According to the blog Tarapoto Peru, the people from San Martín “have been attracted to the jungle and its mysteries to write fantastical stories, which in most cases, make us express fear and terror, because these stories are based on evil spirits that haunt the inmense jungle”. Below is shown three of the most famous tales and legends in Tarapoto, which are mainly inherited from generation to generation.
The Chulla Chaqui is the mocking devil from the jungle that usually shows up to people in animal or man shape in order to fool them and take them to the deep jungle. When he adopts the human shape it’s easy for us to recognize him because he emanates a smell of goat and his left foot is like the feet of a newborn, like a tree root or even like a jaguar’s foot, but he always tries to hide it.
He usually kidnaps the kids that are left alone in the ranch or the ones that are walking alone. But in this case, he adopts the shape of a white hen with beautiful chicks, of the kids' parents or any other relative, and as soon as he is seen, he runs into the jungle and once he’s there he recovers his horrible devil’s figure and hangs his victims from the hair on the branches of the tallest trees, pulling at their ears, mocking and laughing at them.
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| Chulla Chaqui |
According to the blog Cuentos e Historias de la Selva, the Mula Runa is the soul of a living, sinful woman, turned into a spirited mule by diabolical action, in punishment of her sins during the night, while the body rests asleep. The mule is always seen in a wild race, throwing flames through his mouth, under the relentless punishment of his cruel and ferocious rider who is none other than the devil himself.
This punishment receives the woman who lives with the priest, the brother-in-law, the compadre or with the brother himself. It is usually seen after midnight, on Tuesdays and Fridays, when the devil seizes the soul of the sinner, while she is asleep and turns her into a mule to punish him in a brutal and ruthless way.
The next morning, the unhappy woman does not remember anything of what happened, but if she feels the effects of the beating she received, because her body is sore, she cannot explain the reason for this discomfort. And anyone can run into this strange and mysterious nocturnal horse, because it appears in places near the house of the sinner, despite the fact that in such places there has never been a mule.
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| The Runa Mula |
According to the blog Tarapoto Peru, the Tunchi is the spirit of a deadman who returns from the other world to fulfill some penance or the soul of those who are going to die and are spending their last days here before leaving. These souls announce their presence to the living people with a very characteristic whistle, with the resonance of their footsteps or with the noises of things or furniture that they touch causing fear and horror to those who listen. Sometimes they materialize in the form of ghosts or white specters which move at low altitude without touching the ground.
CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES
Main Dates
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Place
|
Festivities
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February or March
|
The most
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Carnival and junshía or native marriage
|
Moveable date
|
Mariscal Cáceres (Juanjuí)
|
Carnival
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April 25th
|
San Martin
|
Patronal Feast of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo .
|
June
|
Moyobamba
|
Corpus Christi
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June 13th
|
San Antonio
|
Black Dance
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June 24
|
Moyobamba
|
San Juan.
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June 29
|
Moyobamba
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San Pedro
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July 14-20
|
Huallaga (Tarapoto)
|
Tourist Week.
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July 16th
|
The most
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Patronal Feast of the Virgen del Carmen.
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July 26
|
Moyobamba
|
Saint Ana.
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July and August
|
The most
|
Feast of the Holy Cross of the Motilones.
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August 14-22
|
San Martín, Tarapoto
|
Spanish Foundation of Tarapoto
(1782)
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August 30th
|
Lamas, Moyobamba
|
Patronal Feast of Santa Rosa.
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September 8
|
Lamas (Tabalosos)
|
Our Lady of the Nativity.
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August 14
|
San Martin
|
Creation of the department of San Martín.
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September 17-28
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Mariscal Cáceres
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Patronal Party.
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September 18-28
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Rioja
|
Spanish Foundation of Rioja (1772).
Central date: 22
|
November 1st
|
Huallaga (Saposoa)
|
All Saints
|
GASTRONOMY
1. Typical Dishes
It has the same characteristics of the rice juane, but it doesn’t have an egg, it is added ground pork.
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| Avispajuane |
It constitutes a traditional dish in the festivities of San Juan. It has the shape of a large tamale, prepared with rice, chicken and eggs; which is wrapped in a leaf called bijao.
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| Juane de gallina |
It’s a dish similar to the previous one in its presentation but it is prepared based on eggs beaten with chicken meat and wrapped in banana leaf. Both are cooked, traditionally in the so-called "tushpas", which are typical kitchens of charcoal or firewood.
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| Ninajuane |
- Tacacho with cecina and/or chorizo
The tacacho, is fried and crushed banana that is mixed with pork lard, usually served with cured meat, which is dried and smoked pork; or of regional sausage which is a sausage prepared with the thin intestines of the pork and stuffed with ground meat of this one but well seasoned.
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| Tacacho con cecina |
It’s a soup prepared with ground or liquefied peanuts, chicken, cassava, corn, cilantro leaves, garlic, salt and cumin.
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| Inchicapi |
It’s a typical food of the jungle, the one that descends from the old settlers. This meal includes any type of fish from the area, wrapped in banana leaf or the plant called bijao, and is prepared roasted, baked or parboiled, of course with condiments.
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| Patarashca |
It’s a soup of fresh fish, beaten eggs and culantro, which is also known as the dish "rises dead", for the restorative properties it has after exhausting festive days.
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| Timbushe |
2. Typical Beverages
According to the blog Tarapoto Peru, these are the main typical beverages in Tarapoto:
It’s a drink prepared from boiled, crushed and mixed cassava; but the true masato is the one that after boiling the yucca, is chewed, and spit in a container to mix it with the water.
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| Masato |
It’s a kind of juice made from ripe banana parboiled, liquefied or crushed together with water.
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| Chapo |
At the same time that the sugarcane is ground in the famous "trapiche", the juice of the latter, called ventisho, which is taken fresh or fermented, is extracted in a container.
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| Ventisho |
It’s prepared with ground corn, water and various ingredients to give it a pleasant flavor, such as: cloves, fig leaves, guava leaf and orange leaf. The locals usually serve this chicha especially at typical parties and agricultural tasks.
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| Chicha de maíz |
It’s a soft drink that’s made with the pulp of a famous fruit of the Amazon, the aguaje, of the palm tree of the same name.
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| Aguajina |
These are drinks that, according to locals, cure various diseases of the blood, kidneys, stomach, bones, etc. They prolong life and maintain sexual vigor until the end of their days, which they ingest in a metered form.
This is called for symbolic and mystical reasons, but in reality, it’s the concentrate of extracts obtained by macerating roots, barks, stems, flowers or fruits of no less than twelve trees or Amazonian plants, in brandy.
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| Siete raíces |
It’s an extract obtained by macerating the bark of sugarcane in the liquor of it.
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| Chuchuhuasi |
3. Restaurants
According to TripAdvisor, these are the best restaurants regarding the categories below:
Typical Food
- La Patarashca
- Doña Zully
- Chalet Venezia
- La Collpa
- La Olla de Barro
- Real Grill
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| "La Patarashca" |
Moderately priced restaurants
- ZYGO Café
- Café d’Mundo
- Suchiche Restobar
- Stonewasi
- Limón & Ají
- El Rincón Sureño
- Brava Grilled
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| ZYGO Café |
Low priced restaurants
- Café Plaza
- Estar Cajue
- Sabor a Casa
