Oxapampa Tour (Magdalena)

Last Saturday we went on another tour with the same tour company as the week before. This one was to Oxapampa, a town almost two hours from La Merced. Oxapampa is a German-Austrian settlement town with European style homes and beautiful gardens.

Our first stop was the Pokartambo bridge. Here we got our picture taken and I got a tamal while Luisa got a sprite and my dad got coffee. Then we went to a look out on the side of the road where we got our picture taken in front of a really big drop off. Then, as we entered Oxapampa, we stopped at a monument that was Peru's belly button meaning it was geographically right in the middle of Peru. Once we got to Oxapampa, we started to see lots of European style homes and everyone started getting their camaras out and we just sat in the van and thought "those homes look like our house in the states."

Our first stop in Oxapampa was at a store called NEVE with lots of carmels, jellies, honeys, yogurts and cheeses and we got to sample just about everything there. Then we went to Tunqui Cueva, a very cool cave with lots of stalagmites and stalagtites. Across the street from the cave we went zip-lining on a short line and we swung in some tire swings. Our next stop was Wharapo, a sugar cane processing plant where they make guarapo (an alcoholic drink), aguardiente (an alcoholic drink that looks like water), honey (made out of sugar cane) and chancaca (I'm not sure what this stuff was). Then we went to an artisan store called J.C. where we could dress up like Germans. When Luisa and I came out with our German clothes on everyone said "here come the original Germans." I had forgotten that we're German. Woops! Then we went to El Trapiche where we ate lunch. Luisa had chicken, my dad had sausages and my mom and I shared a big plate of chicken, sausage, beef and another kind of beef. Our last stop was a store called Ceja de Selva that had cheese and carmel. After that we walked across the street to the plaza and walked around and saw irises, lilies and other kinds of flowers that we have planted at home.

Since the ride was so long, our guide threw in lots of random facts about the region, here are some. 22% of Peru's coffee production is in Chanchamayo (Chanchamayo is what we would call a county), the most in Peru. Kitokito (or quitoquito) is the principal fruit in Oxapampa. Yánika is the indigenous language in Oxapampa. Chanchamayo means river of bones. There are three types of rain in Chanchamayo: loca (crazy rain ending with a rainbow), macho (male meaning that it comes and goes fast) and embra (female meaning that it is a steady, slow rain where sometimes it can drizzle for multiple days straight).Oxapampa is 1814m above sea level where as La Merced is only 751m above sea level.

Also, with all the time we spent in the van, we became friends with a family that had two daughters, ages 5 and 8. The younger girl talks nonstop leaving no space for the older sister (just like Luisa). The two sisters really liked playing games on our ipad so we gave it to them for the entire two hour ride home.