Tingo Maria Adventures

When I came to Peru in 2011, I had the opportunity to go with the school field trip of junior high students to visit Tingo Maria. It was pretty fun, but sorely lacking as I mostly got to observe the students doing the activities while I sat on the side with the adults. There was a part of me that really wanted to go back and actually get to experience the jungle (la selva). Thankfully, Yimi really enjoys going to Tingo and was game to accompany us on a short trip. We went from Dec. 5th to 7th.

We left Huanuco in the afternoon on Thursday and took a taxi (basically) to Tingo. It was about a 2.5 hour drive. The ride was fairly normal, the only thing of note was that the driver seemed to prefer driving with his head almost out of the side window rather than just looking through the front window. To each their own.

We got into Tingo around 4ish. First thing on the agenda was to find a hotel to drop off our stuff. I'm not sure if Yimi had actually stayed at this place before or not, but he led us straight to a hotel called "El Viajero," where we checked into our room and called it good. Wasn't the greatest place ever, but it did the job for 2 nights. We didn't do any price comparisons, but it seemed like a good price at S/. 45 ($16) per night and was in a good, convenient location.

After that, we went and wandered around the main road called the "Alameda." I'm not sure what all area Tingo Maria covers, but the downtown area is quite small and the main strip of road with all the shops, market, and restaurants covers about 3 full blocks. We walked up and down that for a bit. We also got some snow cones (raspadillas) from a business that highers people with disabilities, so the vender was a mute gentleman. We didn't realize that was the case until after the fact, so we didn't know what flavors we were getting until we tried them. It all worked out and was a delicious find. It was fun to hang out on the main strip for a bit and see what the locals do in the evenings. We did some good people and dog watching.


For dinner we happened upon a corner restaurant that served S/. 5 meals that were good! The name of the place was Kiosk con Confianza..that seemed to be a joke. I had chicken juanes (rice with chicken inside cooked in a leaf). Melissa has cesina (dried pork) and chorizo (sausage). Yimi got pollo broaster (roasted? chicken). We tried aji de cocona (some orange fruit), that is supposedly very bitter, but was mostly onion.

After our tasty meal, we road the Ferrish Wheel.. of death. It was a combo Ferris Wheel and spinning tea cups ride. It was fun, but probably not the best idea for something to ride right after eating a solid meal. Haha. Finally, we walked back to the hotel and turned in early to prepare for the adventures to come the next day (though we hadn't planned what those would be at that point).

Unfortunately, the hotel was pretty noisy, just like every other hotel I have stayed at in Peru. They are almost purely made out of concrete, glass, and tile, so sounds echo and carry like crazy. I was up around 6am. So I had to wait until 8am before Melissa and Yimi woke up. I got up and took a shower; yes, the water was cold, but there was really good water pressure.

First stop for the day was to eat breakfast. We headed to the market, where there are a few restaurants. The moment we got up the stairs the waitresses surrounded us and were like eat here, we serve these things. It was a bit overwhelming and not my favorite way to go about selecting a place to eat. We ended up eating at a place called "Bella Durmiente" after the famous mountain skyline that looks like a sleeping woman. This is where we tried tocacho, which is mashed up plaintains. I think it would be our equivalent of hashbrowns, but made with bananas. I am told that is what they eat instead of rice or potatoes as their starch. Makes sense.


The good thing about going with Yimi was that he was able to ask people about things to do and how much they would cost and hopefully would get a more straightforward and less inflated price. We ended up with a phone number for Tingo Maria Nunash Tours, where we met our tour guide for the day, Ruben. For the awesome (I think) price of S/. 40 ($14.50) each, we got a tour guide and mototaxi services for 6ish hours. Friday, we did the Circuito No. 1 tour of Tingo. This entailed going to Parque Nacional Tingo Maria, Cueva de Las Lechuzas, Agua Sulfurosa Medicinal, Catarata Santa Carmen, Balneario Cueva de Las Pavas, and Mirador de La Bella Durmiente. It was an incredible adventure!

I enjoyed the swimming adventures the most. First, we swam in sulfur water. Supposedly it is a very healthy thing to do, though I'm not sure why. It smelled pretty rotten, but not horribly strong and you eventually could get used to the smell. We played around in the pool, trying to catch the little fishies, throwing mud at each other, and generally enjoying the water. Second, we hit up the waterfall. My favorite. We had to do a bit of hiking to get up to the falls, but it was so worth it. Being that it had rained right before we got there, the water was not so clean and clear, but still refreshing and it was definitely a powerful falls. We awkwardly changed into our bathing suits (no changing room) and then hit the water. It was fun to swim against the current, climb on the rocks, and take all sorts of pictures of course. We have quite the photo shoot of pics.

The other parts were awesome too. We listened to the bats, parrots, and guaranchero (sp?) (oil bird) sing in the cave. We saw where the rivers meet that gave Tingo Maria its namesake. We saw an amazing double rainbow at the lookout point. And I have to credit Ruben for being an awesome tour guide. Good times. :)

In fact, we had such a good time, we opted to do Circuito No. 2 the next day. Unfortunately, Ruben was not available, so we had a new tour guide. He still did a pretty good job. His name is Alan. On this circuit, we went to Laguna de Los Milagros, Criadero de Paiche, and the Serpentario.

The laguna was really fun. We got to ride in, and even row, a canoe. We did some swimming, but mostly the time in the water was for our skin treatment. There is clay at the bottom of the laguna that is mixed with sand and fish poop. It is quite a good exfoliating treatment and makes your skin feel super soft, suavecito. Also, we visited the Arbol de Deseos, or the wishing tree. You can toss a coin at it and make a wish (then the lady that guards the tree picks up the money). I am informed that you really have to believe in the power of nature for it to come true, apparently I didn't exude belief or something. At any rate the tree is supposedly over 1000 years old. While not a willow tree, it reminded me of the tree from Pocahontas. At the laguna, we ate Pako, some sort of native fish of the piranha family. Delicious.

We didn't get to see a paiche, so that part was a dud. Hopefully, we will see the huge river fish in Iquitos. Finally, we made it to the snakes. We learned about venomous and non-venomous snakes. My favorite part was that the the Shupa Shupa venomous snake's nicknames are Suegra and Perra Rabiosa. Apparently, this snake can launch it's venom, beware if you have any open wounds. Also, it can bite its victim about 6 times, whereas others only bite once. I got to hold a turtle. And then, the ultimate adventure, I held a 10 kilo (22lbs.), 7-8ft long boa constrictor. It was kind of scary, but not too bad as he barely moved while I was holding him. The trainers had calmed him down before we got to hold it. I held a boa!

Overall, it was a crazy adventure in Tingo! Swimming at the waterfall, swinging from the trees, and holding a boa constrictor - quite the jungle experience, if I do say so myself. I would highly recommend it!

Before we left Tingo, we had to buy some jungle bananas for the ride home. Yummers. We piled into our taxi home, ate a banana, and promptly fell asleep. Peace!

~nos vemos~