The story
Festival del Caballito de Totora in Huanchaco
Huanchaco, a fishing town on Peru's northern coast near Trujillo, is home to the caballito de totora, a slender reed watercraft that local fishermen have used for roughly 3,000 years and that has been recognized as part of Peru's national cultural heritage since 2016. A local festival celebrates the craft with races, demonstrations, and cultural programming tied to the fishermen who still build and ride them.
Archaeological evidence drawn from pottery shards shows that fishermen along Peru's northern coast have used reed watercraft for roughly 3,000 years, a tradition that predates the Spanish conquest and the horses the Spanish brought with them by well over a thousand years.