Roaming South America

Where the Highway Stops and the River Begins

March 9, 2026

I was in Moyobamba for about a week, and this was my fourth visit. I like Moyo, but as with my previous visits, the mototaxis are just overwhelming. I had this town on my list of possible new hometowns, but I've removed it. As much as I would love to live here, I can't. The noise and congestion, the chaos and stink, those mototaxis cause make it impossible for me to consider this as a new hometown.

After visiting Moyobamba, I spent 2 full days in Tarapoto. Not because I like it, but because the place I stayed - a 2-bedroom apartment - was quite nice. I've visited Tarapoto twice before, and it's never been on my final list of potential new hometowns. It's dirty - littered streets, sand/dirt in every street and building up and piling at every corner, chaotic traffic with those damnable mototaxis being the root cause. And it's quite hot, with high humidity, very uncomfortable, and sweaty.

I then took a bus out to the end of the road eastbound into the Amazon. The town of Yurimaguas. Beyond here, there are no more roads. This town is basically chaos incarnate. First, the town sits on the Huallaga River. The Huallaga is a large river that flows into the Marañón, which flows into the Amazon River. Friday morning, Saturday morning, Sunday morning - multiple downtown streets are closed and filled with vendors selling anything and everything. The bazillions of mototaxis are parked on the surrounding streets, and the drivers of those don't pay attention to pedestrians. There is a good restaurant that overlooks the river, though. It's in the big hotel. The malecon is dirty and unattractive, to say the least. So, this town is good as a stopover as you take a boat further into the Amazon. Which is what I did.

I took a boat, Transporte Bravo, to Lagunas. There are quite a few boat operators, and the majority of them offer one trip a day, usually at 4 pm or 5 pm, with two offering 1 pm trips. That's what I took - the Bravo fast boat. It was about 4 1/2 hours with only three very brief stops along the way. The boat is long and narrow and fully enclosed; it's basically a long river bus. But the ride is much smoother than any bus ride, since there are no potholes or speed bumps. I would guess the boat cruises at some 20+ knots. The boat arrived in town a bit after 5 pm. The ride through the Amazon is gorgeous. I expect it will only get better as I continue east.

I'll post a blog about Lagunas, specifically, and post it in a few days. And, by the time you have read this and the next blog, there will be pictures in the photoalbum.