Chazuta

Chazuta sits on the Huallaga where the river enters a stretch of rapids, and two things are made there. The ceramics are hand-built by women's associations - large storage and cooking vessels, funerary forms and decorated pieces painted with fine geometric line work in natural pigments and finished with resin - a tradition rooted in the pre-Hispanic pottery of the region, some of which is displayed in a small museum in the town along with funerary urns found locally. The cacao is the other: Chazuta grows fine-flavour varieties and cooperatives process and sell chocolate in the town, part of the crop substitution effort that reshaped San Martín's agriculture. The town also has a strong tradition of medicinal plant knowledge and of ikaros, the songs used in healing practice. It is two hours from Tarapoto on a road that is rough in places.

What you actually see

• The ceramics - hand-built vessels painted with fine geometric line work.
• The museum - funerary urns and pre-Hispanic pottery found locally.
• The cacao - fine-flavour varieties processed by cooperatives in the town.
• The river - the Huallaga entering its rapids below the town.

When to go

May to September is drier. A day trip is possible; an overnight is better given the road. Two hours each way from Tarapoto.

Honest expectations

The road is rough and slow. Workshops and the museum keep irregular hours - a call ahead helps. Hot and humid. Facilities in town are basic. Boat trips on the rapids need experienced local operators.

Nearby

Tarapoto is west; the Huallaga runs north towards Yurimaguas.