Shapajilla on the Marañón

Shapajilla is a small village on the Marañón, a tributary of the Amazon. A framework from January 2026 lists Shapajilla as one of the Indigenous communities of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.

River landscape and community history

The Indigenous community of Shapajilla has existed for more than a hundred years. Rain-related bank erosion has repeatedly led to relocations within the river basin. Thus, the community's history reflects both its continuity and changes in where people live. The connection to the river is more than a point of reference on a map: it helps place the community's history and changes in its location within the same geographic context. The community's continuity is not at odds with these relocations: its place of residence changed while the community endured.

Cultural memory in stories, books, and film

Mari Luz, who lives in Shapajilla, organized art and storytelling workshops for the “Karuara” project. The book Karuara: People of the River brings together Spanish-Kukama, English-Kukama, and French-Kukama texts. It is based on individual and collective memories of elders, as well as drawings by children from several communities, including Shapajilla. These three language combinations give the book a multilingual form; storytelling and film workshops also capture experiences and memories in different ways.

Young people from the community also took part in a collaborative film workshop based on the experiences, customs, and traditions of the elders. The project was launched collectively in the community in May 2024. Together, the book and workshops show different ways of passing knowledge and memory between generations: through texts, drawings, stories, and collaborative filmmaking.

Fishing and water in everyday life

For the Shapajilla community, the river is the main place to fish. Fishing and the river are important to the ecosystem, family livelihoods, and Kukama cosmology. In 2014, a community member described water as important for bathing, food, and washing. This statement adds practical aspects of community life to the picture of fishing.

Some fishing trips go from Shapajilla to cochas, which are about two hours from the community. Travel time can vary with river conditions. Fishing thus connects the river as a place of local activity with its economic and cultural importance to the community.

Travel by boat

A description published in 2024 gives the boat journey from Nauta to Shapajilla as taking about four to twelve hours. The duration depends on whether the boat goes directly or stops at several communities along the Marañón. River conditions and the duration of each service can vary; check the current connection before departure and allow for a range of travel times rather than a fixed journey time. The estimate of about two hours to the cochas refers to fishing trips from Shapajilla; the four-to-twelve-hour estimate, by contrast, refers to travel by boat from Nauta.

Discover more destinations: Paraíso, Santa Fe, Puritania, Mazán, Yurimaguas, Tamshiyacu, Arica, Puerto Pardo

For the main travel overview: Loreto.