Cultural Experience in the Peruvian Jungle 

Cultural Experience in Tarapoto

Lamas is one of the most important provinces in the San Martin region.
For its great cultural wealth, inhabited by more than 3,000 Quechua-speaking indigenous people and Chazuta is considered "Cultural Heritage of the San Martin Region" for its great contribution to archeology and folk art, many reasons to be proud. The lack of recognition of the importance of folk art, medicinal plants and traditions has discouraged young communities from exploring traditional practices and cultural pride identity. 

Responsible tourism can help remedy this problem. By offering indigenous people an income for the promotion of handicrafts and ancestral knowledge, it helps preserve their heritage. Buying artisanal products and participating in courses, in turn, is a responsible way to ensure that we do not lose these precious rural communities.
So thanks to you we can keep these traditions alive.

Artisan Workshops: Learn directly from artisans of the Chazutino and Lamista culture:

How to make ceramic bowls using the clay roll technique. Paint your bowl with locally collected clay and stones. Light your pot on a Shuntu fire.
Weave a chumbe (a colorful belt with many ancient symbols).
Basket weaving.
Eco-friendly paper from coconut and banana stalks. 

• Pottery has always played a vital role in the community of Chazuta, making the Chazutinos famous for being bona fide potters. Traditional pottery is based on the well-known and widespread technique of clay coils, which are overlapped and smoothed to shape dishes for different purposes.
• The Quechua artisans of Lamas use a very similar method although there are slight differences in the technique and the clay used.
  The clay used as a base comes from quarries near the communities.
•  It is kneaded intensely with the feet until the shaño (made with fragments of burnt and ground plates) is added to prevent it from cracking during the firing process.
• The traditional oven is open, with stacked wood as fuel. This is an almost universal technique in the Amazon. 
• To finish, two products are applied immediately after burning: copal resin and a natural lacquer. The former waterproofs the inside of the plate and the latter shines the outside and protects the paint. 
• If you wish to fire your work in a Shuntu, you will have to return 5 days after making your vessel for the clay to dry.

Tour packages
Remember that all our tour packages can be modified to suit your travel needs.