martes, 19 de febrero de 2013

How to cure or get rid off the Amazon itch mite

This is something that actually is a pain in the Amazon, the itch mite is easy to get in the jungle. We always recommend to our tourist to wear swamp boots, long socks and before getting into a walk to put some Jhonson oil on their legs.

There is this product that you must have it in you first aid kit, Crotamiton in lotion is really good for this kind of itching and will get rid off the itch mites.

Currency exchange in the Amazon

I don't recommend it in Leticia or Iquitos because they like to take advantage. They currently exchange at different rates and sometimes they will give you fake money. The best recommendation is to exchange it at Lima, Bogota or Manaus in a business not in the streets.

viernes, 15 de febrero de 2013

Leticia Amazonas Tour Map

Hi, I would like to show you the Leticia's touristic map I am creating.
 

View Guia Turistica de Leticia Amazonas in a larger map

martes, 12 de febrero de 2013

Tabatinga or Leticia to Manaus boat price

tabatinga manaus boat ferry price
Tabatinga to Manaus ferries

The price for the "Recreo" or ferry boat that goes from Tabatinga to Manaus has a price of $200 Reais in hammock and nearly $800 to $1000 reails in a private room.

You have to buy it in Tabatinga's Ferry port.

lunes, 14 de enero de 2013

Air Plane from Caballo Cocha to Iquitos

If you are planning to flight from Leticia or Tabatinga to Iquitos there is only one way. Caballo Cocha is the only town where airplanes flight to Iquitos from 70 usd or 200 soles Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.

In order to go to Caballo Cocha from Leticia or Tabatinga you have to go to Leticias port and take a fast boat to Caballo Cocha and the price is $35,000 COP. Sometimes it has delays or they pospone because of the weather.

martes, 16 de octubre de 2012

Yage Ayahuasca Ritual in Leticia

yage ayahuasca leticia amazonas


This is something that a lot of tourist try to look for it in Leticia but you have to know that there is only one good taita for the ritual. William, is one of the most respectful taita here by the Leticia Area and he is located on the kilometer 7.

To contact William, you have to take a bus to the kilometer 7 and ask for him. He is located in an indigenous maloka inside the jungle.

lunes, 24 de septiembre de 2012

Colombian Amazon Basin Information

Amazon River
Amazon River


amazon sunset
Amazon sunset
Located in the far south eastern of Colombia with an area of 109.665 square kilometers including forests, great rivers and hundreds of creeks and streams is the department of Amazonas, one of the largest in the country.

The capital of Amazonas is Leticia and another important town is Puerto Nariño. Other towns are Metro Manila, Pedrera, Arica, Mirití Parana, House, La Chorrera, Puerto Santander, Puerto Joy and Victoria, the state bordered to the north with the Vaupés and Caquetá, on the east by the Republic of Brazil, south and west to the Republic of Peru and the state of Putumayo Colombia.



The Amazonas department consists of plains, together with the other territories of the Republics of Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. It doesn’t have mayor variations in their structural conformation and altitudes covered by dense forests and crossed by many rivers.

The weather its entirety warm and humid, surrounded by well-defined periods of rain, totaling an average of around 3,000 mm. a year.

Dentro de su territorio, el Amazonas cuenta con innumerables ríos, entre los que se destacan el Amazonas, el más caudaloso de la tierra, el Putumayo, el Caquetá, el Apaporis, el Cahuinarí, el Mirití-Paraná y el Igara-Paraná.
                            
Within its territory, the Amazon has many rivers, among which include the Amazon (the mightiest of the earth), Putumayo, Caquetá, Apaporis the Cahuinarí the Mirití-Paraná-Paraná and Igara.

The department of Amazonas has some of the most diverse fauna and flora in the world, which is considered the Colombian department to be handled with the best concept in terms of environmental development.

In pre-Columbian times, the current department of Amazonas territory was inhabited by a large number of indigenous groups, several of which remain despite the destructive ravages of man "modern" but its forest environment remains. The most important ethnic group which remains is the descendants of the Arawak linguistic family, Tucano and the Caribbean.

The first conqueror to reach these lands was Francisco de Orellana, near 1524, after he called up the river Two Amazonas, in memory of the Indian warriors who attacked him during the trip. 

amazon lotus flower
Amazon Lotus Flower


In the colony, these lands belonged to the province of Popayan, which covered the whole north region of the Napo and Amazon to the mouth of the Putumayo River later. Since independence, the governments of Peru and Brazil, began a policy of colonization to annex the territories of Colombia, after several conflicts, Colombia remain only one exit of the Amazon River, called El Trapezio Amazonico. During the time of Great Colombia, the Amazon belonged to the state of Asuay stretched from Peru, and Boyacá, until the mid-nineteenth century, belonged to the National Territory of Caquetá in 1886, the Department of Cauca in 1928, Later on it became Commissariat of the Amazon in 1931. In 1934, Colombia created the Special Commission of the Amazon, with its capital is Leticia, and finally, the July 4, 1991, the Constitution Colombia rose to the rank of a state.


Economic activity in the department focuses on activities such as fishing, wood, rubber, gum and pendare, tourism, trade and services, especially provided by the state.

The agricultural sector is barely subsistence, as poverty and acidity of the soils only favors the conservation of forests. In some areas near Amazon, Putumayo and Caquetá-Apaporis rivers have small productions of corn, cassava, bananas and rice.

In a perspective on tourism, the Amazon has excellent characteristics for the development of ecological tourism and adventure. Leticia and the journey down the Amazon River that runs from Leticia to Puerto Nariño and in the other towns in the department,  you can find beautiful landscapes and sites of great interest to visitors such as the "Monkey Island", Reserves and Indian villages, The parks, Amacayacu and Tarapoto lakes. Near the communities Araracuara (Caquetá) and Puerto Santander (Amazonas) the Caquetá Rivers decrease its channel passing several miles, called the “Araracuara Canyon". Going downstream the river itself we can find Cahuinarí National Park, where you could appreciate the fauna and flora, and you can visit indigenous villages and the old factory "Arana" where rubber was exploited in the Amazon. 

Leticia Information

Santander Park Leticia
Santander Park
On the banks of the majestic Amazon River, just one hour and forty minutes of Bogota by air is Leticia, the beautiful capital city department of Amazonas, with its urban layout in the middle of the green and rich Amazon forest, with an average temperature of 28 ° C and 96 meters above sea level is established as the principal city of the three bordering countries BRAZIL, PERU AND COLOMBIA. 

Leticia inherited its name from Smith, the girlfriend of Manuel Charon Peruvian engineer, founded by Captain Benigno Bustamante, April 25, 1867, The Treaty Lozano-Solomon, in 1930, Jennifer became fully dependent on Colombia and since that year, despite not having the minimum requirements for town, was built as such and encouraged its development.



leticia amazonas emblem
Leticia's emblem 
In 1931, a group of outlaws with the support of the Peruvian government took the town to annex the country, which failed completely, and later, through the treaty of Rio de Janeiro in 1937, both as a trapeze Leticia Amazon, became permanently from the Republic of Colombia.

Today it has approximately 45.000 inhabitants in the most important geopolitical center shared by the three countries because its location makes commercial transactions, being also the receiving end in the department of tourism thanks to the good performance of the governor Gloria Orobio and Mayor Ivan Porras have developed a very good road infrastructure and urban planning both in Leticia as other municipalities.

With an adequate infrastructure services such as hotels, apartments, houses, typical restaurants, souvenir shops, malls, motorbike rental service, currency exchange, banking, communications, internet and mobile, specialized and trained guides eco tourism, modern discos for recreation, fun and convenience of the visitor during their stay.

In Leticia, its practiced ecotourism and adventure travel. Through the river upstream are the Monkey Island and Amacayacu National Park with its giant trees and sites for wildlife observation and flora. By the town, a road by the river others can visit indigenous communities.
leticia public library
Public Library

Daily, Leticia offers a sight to highlight national level: The lifting and lowering of our tricolor flag, with the participation of the band of the Navy and the general public.

Tabatinga Safety Tips


Tabatinga is a Brazilian town next to Leticia but there are some events that actually occurs nearly every week. Yes, its kind of hard to say but is the "Killing".

This is not a joke and the reason why this events occurs are because the Amazon river is a drug highway where they send from Peru to Manaus and it brings too much murdering into the town.

Tabatinga is a crazy where there are not that many police officers watching the people so thats why a lot of the killings happens there. Once, I met a Hitman and he explained to me that if someone is going to get kill you have to wait them until the person gets into Tabatinga because its more difficult for a hitman to get caught.

This article is not to scare you but its a Survivor kit for Tabatinga, if you follow this steps you will not get kill.

Safety Tips:

  • Don't Fight: This is the first and basic rule. You never know if you will be fighting with a Hitman. People here if you are fighting them and they feel they are getting their ass whop, its easy to pull out a gun and shot you.
  • Be careful with the Ladies: There is something about Brazilians that are a little bit easy but sometimes this beautiful lady has a hitman or drug dealer boyfriend and it will be a nightmare for you (Yes, they will kill you).
  • Don't mess with drugs: Please don't act as a drug dealer because that's a free, easy and fast kill. People here are don't like competition and not even Gringos acting as Scarface's.
  • Don't chill around with people who works with drugs: People here fix their business killing so you never know if that day you are going out with a drug dealer is their last day. You will get kill too and for free.
  • Dont stay too late at night: People here drink too much; you never know whats going to happen, sometimes you are at a party and booom a big fight.
  • If its late take a Mototaxi: Remember safety first. Don't be I don't have money, I am a backpacker and i can walk to my hotel, I have to save money. 
  • Stay Away from TABU: Tabu its a low class killing night club. Stay far away from there.
As I say this is not to scare you or saying you cannot go to Tabatinga, its just a survivor kit. Tabatinga is lovely but if you start fucking around with drugs thats a free kill. 

NOTE: IN THE MOMENT, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY DEAD OR INJURED TOURIST IN TABATINGA. ITS PRETTY SAFE

domingo, 23 de septiembre de 2012

How to take the fast boat from Santa Rosa or Leticia to Iquitos


On this post I will guide you on how to take a fast boat from Santa Rosa (Peru) to Iquitos (Peru).


Remember fast boats have service from Tuesdays to Sundays (Not Mondays) and the price is 70 USD


Fast boats leave at 4:00 Am from Santa Rosa (Peru) so I recommend you to go early (Before 5:00 Pm from Benjamin or Leticia to Santa Rosa because at night its difficult to have a boat service - Remember the price is $3,000 pesos per person) and chill around or or go to a hostel and rest for a while.


viernes, 21 de septiembre de 2012

Tabatinga and Santa Rosa Visa


This question is pretty common around the travellers.

"Do I need visa to get into Tabatinga or Santa Rosa?"
The answer is NO, we live in an open boundary but only in the Tres Fronteras (Brasil, Colombia, Peru) area.  You can travel without any visa up to Benjamin Constan (Brasil) and Caballo Cocha (Peru).

If you are planning to go to Manaus you have to go to the Federal in Tabatinga to do your paper work and for Iquitos you have to go to Santa Rosa immigration center.

martes, 11 de septiembre de 2012

El Sabor Restaurant

If you have a small budget  and want a good meal, you should go to El Sabor which is located next to the Hyper Supermarket on Leticia's Downtown. Lunch and dinner are nearly $6,000 pesos but if you want to try fish this is the only low budget restaurant with different kinds every day.

Hippilandia floating house

hippilandia floating house hostel amazonas

If you want to have a good adventure in the Amazon, I will recommend this hotel which is a floating house in the Amazon river.

Its the only floating house by the Colombia Amazon basin that actually works as a hostel, the owner is Edier and if you want to book them this is his fb: http://www.facebook.com/hippilandia

Leticia - Bogota flight information


leticia amazonas air tickets flight information

Don’t miss your flight; in Leticia we only have two daily flights to Bogota which are LAN and Copa. We have a big problem in our city because these two airlines do whatever they want and this is something you must know “They resale tickets” so the best way to avoid that is to do the check in 2 hours before the flight.


These are the websites you can check the flight status.

Delays are common because of the Amazon weather so dont be upset if they pospone your flight 2 hours or up to 4 hours later in Leticia.

ARRIVE ONE HOUR AND A HALF TO THE AIRPORT BEFORE YOUR FLIGHT (MUST DO).

Colombian immigration exit stamp... MUST DO


This is something really important

If you arrive to Leticia from Bogota and leaving from Leticia to Iquitos or Manaos you need to do the exit from Colombia. This is something you cannot forget and you have to do it at the Colombian immigration office  in Leticia’s airport.


DON’T FORGET IT.