My wife and I have 5 acres in Central Peru. We just purchased this land and moved here in late June 2009. Our intention is to build a small hotel and restaurant. Currently we are building our small home, planting trees, flowers and vegetables putting in basic electric service and deciding what will go where. What we hope to find is a person or couple who is interested in our ideas for this land and who are willing to come here and work with us to build our dream. As complicated as it is, here is what we have, what we are doing, and what we offer. The land is located 3 kilometers from Huancabamba, Peru, in the Cerro Del Pasco district. We are 12 hours by bus from Lima, Peru. We are on the east side of the high Andes and our land is at 6000 feet. The area is called the central jungle. It is lush, green, and beautiful. Days are warm and sunny, with very cool nights. Low 80’s during the day and upper 50’s at night. It rains often, but seldom hard rain, usually brief showers. BUT, January and February are the rainy season and it rains off and on all day every day. Rarely is it 100% clear. Most mornings we wake up to a high fog that is usually gone by 8am. The land narrow but long and runs more or less east to west. The eastern boundary is a small, fast, clear cold river. The river is the Rio Punchao. It is a narrow, deep river, averaging 3 or feet almost all the east boundary. The land is about 400 feet frontage on this river. Along the river the land is flat for about 10 yards. There are trees, banana trees and coffee plants along the river. We are cleaning all of this area as it has been badly ignored for many years. There are about 20 banana trees along the river. The banana trees are big mature trees and smaller younger trees coming along. The trees are all producing and we have a steady supply of delicious bananas. The trees are healthy and we will encourage them all. The coffee trees are all 1 to 2 years old and will be producing next year. We think that there are over 200 coffee trees on the land with plenty of room to grow more. We have 2 small flat access points to the river and we play in the water most afternoons. BUT it is cold !!! At the west edge of this flat the land takes a big jump up. There is a 20 foot slope, which is very steep and over grown. It is getting cleaned as we have time. At the top of this slope the land flattens for about 30 yards. This area is heavily treed, with deep wild grasses and again the coffee plants. This area is where we want to build the guest cabins. The cabins will be widely spaced and private. We will leave every tree possible. All of the land in this area was at one time logged…. Clear cut in fact so the trees are small, but do offer plenty of shade and privacy. Then the land takes a small 4 foot incline to another large flat. This area is drier, with fewer trees. We are adding trees already so it will have more coverage. We are building our house at the southwestern corner of this flat and would offer you the northeastern corner for your home. This area is also going to be our parking area and will have the restaurant and a small camping area. From here the land shoots up. The elevation increases about 500 feet to the top of the land which is also the ridge of a hill. There is a BEAUTIFUL small valley between 2 parts of the incline. A small stream runs here. This little valley is wonderful. We are going to have to take a part of the water for our water supply, but there will be plenty left to keep this little valley watered. This little valley has giant bamboo, more banana trees and a few eucalyptus trees. We want to just keep this natural, beautiful and peaceful. On the mountain side there are a few places that can be flattened and used for sitting areas, camp sites, or we are open to ideas. But this mountain is steep. Anything we do will be hard work. From the section of land we are building our home and hopefully yours on, there are incredible views. To the northeast there is a huge National Park. The mountain peaks in the park are 10,000 to 12,000 feet and we can see the entire range from our land. The park is about an hour drive from us. It is wild, and rough. Monkeys, anteaters, puma, deer, bear, and an abundance of other wildlife. Back to our place. We have the bananas and coffee. We are planting almost every vegetable you can think of. Everything grows here. We are also planting, avocado trees, mandarin orange, lime, lemon and tangerine trees. There are a bunch of fruits that grow here that most of you have never heard of and they are all available. We are also planting flowers. In this area of Peru there are over 100 types of orchids and we have 30 or 40 different types on the land. We also have butterflies and birds. This is a rather isolated rural area and it is amazing. Now, electric service came to this location just a year ago. We have good service. Peru never had telephones like the states. That said they have skipped home phone service here and people rely on cellular service. However, there is no service in our area. 3 different companies are bringing cell towers to the area and within 6 months we will have cell service on the land. Internet, Huancabamba, received a grant about a year ago for satellite internet service. That service is being installed now and the community will have internet in 90 days or so. The city is also installing a “wireless” transmitter. This transmitter will have a range of 10 to 12 miles. We will have to install a tower on top of our mountain and one close to the houses. These towers are $300 each and we are on the list to do this. We should have internet on our land by the end of the year. It is happening. We are building a filled bag house. We are 20% done and will have the walls up by the end of August. Roof, plaster, windows and doors by the end of September. Our house will be really only 250 square feet, with a nice bathroom in addition. In the future we will add a living room area, but we are comfortable with a smaller area. We will use the restaurant as our kitchen. We managed a beach resort in Honduras, where we used the restaurant as our kitchen and this worked our great. The restaurant will have a gas stove, a wood burning stove, a wood fired oven and all the other amenities. We make the BEST pizza in the world !! Our restaurant in Honduras was quickly becoming famous for the pizza, before the owners of the resort were forced to sell. We would want someone comfortable with sharing meals with us and sharing the kitchen as well. We are clearing 4 small areas for camping right now. We have friends coming to camp in a few weeks. The first week of October, we will have a bathroom built for campers. It will include hot showers. We want to open the restaurant near the first of March at the end of the rainy season. We want to begin building 4 guest cabins then as well. Each cabin will be built with block. 16’x16’ with bathroom. We want the cabins to be comfortable, and beautiful. We will decorate with Peruvian art and weaving. Each cabin will have internet, music, and will sleep 4. One big bed and 2 small. Maybe even a small fireplace in each cabin as well. Campers will have private, grassy level sites, with water, and electric at each site. Whewwww !! This part of Peru is mountains and deep valleys. There are rivers and water in every direction. The rivers are clear, cold and fast. There are a few big rivers that offer the opportunity for rafting and kayaking. We hope that someone interested in our place will have experience in rafting and kayaking. We want to offer this to tourists. On the mountain there are numerous lakes. The closest, is a one hour, strenuous hike and the others stretch out forever to the west and north. Many of the lakes and rivers in the area are full of wild, beautiful rainbow and brown trout. Guided trout fishing trips from our hotel are in the works. There are stunning ruins in the area also. One of the area’s largest attractions is waterfalls. There are falls everywhere and some are truly stunning. Just gorgeous and all accessible and waiting for tourists. There are arts and crafts as well. Now … this is an area of Peru that is often overlooked by tourists. It is far from Lima, Cusco and Nazca. But it is not crowded and over run. In Huancabamba there is NO HOTEL right now and only 3 restaurants which are not open often. The municipality of Huancabamba has a new tourist office and a director of tourist development. He is ready to help us in any way possible. We are working closely with him to be a part of the community and to help focus his ideas and ours to be a good team. This is an awesome future as the area is beginning to seek tourists. We want to be on the front of this wave and we work hard every day to make this happen. This is our home and we love the area and people. Ok. Here is what we are hoping to find. A single person or couple to come here, build a small home and roll up their sleeves and make this happen. This is HARD work. A lot is done by hand. Digging foundations, trenches for pipes, all with a shovel and sweat. We have no tractors, backhoes, nothing. We do it the hard way. So should you want to do this, be ready to work. We will give a 300 square meter area to build you house. We will run the electric and water to the site. We will help you do every single step. But we cannot build the hotel and pay for your house. Our small house is going to cost us under $1000.00 to build. You would need to decide what type of building you wanted and have cash enough to do the building. We will supply wiring, plumbing, etc. We will always pay your electric and water is free. If you are a single person we will also pay for your food always as long as you are willing to share meals and cooking and cleaning with us. We are not vegetarian so please keep that in mind. If you are a couple, you are going to have to be able to provide money to pay for one person’s food. My wife and I eat on 6 to 8 dollars a day for us both. We eat what we want and enjoy so food is cheap here. Other that tourism, there are no opportunities to earn income. We will split all profits of the hotel and tour business with you but need to discuss roles and the split should you decide to do this with us. But we also want you to understand that this is never going to make you rich. It will provide a decent life for you in a stunning place. You have a house, utilities and food all paid for forever. The rest is up to us working together and making this successful. We can do it !! My wife and I have a proven record in hotel management and operations. We are good at this and even better at the restaurant. UPDATE !! We should internet within 3 weeks !!! YEAH !!!
Hey Jim (and wife), Your place sounds absolutely awesome, I hope you get some good, real, people who take you up on your offer. The whole other country thing counts me out (not to mention our own path here), but damn man... coffee, bananas and avocados growing wild?? Thats so nuts... lol
Hello. I am a veteran of 5 acre off the grid ambitions with hand tools. I have been a successful chef and restaurant owner. I have served as a fly fishing guide. I worked for a year in central Mexico. Right now I have time and money but no particular ambition. What kind of hoops do I have to jump through to transfer funds, persons, residences, and businesses from the US to Peru? How much time have you spent in country thus far?
Hi dope, Well Gloria has lived here all her life and I have been in and out of Peru the past 4 years. We have been on our land for 7 months now. Money transfer is easy. I just use the local ATM. residency a bit more complicated but can be done. Setting up and operating a business is simple. Peru and the US signed a free trade agreement about 18 months ago and things are easy. Write me at my email and let's talk more. james_bowers@sbcglobal.net Jim
Almost wish I hadn't of found this gig at the Hostel here cuz' it sounds like a great opportunity. I'm gonna bookmark this thread and maybe contact ya' when I cna get a month or so off to come and lend a hand just for the coolness factor of it.
I might be interested. You said you could build a house for $1000? I would have to hear more details, but it seems like a great opportunity. How much does a typical laborer make per day near your location? Ima keep this page bookmarked. What a wonderful opportunity for growth.
A spiritual quest with an Andean medicine man, healer, and wisdom keeper. Helping kids with homework, teaching word games, english and chess.
