Peru
Nauta, Peru
Nauta: The River Town on the Way into Pacaya-Samiria
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What to Expect
Nauta is a river port on the Marañón, roughly an hour and a half to two hours by road from Iquitos, and the starting point for trips into the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. A few kilometers upstream, the Ucayali joins the Marañón and the two become the Amazon.
- Your cruise company confirms the boarding time, where the boat is moored and whether the transfer from Iquitos is included.
- The reserve is best visited between May and January.
- Spanish is the language, and English is limited outside the places tourists use.
Nauta on Your Own
Nauta is a small town, and the Plaza de Armas and the market are a few streets apart. Ask the crew how far the boat is moored from the Plaza de Armas before you set off.
- The Plaza de Armas: Statues made by local people on native themes stand around the square, along with the old church, now a parish theater, and a bronze bust of the founder, Manuel Pacaya.
- The market: It is a few streets down from the square and busiest in the morning, when producers bring goods in from the surrounding area.
- Sapi Sapi lagoon: You can cross it by boat to look for taricaya and charapa turtles, paiche fish and crocodilians.
- Boarding time: Your cruise company sets the time to be on board, and boats leave on schedule, so be back at the boat well before it.
Getting Around
Nauta is joined to Iquitos by the Iquitos–Nauta highway, the regional road between the two towns. In a five-seat car the drive takes about an hour and a half.
- Transport companies run direct services between Iquitos and Nauta, and the time depends on the size of the vehicle.
- The Pacaya-Samiria reserve is reached by river rather than by road.
Tipping
Tipping in Peruvian restaurants, at least simple and mid-range ones, is not very common, but 10 percent for good service is a polite gesture. Taxi drivers are not tipped.
- Peru's currency is the sol, written S/.
The Town and Its Neighbors
Nauta began as a Cocama settlement, and native communities still live along the rivers around it. Some welcome visitors and guide them from town.
- Castilla, a native community about 3 km from the center of Nauta, sits on the Ucayali where it meets the Marañón.
- In the small Miguel Grau community, residents guide visitors from Nauta, show them their way of life and sell pottery they make.
- The Mirador de Grau is a tall lookout tower there with a view over the start of the Amazon, and river dolphins can sometimes be seen from it.
- A sculpture in the Plaza Centenario recalls the legend of how the town got its name.
History
Nauta was founded in 1830 by a Cocama leader who came down the rivers by raft, on ground where a mission had stood almost a century earlier. In the 1850s it was briefly expected to become the river port for the first Amazon steamers.
- A mission, mid-1700s: Father Maroni brought several Yameo leaders to high ground between the Gasparito and Zaragoza creeks, facing the mouth of the Ucayali, and named the settlement San Miguel.
- A census, 1746: Despite epidemics, San Miguel and its outlying villages counted 2,063 people, then the most populous part of Maynas. The village later shrank to a few farms and is missing from the censuses of 1768 and 1814.
- The raft, late 1820s: Manuel Pacaya, a Cocama leader from La Laguna on the Huallaga, left with his people by raft and camped on the Marañón near the Ucayali. Clearing the ground, they found a large jar, mauta in their language, and the settlers changed the name to Nauta, Latin for sailor.
- Founding, 1830: The provincial authority approved the new town in December 1829, and Nauta was officially founded on April 30, 1830.
- The first church, 1832: Building began on the town's main church, which today serves as the Teatro Ukamara.
- River trade, 1851 to 1853: Peru and Brazil signed a treaty of free navigation on the Amazon on October 23, 1851. A Brazilian steamship company then agreed to have its first steamer at Nauta by May 1, 1853, but Peru rejected the agreement in March 1853.
- The reserve, 1982 and 1992: Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve was created on February 4, 1982, and listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance on March 30, 1992.
- To see the story in town: The bust of Manuel Pacaya stands on the Plaza de Armas, and the jar legend is shown in a sculpture in the Plaza Centenario.
With Children
The Amazon around Nauta is a wildlife trip first, and children of most ages enjoy the boats and the animals. It is warm and wet here, with average temperatures between about 20 and 33°C and 2,000 to 3,000 mm of rain a year.
- Younger children: A boat crossing on Sapi Sapi lagoon is an easy first outing, with turtles and fish to look for.
- School age: The reserve is home to Amazonian manatees, giant otters, Amazon river dolphins, capybaras and scarlet macaws, which makes a good spotting list.
- Teenagers: Climb the Mirador de Grau for the view over the meeting of the rivers, and ask about the mermaid legend of Sapi Sapi lagoon.
- For everyone: Pack rain gear and sun protection for the boats.
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