Leticia, Colombia

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Leticia, the capital of the Colombian state of Amazonas, is a small sleepy city of about 35,000 that lies on the south-east border of Colombia, about 3,000 kilometres upstream along the Amazon river. The city is located at the junction of the Colombian, Brazilian and Peruvian borders.

The border between Colombia and Brazil is on land, and the Brazilian town of Tabatinga is immediately adjacent to Leticia. The border between Colombia and Peru is along the river, and the Peruvian village of Santa Rosa is a 5 minute boat-ride across from Leticia.

Travel between these three communities is very casual you don't need stamps to go for the day, and there is a tangible sense of community in the region despite the borders.

Population: 35000 | Editing history.

Places to stay:

Travelers jungle home (1 comments) 86 Rua Marechal rondon Tabat Tel: 033 281 33 01 Private rooms available.

Casa de viajeros (0 comments) Carrera 5 No 9 - 117, barrio 11 de noviembre Tel: 078 592 54 91 Private rooms available.
This place has rooms for 16000 (US$ 7) per person.

Mahatu hostel (0 comments) Carrera 7 ª # 9-69 Tel: 311 5391265 Website: www.mahatu.com Email: gusrenalvarado at hotmail dot com Cheapest night: 7 US$/night. Dorm beds available. Private rooms available.
Small hostel (9 beds) in down town Leticia.There is a branch in the outskirts of town in a jungle environment -same price-. Kitchen, beautiful jungle garden, hammocks, free internet and bicycles. The owner Gustavo speaks Spanish,English and Dutch and is a perfect host. Very helpful. Knows a lot about jungle trips. $15.000 (+/- 7 USD)per night

Los Delfines (the Dolphins) (0 comments) Carrera 11 12-85 Cheapest night: 15 US$/night. Private rooms available.
This a basic hotel, well managed, basic rooms with private bath, no AC. The house is traditional with an amazing garden that fills most of the central courtyard. It is a quiet neighbourhood, very safe to walk to from just about anywhere. About a 10 minute walk to get to downtown or the port. My room cost 30,000 COP (Nov 2007), and had two single beds. I have forgotten the name of the lady that runs it, but she is very nice and very very knowledgeable about how to go about booking and arranging various activities. There seems to be a really solid network among the hotel-owners in Leticia

Hotel de la Selva (0 comments) Tel: 098-59276616 Email: hoteldelaselvaleticia at hotmail dot com Cheapest night: 22 US$/night. Private rooms available.
Nice clean hotel one block from the main road to Tabatinga. AC available, coffee in the morning, nice place. Good value above the backpacker dorms. Like most hotels ask for a discount and you might get it, especially if you are staying multiple days here.

Things to do:

Wander around the town, check out the Indiana Jones port. Visit Brazil and Peru. Take boats to various natural reserves in the jungle. You can do a lot of trips independently, or take organized tours.

Independent

Leticia is great to wander around in. The main part of the city is very nice and well kept, it is safe at night. The port is an attraction unto itself.. almost like something out of "Indiana Jones". Locals, foreigners, dusty roads, stray animals, jewellery shops, bakeries, fishing supply shops, a great fresh mercado - you name it - all there side by side... . Sunday: people love to go to kilometro ocho, you can swim there eat and drink.

Tabatinga (Brazil) Take a Moto-taxi.. the Port street is lined with interesting shops. Eating can be done in a Fazenda, a typical brasilian restaurant where you can buy food per kilo, they will weigh your food and you will be billed for only what you took. At night there are some stands where they sell arroz Tjaufan with farina and chicken or whatever.

From Leticia you can take boats along the river to different places, either as daytrips from Leticia or as sidetrips. Destinations like Santa Rosa in Peru or Puerto Narino can be arranged independently using the boat companies located at the port ("puerto" in Spanish).

Santa Rosa (Peru) Take a rapido-boat to 1,000 pesos pp each way. People can eat and drink there and especialy in the weekends there is always a party. Not recommended to stay there (poor facilities)

Puerto Nariño A regular express boat travels daily to (2 hrs, 35,000 pesos pp each way), leaving Leticia at 8 am and returning from Puerto Narino at 4pm. You must make return reservations. Puerto Narino has a hotel(80,000 single) and several hostels ranging from 15,000 to 35,0000, and is a small clean and pleasant town.

Organized trips

For trips into the Jungle or packages with several activities there are many tour & guide operators with offices in downtown Letica. This is the easiest and probably best way for people unfamiliar with the area to see the sights, get an introduction to the jungle, and opportunities to chat with the local guides and learn more about the area. Hikes, Crocodiles, Fishing, etc. All can be arranged.

Palmari (http://www.palmari.org, tel 1 531 14 04 or 623 42 65) has info.

For those travelling from other parts of Colombia full-package arrangements including flights, transfers, accomodation and can usually be made with other agencies like Aviatur offices.

Eco Destinos (www.ecodestinos.com.co)

For those interested in the jungle, book ahead and make sure that you are either joining an exisiting group, or that there are many people in your party. The base fee is independent of group size , so if you are by yourself may be charged over 100 US$ since you will bear the full costs.

Across the Brazilian border is the town of Tabatinga. You can enter Brazil, and go on to the town of Benjamin Constant, from where you can take more boats down the Amazon.

Up river

Reserva Isla de los Micos (Island of the Monkeys), I guess a 30 to 40 minute trip with a rapido. It is a full-day visit. You can buy your pasaje in advance at the office in the puerto comming down somewhere on the left side at the end before entering the balsa (where all the rapidos park) and after the police station. Decameron (the hotel company) has a been contracted out to run the park, you can pay the park admission and tour-fee at the hotel, this includes a good lunch at restuarant in the park.

Parque Nacional Amacayacu is a Colombian National Park. In addition to hosting visitors it is an active research centre and several groups of researchers are usually based there at any one time. Visitors can do activities like visits to the tree canopy, hikes to nearby indigenous villages, and canoe-trips up tributaries from there. The park also has a lodge and offers accomodation in either mixed dorm-style huts, or private rooms. Like Isla de los Micos, the visitor services portion of the Amacayacu is run by Decameron hotels and stays must be pre-arranged.

Caballacoche (Peru) .

Down river

Benjamim Constant (Brasil) In Benjamim Constant you also can find a hotel without problems I stayed there in a hotel (dont know the name) when you arrive with the boat you just walk up the street, to the traffic lights you go left. There is a supermarket at the right side corner and a Bank in the street with a money dispenser (maybe you will need it) left side of the bank there is a little hostal its Good and cheap and relative clean.

Islandia (Peru) Islandia is a must see. Peke peke can take you there from Benjamim Constant in a few minutes. Islandia is like bridges that connect everything, don't know how to explain this in english Let say its build high above the ground

Getting around & transportation:

You can take a plane from Bogota (about 150$ one way), or arrive by river from Peru or Brazil. Getting around in town is easy too - use the moto-taxis. From here, you can move on to Brazil or Peru.

Air

You can take a plane from Bogota, both Aerorepublica and Satena have daily flights. A one-way ticket with Aerorepublical normally costs about 280.000 COP per person - children pay the same price. Beware that holidays or festivals may increase prices.On arrival in Leticia you will have to pay a tourist tax. Colombian nationals may be able to skirt the tax: "I succeeded in not paying this by saying I live in Leticia they then wonna see your cedula, so I showed them supprised as they where they letted me pass. (My cedula is from Bogota!)"

For those looking for one-way flights [i]to[/i] Bogota from Leticia, shop around - prices can vary and your best bet may well be at the airline counter in the airport.

River

Or you can arrive in Leticia by boat along the Amazon river from Brazil (Manaus) or Peru (Iquitos). If you are entering Colombia from Brazil, you need to get an Brazilian exit stamp in Tabatinga, likewise if you are entering Colombia from Peru you need to get a Peruvian exit stamp in Peru before entering Colombia. Once you have entered Leticia from either country proceed to the DAS office, located in the Leticia airport, to get an entry stamp to Colombia.

Overland

There are no safe overland roads connecting Leticia to the rest of Colombia.

Entry to Countries

For Colombia DAS in the airport. For Brasil you go to the Federal on the Avenida de Amizade. For Peru you go to Santa Rosa.

Getting around

Leticia is small with attractive tree-lined streets and a decent sidewalk system. Despite the heat, it is a pleasant place to walk, and small enough that the airport is about 25 minutes on foot from the city. Cars are a rarity in Letica, with most people there opting for motorcycles.

Moto-taxi (where you ride on the back) is the most common taxi, alot of fun and very economical. The drivers drive safely and always have a spare helmet for their fare.. this is probably the easiest way to travel to Tabatinga.

Moving on.

To Iquitos (Peru), westwards The boat trip is 8 hrs and cost 60 or 70 usd depending on the boat. Take the biggest one, as they are made for small people. You take the motor boat across to Santa Rosa from leticia after getting the exit stamp from DAS (at the apt), and then go to immigration, get ur stamp and then down to where the fast boats go from. They stop about 4 times to refuel and stretch ur legs. Iquitos is a fantastic city to visit as well.

You can catch a slow boat as well, 2 nights , 3 days.

 

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bala11bala (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 18, 2009, 08:23: Wow great interesting details about the places. Thanks for sharing. By http://www.squidoo.com/chicken_tractor 0 funny, 0 helpful.

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