Tupe

Tupe is a district in the province of Yauyos, made up of two communities: Ayza and Tupe. Hidden amidst steep and rocky mountains, San Bartolomé de Tupe has a population of only 800 people.

Located at the foot of Apu Tupinachaca, which can be accessed by short hikes, where you can appreciate the cave paintings left by our ancestors. The district, with an area of 322 km2, was officially created on July 15, 1936, during the government of President Óscar R. Benavides. It borders Putinza and Colonia to the north, Cacra to the south, Colonia and the Junín Region to the east, and Catahuasi and Putinsa to the west.

Tupe has a history of isolation compared to most of the official histories of the area. The ethnicity belongs to The Yauyos, one of the oldest pre-Columbian formations known. According to studies, it is estimated to have emerged in the Western Andes over 3,000 years ago, in the lithic period. These communities were eventually integrated into the Wari Empire. The Yauyos used jacaru, derived from protojaqi, spoken widely since the expansion of the Wari.

Location

It is located in the province of Yauyos, 270 kilometers from Lima.

Climate and Temperature

It has a typically dry climate during the winter (May to September) with intense sun during the day and cold at night, with rain showers during the summer (October to April).

Altitude

Tupe is located at 2830 meters above sea level.

Photo: David Huarcaya

How to Get to Tupe

Take a bus from Lima to San Vicente de Cañete, about a 2-hour journey. From here, take a shared taxi to Imperial, where buses to Catahuasi are available, a journey that takes about 2 and a half hours. Once in Catahuasi, you can take irregular buses to the town of Aiza, or some choose to hike (6 hours uphill). Finally, from Ayza to Tupe, there is no transportation, only muleteers and a hike that takes approximately 2 to 3 hours.

Adventure Sports

• Trekking

The Jaqaru Language

In Tupe, you can find the only population where Jaqaru is spoken, a language that for centuries was the most important in the region, extending from Lima and Nazca to Ayacucho, where the Wari culture began.

Jaqaru is considered a sibling language to Aymara. Today, it is at risk of extinction due to the advancement of modernization, resulting in a rapid Spanishization of the area.

Authorities and linguists are making efforts to encourage the use of the language to prevent its disappearance, like the Kawki in the town of Cachuy. According to studies of Yauyos history, Jaqaru would have 2 millennia of existence, making it older than Aymara and Imperial Quechua.

Photo: yauyosenlinea.wordpress