Oxapampa, Pasco, Peru

🇵🇪 Oxapampa is the capital of Oxapampa District and Oxapampa Province in Peru in the eastern part of the Pasco Region. Oxapampa belongs to the natural region known as Selva Alta or high jungle. 80 km (50 mi) northward down the valley of the Huancabamba River is the settlement of Pozuzo (altitude 800 m). The most important agricultural pursuits in the region are raising cattle and growing coffee.

Oxapampa was founded in 1891 by settlers of Austrian and Germanic origin from Pozuzo. The town and the region retains a Germanic flavor in its Tyrolean architecture and celebrates its origins in public celebrations. Oxapampa, due to its mild climate and scenic surroundings, has become a tourist destination since access was improved by highway construction beginning in the 1980s.

The Cerro de la Sal, an important source of salt for the indigenous people of the Amazon Basin since pre-historic times is located in the Villa Rica District of the province. The south-eastern part of the province is the location of the Gran Pajonal (Great Grassland), an elevated plateau occupied by the Asháninka people.

History In March 1857, a group of 300 Tyrolean and Prussian settlers, consisting mainly of poor peasant families and couples who were not allowed to marry in their home countries, boarded the “Norton” to go to Peru. Before starting the journey, the couples were married. After 4 months, the settlers arrived at Callao port in Lima. After two days of quarantine, the settlers took a ship to the port of Huacho, where their belongings were put on mules and men had to continue the journey on foot while women and children were given donkeys to ride on. The journey went from Huancho to Cerro de Pasco, Acobamba and Santa Cruz. On the way, some of the settlers left the group. In 1858, the male settlers travelled from Santa Cruz to Pozuzo to partition the lands and sow enough so they would be able to live off their crops once their families arrived. Finally, in 1859 a group of 170 people moved permanently to Pozuzo.

In 1891, when things were better, a group of colonists from Pozuzo founded the city of Oxapampa (now the capital of the province of same name) and then the town of Villa Rica (both south of Pozuzo).

Places of interest • Yanachaga–Chemillén National Park