Off to the Jungle

Landon leaves for Tarapoto today. We do not know whether he will fly or be bussed. The city is located about 380 miles north/northeast of Lima. Tarapoto, is also known as "The City of Palms", and is located in a valley between two mountain ranges on the back side of the Andes in the Amazon region. The rolling hills up into the mountains are called the high jungle and the Tarapoto region is called "the land of waterfalls". The mountains on either side of Tarapoto rise to an average of 8000 feet above sea level. Almost everyday at mid morning, huge cloud banks roll in and stick at the base of the mountains, sometimes enveloping and hiding the mountain range completely.

Everyone rides scooters or motorcycles and there are a ton of mototaxis. There are very few cars out and about.

Tarapoto is the largest city (116,800 population) in the Region (State) of San Martin in Peru, and is approximately 1150 feet above sea level and has a hot tropical climate and many strange and interesting "animals".