Tarapoto

Tarapoto sits at about 350 metres where the Andes give way to Amazon lowland, and it is the commercial centre of San Martín - a hot, noisy, motorcycle-taxi city of well over a hundred thousand people, with direct flights from Lima that make it the easiest jungle-edge destination in Peru to reach. What people come for is around it: the Ahuashiyacu and Huacamaillo waterfalls, Laguna Azul at Sauce, the Cordillera Escalera regional conservation area on the ridge above, cacao and coffee farms, and river trips. The region's recent history matters to how it feels: San Martín was a major coca-growing area through the 1980s and 1990s with serious violence, and the shift to cacao, coffee and palm was a deliberate substitution programme that reshaped the economy. Tarapoto is now one of the fastest-growing cities in Peru.

What you actually see

• The base function - flights from Lima and access to the whole San Martín circuit.
• The waterfalls and lakes - Ahuashiyacu, Huacamaillo and Laguna Azul nearby.
• The cacao and coffee - farms and cooperatives from the substitution programme.
• The Cordillera Escalera - the protected forest ridge above the city.

When to go

May to September is drier, though rain falls year-round. Three to five days to see the surroundings. Flights from Lima take about an hour.

Honest expectations

The city itself is hot, loud and congested with motorcycle taxis, and has no sights. Everything worth seeing needs transport. Humidity is constant. Standard precautions apply at night in the centre.

Nearby

Lamas is north-west; Laguna Azul at Sauce is south-east; Chazuta is east on the Huallaga.