Moyobamba

Moyobamba was founded in 1540, the first Spanish town in the Peruvian Amazon, and it sits on a bluff above the Mayo river at about 860 metres, with the Alto Mayo cloud forest above it. It calls itself the city of orchids and has grounds for the claim: several thousand species are recorded in the region and orchid gardens in and around the city - Waqanki, the Orquideario Municipal and others - grow and display them, with an orchid festival each November. There are thermal baths at San Mateo, viewpoints over the Mayo valley from the Punta de Tahuishco and Punta de San Juan, and Waqanki's hummingbird feeders draw a dozen species. The city itself is unremarkable and was damaged by earthquakes in 1990 and 1991. It sits between the Alto Mayo forest, the Morro de Calzada and the Tingana wetlands, which is what makes it worth basing in.

History

The name comes from the Quechua Muyupampa, "circle plain". The first settlers were people of the Chachapoyas culture, and the Spanish town was founded on the site of an Inca settlement on 25 July 1540 by Juan Pérez de Guevara, who named it Santiago de los Ocho Valles de Moyobamba. During the conquest it served as a base for incursions into the surrounding country, and it became the seat of the first religious missions in the region and an important commercial centre in colonial times; the Puerto de Tahuishco on the Mayo was once a busy river port. Moyobamba was given city status in 1857, became capital of Loreto on 7 June 1897 and of San Martín on 4 September 1906, and in 1948 the seat of the Territorial Prelature of Moyobamba (Wikipedia, Moyobamba).

What's there

• The orchids - gardens and collections drawing on several thousand regional species.
• The thermal baths - the San Mateo springs on the edge of the city.
• The viewpoints - Tahuishco and San Juan above the Mayo valley.
• The 1540 foundation - the oldest Spanish town in the Peruvian Amazon.

When to go

May to September is drier. November brings the orchid festival. Two to three days as a base for the Alto Mayo, Tingana and the Morro de Calzada.

Practical notes

The city has little colonial fabric left after the 1990 and 1991 earthquakes. Hot and humid year-round with heavy rain. Orchid flowering is seasonal and species-dependent - a garden visit is not guaranteed to be spectacular. Sites are spread out and need transport.

Nearby

The Morro de Calzada and Tingana are west; Rioja and the Alto Mayo forest are beyond.

Key facts