Oxapampa

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Town of Oxapampa, Peru

These towns are located in the eastern side of the department of Pasco, in the central part of Peru. Oxapampa (1,800masl) and Pozuzo (800masl) belong to the natural region known as Selva Alta or high jungle. They are connected through a dirt road that goes along the interesting Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Oxapampa

Pozuzo, the older town, was founded in 1859 when a group of colonists came from the European areas of Tirol and Prussia, after a hard and painful journey of 3 years. In 1853, as conditions in Central Europe were not good due to wars and famine, the baron Damian Freiherr von Schütz-Holzhausen signed a contract with the Peruvian government to send 10,000 colonists to the virgin area of Alto Huallaga. They travelled to Callao port in Lima, Peru (for about 4 months) in the ship "Norton", which by the way, was the "church" for some couples who couldn't get married in Austria.^{[citation needed]}

Once in Callao, problems arose due to Peru's emerging civil war. A group of them decided to stay in Lima and the others took a ship to the port of Huacho (150 km North of Lima). After arriving there, authorities ordered to put them in quarantine. To reach the "Promised Land" they had to cross the coast, the highlands and then the jungle. Their hard journey took more than 2 years and in that time some abandoned the journey and chose to work in the haciendas. The group got lost and finally reached the area known as Pozuzo where they decided to stay. From a total of 300 colonists that left Huacho, only 170 could finally arrive to Pozuzo.^{[citation needed]}

Their first years were not easy. Father José Egg was one of the most enthusiastic to carry out this project, he managed to establish this town and, with the help of a trader from Lima, Pozuzo became an important cattle raising place. 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).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Pozuzo

Pozuzo is a small town in a valley with the river Huancabamba which, some kilometers down, changes its name to Pozuzo. Typical houses is a Tirolese style in the Peruvian jungle. Kohel and Budweiser houses are the oldest there.

Nearby is the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park at the Canyon of Huancabamba. The area is full of rivers, waterfalls and tropical forests.