QHAPAQ ÑAN

Cajamarca’s countryside is stunning and ranges from the high-altitude jalca, where only the hearty ichú grass grows, to lush pastures where farmers leave metal jugs of milk out for roadside pickup after every afternoon’s milking. Although there are only a few pockets left where people speak Quechua, the mountain folk of the Cajamarca sierra live as they have for centuries. They live in casas de tapial, weave their own clothes, grow native foods, and rely on herbs and natural medicines.

Interesting one- and two-day hiking routes around Cajamarca are being pioneered in a responsible fashion by APREC (Association for the Rescue of Cajamarca’s Ecoystem, at Hotel Laguna Seca, tel. 076/89-4600, oper@aprec.org, www.aprec.org), a nonprofit dedicated to saving the natural beauty and culture of Cajamarca’s countryside. APREC’s strategy involves bringing trekkers together with the campesinos living along the Inca highways, which are known in Quechua as Qhapaq Ñan (Great Paths). Cajamarca contains an important crossroads of the nearly 30,000-kilometer-long Inca highway system. APREC’s hope is that ecotourism will encourage local communities to preserve their way of life and their ecosystem. It is a bold project, but APREC is taking a grassroots approach that seems to be working. For the moment, hikes are led exclusively by APREC guides, though private agencies may begin operating trips in the area as well.

The routes often integrate existing attractions—such as cliff tombs at Ventanillas de Combayo or the agricultural cooperative of Porcón—along with an astonishing range of new ruins and natural wonders that have been rediscovered in the course of tracing the Inca highways. During the day, trekkers stop at villages to share a meal with hosts and then curl up at night on sheepskins inside local rammed-earth houses, after eating trout, dried potato soup, and other local food.

It goes without saying that trekkers should take special care to follow APREC’s strict guidelines and be respectful of the land and people they encounter. This is undoubtedly the best option for seeing the Cajamarca countryside, as opposed to day tours to the different farming cooperatives touted by agencies on the Plaza de Armas. APREC’s offices are currently inside the Hotel Laguna Seca, though this might soon change. APREC has published a series of excellent guides on Qhapaq Ñan, including flora, fauna, birds, folklore, maps, etc., that sell for around $5 each and include topographic maps. There is no camping equipment for rent in Cajamarca.

At this time, there are four principal routes:

Ingatambo–Granja Porcón. This highly recommended day hike begins in the tiny hamlet of Ingatambo, 47 km from Cajamarca, and traces a 16-km section of the Inca highway that led from Cajamarca to Quito. The walk, which usually takes around eight hours, can also be divided into an overnight trip. Start near the ruins of an Inca tambo, a resting place for chasquis (foot messengers who formed a sort of Pony Express), and visit with campesino families along the way. Enter the pine forests of Granja Porcón before ending at a fabulous Inca bridge. From here, it is possible to visit or overnight at Granja Porcón.

Combayo–Cañon Sangal. After a two-hour drive from Cajamarca to the colonial town of Combayo, set out on the best-preserved section of Inca highway near Cajamarca. First stop is Ventanillas de Combayo, a larger and more remote example of the cliff tombs at Ventanillas de Otuzco. The 10-km day hike includes dramatic rock formations, rickety log bridges, and several homestays. But the highlight is Cañon Sangal, formed by two thin rock ridges punctured by the Río Chonta. This is one of the few areas of the Cajamarca countryside that has not been altered by the European cows imported into the area in the 1940s, according to APREC director Carlos Díaz. The result is a staggering abundance of native plants, trees, and birds—one recent group spotted up to 60 bird species in a single day, including the endemic grey-bellied comet hummingbird.

Cochambul–Baños del Inca. The 20-km, two-day hike begins in the small hacienda of Cochambul and leads first to Laguna San Nicolas, where pejerrey are fished using handmade nets and reed rafts. Camp is set up here in order to visit the nearby fort of Coyor, the unexcavated site of a battle between the Incas and the Caxamarcans. Next stop is the town of Chilacat, where everyone from 5 years old and up is dedicated to making guitars. Along the way there is an excellent section of paved Inca highway with knee-high walls on each side. End at the Baños del Inca for a well-deserved soaking.

Cajamarca–Cumbemayo and Beyond. When you visit Cumbemayo, why not walk back downhill to Cajamarca instead of being bounced around in the back of a car? The three-hour walk follows the last bit of Inca highway that connected the Chimú capital of Chan Chan with Cajamarca and passes through Andean villages and an Inca huaca, or holy stone. The trail was still used by horseback riders as late as 1940 to arrive at the coast within a week.

Another popular and recommended three- or four-day route, well described in the Bradt Trekking Guide, keeps going on this route past Cumbemayo to San Pablo, a distance of 85 km along fairly moderate terrain. The route heads up and over a 3,900-meter pass above Cumbemayo and down a spectacular valley to the town of Chetilla, one of the few places in the Cajamarca region where Quechua is still spoken. The route ends in the colonial village of San Pablo, where there is a hostel and a few restaurants. Nearby are the pre-Inca ruins of Kuntur Wasi, where there are a few stone carvings showing the feline figures typical of the Chavín culture.

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Granja Porcón
Of the four farming operations visited by tourists around Cajamarca, Granja Porcón (29 km northeast of Cajamarca, tel. 076/825-631, granjaporcon@yahoo.com) is the only one thriving and worth visiting. Every aspect of local farm life—from milking cows to working with leather and wood—is on display here. The whole farm runs like a well-oiled clock, with a rustic restaurant serving local trout, bungalows, a hostel, and a zoo with vicuña, deer, lynx, eagles, and even monkeys. The farm is surrounded by a 10,000-hectare (24,700 acre) plantation of pine trees, which looks like it was lifted out of the Rocky Mountains.

Avoid visiting Cajamarca’s other cooperatives, which were also set up in the agrarian reform of the late 1960s but are now withering. Hacienda Colpa used to be famous across Peru because ranchers were able to call individual cows out of the herd at milking time. Now the herd, once in the hundreds, numbers five. The same story goes for Hacienda Llacanora. Porcón, on the other hand, seems to have thrived because of its well-organized community, support from the nearby Yanacocha gold mine, a joint venture with the European Union, and a lot of faith-backed hard labor (a series of billboards on the road in tout biblical quotes extolling hard work, prayer, and other values of Porcón’s evangelical approach). Brand-new wooden bungalows ($20 s, $30 d) have fireplaces and an upstairs loft. There is also a pleasant hostel ($7 s, $15 d). Porcón’s Cajamarca office (Chanchamayo 1355, tel. 076/971-082) can get you here, as can any of Cajamaraca’s agencies. But the best way to arrive is on foot, via theQhapaq Ñan route that runs from Ingatambo to Granja Porcón.