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| Brazil (Amazon) |
| Leticia |
| If you are staying around for a few days then LETICIA, an old, more established river port – little over twenty minutes’ walk away and with a steady trickle of connecting Volkswagen vans ($1) if it’s really too hot – is a more interesting place. Growing rich on tourism and contraband (mostly cocaine), it has more than a touch of the Wild West about it. There’s no physical border at the port or between Leticia and Tabatinga, though people getting off boats sometimes have to go through a customs check and you should carry your passport at all times. | |
| There are endless kiosks changing
dollars into Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian currency, mostly on the
riverfront, but also on the boundary between Tabatinga and Leticia.
Leticia is also a good place to buy hammocks, and if you’re looking for
a little pampering there are a couple of very good hotels in town, though
it’s quite expensive by Peruvian (and Brazilian) standards. Best of the
basic hotels are Residencial Monserrate ($20–35) and Residencial
Leticia ($10–20), but much nicer are the Colonial, near the
port square on Carrera 10 (tel 0057-919/27273 from Brazil; $70–90), and
the swish Anaconda (tel 0057-59/27891 or 59/27119 from Brazil;
$125–175), which has a pool and an attractive maloca-style bar.
The cheapest place to eat is at the riverside market; more upmarket
are the Bucaneer and La Taguara, both on Carrera 10.
For tours in the region, one of the best operators is Amaturs, at Carrera 11 7–84 (tel & fax 0057-59/27018 from Brazil, amaturs@impsat.net.co), who run everything from two-hour trips to see the Victoria Regia water lilies at Lago Yahuaracas, to day- or week-long tours to watch river dolphins and caiman and visit Witito Indian communities; they also own a jungle lodge. The Zacambu Lodge tour company, Avenida Internacional 6–25 (tel 0057-819/27377 from Brazil, www.amazontrip.com), also offer a variety of tour packages and run a good jungle lodge. Amazons Explorers, 1st floor Edificio Matiz, Carrera 10 785, can arrange trips out to Monkey Island or visits to local Indian communities. Onward practicalities |
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| If you want to go further into
Colombia, you’ll need to pick up a Colombian tourist card from the
DAS (Deptartamento Administrativo de Seguridad) office, Calle 9, 9–62
(tel 0057-59/27189 or 59/24878 from Brazil; 24hr daily), just a few blocks
from Leticia’s port. These tourist cards are also available from the
consulates at Iquitos or, coming from Brazil, Manaus. Avianca operates
flights from Leticia airport to the main Colombian cities, including Bogotá,
several times a week. Alternatively, an extremely adventurous option would
be to cut across overland along the planned road to Tarapacá, due north
of Leticia, to connect with the Rio Putumayo, where canoes to Puerto Asis
connect with the Colombian road and bus system.
Heading into Peru many of the boats actually leave from Tabatinga, although Peruvian authorities and passport control are in Santa Rosa, a military post over the river, where all Peru-bound boats have to stop for passport and customs control. The Peruvian consulate is on the main street in Leticia (Mon–Fri 9am–3pm). Powerboats (lanchas) to Iquitos are run by Expresso Turístico Loreto, on Rua Marechal Mallet in Tabatinga in one of the last shacks on the left as you walk down towards the river. Other, slower boats can be found at the port in both Leticia and Tabatinga. |
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