Pozuzo

In 1857 around three hundred emigrants from Tyrol and the Rhineland sailed for Peru under a colonisation contract; the road they were promised was never built, the ship's crossing and the overland journey killed many, and the survivors walked in over the mountains, reaching the Pozuzo valley in 1859. Their descendants are still there. The town has wooden houses with steep roofs, a church of the same style, a museum with the colonists' documents and possessions, cemeteries with German names, and food that includes strudel and smoked sausage alongside jungle produce. The road in remained a single rough track for over a century - the only way in was the river or a mule path - and it is still slow, three to five hours from Oxapampa on a gravel road with river crossings. The Yánesha, whose territory this is, were and remain part of the same valley.

History

Franciscan missionaries founded a mission here in 1712, and when the explorer William Smyth arrived in 1828 only one Asháninka family lived in Pozuzo. In 1855 Peru agreed with Kuno Damian von Schütz-Holzhausen to recruit German settlers, and 302 people, about 200 from the Tyrol and 100 from the Moselle and Prussia, sailed from Antwerp on the Norton on 26 March 1857, reaching Callao on 8 August; the village stayed isolated until a road for vehicles was completed in 1976 (Wikipedia, Pozuzo).

What's there

• The wooden houses - Tyrolean-style building in a subtropical valley.
• The museum - documents and possessions of the 1859 colonists.
• The cemeteries - German surnames on graves through the generations.
• The road - a single rough route in, unpaved for much of its length.

When to go

May to September; the road is much worse in the rains and can close. Two to three days including the journey from Oxapampa.

Things to know

Three to five hours on gravel road with river fords - vehicles get stuck. Hot, humid and wet. The colonist story dominates the presentation and the Yánesha history is thinly told. Basic accommodation and few restaurants.

Nearby

Oxapampa is south; the Yánesha communal reserve is in the same valley system.

Key facts