Tabatinga / Leticia – Moving into Colombia

Look at the map, the very bottom part of Colombia that dangles down and appears to touch the river is where I am!

In a first for South American time-keeping, we arrived at the border town of Tabatinga 12 hours early! Unfortunately, this meant it was 2am when the boat pulled into the dock. The captain had decided to change the journey and call here first before going to the next destination of Benjamin. He also realised that this put all the foreign passengers in a fix as nowhere would be open at 2 in the morning so he arranged for us all to sling our hammocks on the deck of an empty boat that was also in dock. So we slung our hammocks and attempted to sleep till we could head into town at a more respectable hour.
This border town is different to most. Firstly it sits on three borders: Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Secondly, it is a free town in that you can walk to all three parts without going through customs. You don’t need to head to immigration straight away either. Whenever is convenient for you, you go to immigration of the country you are departing (in my case Brazil), then you have 24 hours to get to immigration of the country you wish to enter (Colombia). In fact it is possible to go for a drink in all three countries in the space of an hour or so – something a few members of the group did! The Brazilian side of town is called Tabatinga and the Colombian side is Leticia. The Peruvian part is across the river on a large island. We spent all our time in Leticia. The town is bordered by the major massive river but is also is quite swampy and certain areas have houses built up on stilts with raised walkways for people to get around. The more affluent people live in the non swampy areas with tarmaced roads. We found an abundance of delicious vegetarian food (which was very unexpected) and some of the best rum cocktails in the continent. Leticia was a surprise!

Every evening at half 5ish just as the sun begins to set, a ritual begins in the main park. For some reason, thousands upon thousands of birds descend and create an amazing spectacle in the sky (akin to the amazing patterns swallows make). These photos do not do it justice but it was breath-taking. The noise was deafening too. Thousands of birds calling out to each other and swooping and diving in close formation!

Even though we were now in Colombia we were still in the Amazonas region and we took advantage for one last time.  We travelled down the proper River Amazon for a couple of hours (first we had to visit the Peruvian customs as some people on the boat would be alighting in Peru) and stopped at a tiny indigenous community, literally in the middle of nowhere. We were staying at a lodge at the edge of a small village. We really were in the heart of the Amazon and boy did we feel it. The biting insects here, were in a class of their own. None of us had ever covered up as much or worn so much repellent but still we were all ravaged – the pain was quite high. But this did not stop us enjoying ourselves immensely. We paddled through a flooded forest that was so eerie and unusual and simply jaw-droppingly amazing at the same time. We had a tour of the village, had medicinal plants and trees pointed out to us. Our tour guide regaled us with stories of the anacondas he had caught in the past – he even brought out framed photographs and the largest anacondas he had dispatched. A couple of years ago a giant anaconda had killed and eaten a pregnant lady from a village on the other side of the river! We almost collapsed in the heat – the locals admitted it was unusually warm – in the high 30s with a 97% humidity factor.

I visited a monkey sanctuary were we met Elena - a woolly monkey, a squirrel monkey, some naughty capuchins and saw some wild “milk drinking” monkeys. The nickname comes from the white markings on their faces. The rescue monkeys thought it was hilarious to jump onto you and pull your hair or lick you, or climb down your clothing, or smear mud on you, or try and take your belongings away! It was a great way to spend a couple of hours.



One of the most iconic things I did there however, was to go swimming in the River Amazon. Sounds easy but we had to get a small canoe and driver to paddle us into the middle of the river (well away from the edge) because the banks were lined with thick reads. Then we had to get into the river by jumping out of the canoe without tipping it over. Once in the river it became apparent very quickly that swimming in fresh water is not like swimming in the sea. No salt – so you don’t float – plus the current moves you along very quickly. Amazon water is slightly slimy too – it feels weird. The hardest thing though was trying to get back into the canoe. All I can say is that I was not the most graceful! Plus it took a couple of washes to get the smell of the Amazon out of my swimming costume and towel!