway south to Juanjui, Tocache, and the other drug-producing towns has been all but abandoned and is not safe at this time for travelers—the danger is not so much drug runners as opportunistic bandits, and the road is a continuous stretch of jagged rocks, mud, and potholes.

Most of the bus companies are lined up along block 6 and 7 of Salaverry. The best place to buy bus and plane tickets and get up-to-date travel information is Quiquiriqui Tours (Jiménez Pimentel 309, tel. 042/52-4016, quiquiriqui [at] terra [dot] com [dot] pe). The best and safest bus service to and from Chiclayo (12–15 hours) and Lima is Movil Tours ((Av. Salaverry 858, tel. 042/52-9193, www.moviltours.com.pe) and the best transportation to and from Trujillo is Linea (América Sur 2855, in Trujillo, tel. 044/28-6538, www.transporteslinea.com.pe).