Tingo Maria Peru, a Region of Spectacular Beauty
By Dave Skinner
Over three hundred years ago the Spanish explorer Hipólito Ruíz explored the area of the upper Río Huallaga near its confluence with the Río Chinchao in central Peru, in what is now the Department of Huánuco. During this expedition, Ruíz collected several species of the plant family Costaceae that is my specialty, and sent dried specimens back to Spain. I have been wanting for several years to visit that area of Peru to see the living plants in their natural habitats, but until recently it has been considered too dangerous for foreigners to travel there.
Beginning in 1979, this area around the city of Tingo Maria became a center of violent activity by the Shining Path revolutionaries and their narco-trafficker associates. In all of Peru it is estimated that there have been 70,000 deaths or disappearances resulting from the war that ensued between these revolutionary terrorists and the government of Peru. Unfortunately, many of these deaths were of innocent civilians. In this region alone, there have been documented 1,857 instances of violence causing 5,550 deaths, and it is estimated there have been many more – as many as 11,000 – that were not reported. The peak of the violence by the Senderistas occurred between 1987 and 1999 with sporadic instances of armed conflict continuing for several years thereafter until 2012, but mostly involving the coca growing and drug trafficking activity. The Senderistas allied themselves with the Colombian Cartels to finance their so-called revolution. The activity of the Shining Path revolutionaries in this area was effectively ended on February 12, 2012 with the capture 100 km north of Tingo Maria of “Comrade Artemio” their last remaining original leader.
Today, the U. S. State Department still discourages tourists from visiting areas outside the city of Tingo Maria itself, and in fact prohibits its employees from traveling there by land. I could wait no longer. In November 2016, I spent a wonderful week exploring the entire region around Tingo Maria and retracing the steps of the Spanish explorer Hipólito Ruíz. I had the good fortune to find an excellent guide, Luis (Lucho) Egusquiza, the owner of Tincco Tours in Tingo Maria. Lucho took me to the places I wanted to go and also showed me many other beautiful places to see the plants in the region. We hiked through the mountains looking for plants, crossed back and forth along an unspoiled river to spectacular waterfalls, and went to areas with caves and natural swimming pools. The natural beauty of the area has been somewhat spoiled by the clearing of the forests for coca growing, but there are still many places of beauty without the crowds of tourists that flock to Cusco and other Peruvian tourist destinations. I can highly recommend Tinnco Tours to anyone wanting to see this part of Peru.
For further information about the Shining Path activity in this area, I recommend reading the excellent book by Felipe A. Páucar Mariluz, “La Guerra Oculta en El Huallaga, Monzón y Aguaytia”, digitally published at https://issuu.com/felipe.a.paucar/docs/la_guerra_oculta_en_el_huallaga__mo.