Leticia, Amazonas- At the Fringe of Civilization
Apr 15, 2017 23:34:05 GMT -5
scumbuster, caliconnection, and 3 more like this
Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2017 23:34:05 GMT -5
We've wanted to visit El Amazonas for a few years... and finally, my wife and I got our chance. While waiting in line to pay my car tax in San Nicolas Mall (Rionegro), I noticed a number of advertisements for package tours posted on the storefront of the “On Vacation” travel agency. “On Vacation” is a discount package tour operator in Colombia that arranges turn-key trips all over Colombia (and nearby countries, too.) I had my doubts, but I told my wife to hold our place in line while I went in and talked to one of the reps. As it turns out, “On Vacation” was offering 6 days and 5 nights at their own “Hotel Amazonas” (out in the jungle near the capital of Amazonas, Leticia) for 876,000 per person... airfare, 3 square meals per day and booze included. Not a bad deal, I thought even if the hotel is not at the level of a Decameron or Riu. In spite of my previous ordeal with another package tour operator in Colombia, I remained enthusiastic. We ended up booking the trip for March 25th – March 30th … the following week.
Originally, “On Vacation” tried to book us on one of their charter flights that arrives late at night or very early in the morning. I insisted that we get booked on a commercial flight, or there would be no deal. On the morning of March 25th we ended up on an Avianca flight from Rionegro to Bogota and then onward to Leticia. The distance between Rionegro (MDE) and Leticia (LET) is a little more than 800 miles. The flights went smoothly, and we arrived in Leticia at Alfredo Vasquez Cobo International Airport in the early afternoon after an hour and 40 minute ride from Bogota. The airport appears to be straight out of the 1970 “They Call Me Trinity” movie. Just 4 major airlines service Leticia... Avianca, LATAM, SATENA and VivaColombia. In short order our bags were on the belt. In the meantime, I paid our 30,000 peso entry free (similar to the fee paid when entering San Andres Island). An “On Vacation” rep was at the exit rounding up all the hotel guests on the flight. We boarded one of 3 taxis, and we were off to the rivers edge of the Amazon... less than 10 minutes away from the airport. The first thing that I noticed, there was hardly a 4-wheeled vehicle anywhere in the town. Moto-trikes and bicycles seemed to be the preferred mode of transportation. The other thing that struck me... Leticia, the capital of Amazonas, is not a city, but rather a large pueblo that could be explored in two days, or less, on foot. The heat in the mid-afternoon is stifling... just as I expected. Our little group of explorers was herded into an “almost” air conditioned building on the waterfront. We all broke out our DEET and OFF cans, and sprayed ourselves with repellent for the subsequent trip into the jungle.
Leticia is positioned at the point where the boundaries of Colombia, Brazil and Peru converge... the region is commonly known as “Tres Fronteras.” There is an open border between Leticia and the Brazilian town, Tabatinga. No passport, cedula or even driver's license is required to cross into Brazil. Most of Tabatinga is Zona Franca... with plenty of stores to purchase clothing, shoes, beauty products, food and confections at deeply discounted prices. (Places like this are always a hot button for my wife). Prior to this trip, I did not realize Leticia is cut off from the rest of Colombia. The nearest civilization is a couple of hundred miles away through the jungle. There are no roads from greater Colombia to Leticia. The only way in is either by air... or the Amazon River. Because of Leticia's autonomy and remoteness, it is an excellent port for smuggling contraband and other “stuff.”
Our lancha finally arrived at the landing (for lack of a better term). We were led across the street... and then made to walk the plank onto a lighter tied to the wharf. A 30 passenger lancha was alongside the makeshift dock. One by one, we boarded the boat, and then made way for our jungle lodging 45 minutes away on the border with Peru. We briefly headed down river, and entered Brazilian waters before heading up river. We passed by what appeared to be a post-World War II corvette anchored near the entrance to the port. The old ship definitely was not ex-US Navy. From the oddly-shaped crow's nest on top of the main mast, I would guess it was perhaps French or even British before its new life in a South American navy. The lancha, with its 100 HP Honda outboard, skimmed along the Amazon nicely. The owner/operator was chatting up his business with the passengers... offering tours of far-flung locations along the river. About half an hour into the voyage, the skeg of the motor started digging up mud. The skipper ordered everyone forward which remedied the problem. The remaining 10 minutes of our trip to the hotel was uneventful.
A welcoming committee was on the dock waiting for us. We were instructed to go eat first, and then take care of checking in. Someone mentioned that our luggage would be unloaded from the boat, and then delivered to our respective rooms once we checked in. We were reminded to attend the 6 O'clock Orientation meeting (a sales pitch) in the only air-conditioned room in the hotel. Neither my wife or I had planned on attending. The chow was terrible. I ended up eating a couple of cups of meatball soup which was at best edible. The bagre cakes served in the buffet line were as hard as hockey pucks... so I just stuck with the soup. One by one, we checked into our rooms... but “someone” forgot to move the bags from the dock to the hotel. So, we ended up returning to the docks, and retrieving our luggage on our own.
We found our room out in one of the outlying wood and thatch buildings in the jungle. We were definitely communing with the wild... loved it... but as one can imagine, repellent is a must out in the jungle. Luckily for me, the flying carnivores seemed to be more attracted to my wife's sweet flesh rather than mine. Our room was spacious with a loft. Plenty of beds in this unit... including two king-sized beds with mosquito bedding on the main floor... and two smaller full-sized beds in the loft. Plenty of room for a family. The room included an older model flat screen TV, mini-fridge and a phone to call the front desk. The bathroom consisted of a wash area and shower room. No hot water shower, but then again, the 90+ degree temperature keeps the water pretty warm. There is very little potable water in the hotel. If you need water for brushing teeth, or taking a pill, 300 ml bottles of purified water are available in the mini-mart for 3000 pesos. Drinkable water is available in the dining pavilion during meal times. As one would expect, all sorts of flying and crawling critters infiltrate the lodging areas of the hotel... that includes chocolate bar-sized cockroaches. As we moved our bags into our room, we bumped into one of my Clinica Somer doctors' assistant... it's a small world after all! She had arrived a few days earlier with her family from Rionegro. Our room was hot, but tolerable. The single fan kept us from sweating too much. Room air conditioners are centrally controlled, and are on only from 8:00 pm until 4:00 am. Around 5:30 pm, the power went off in our room... as well as throughout the rest of the hotel. We laughed, and said it probably was a ploy by management to get everyone out of the rooms, and into the 6:00 pm meeting. Emergency power was available in only a few parts of the hotel like the kitchen, reception, dining pavilion and the “air conditioned” meeting room. We by-passed the meeting, and sat down at the bar for a couple of cold drinks. It was rapidly approaching 8:00 O'clock, and still no power. No one on staff could tell us why there was no power... or when we could expect it back. Finally, we approached one of the maintenance men. He told us that one of the wooden posts supporting the main bus providing power to the hotel had rotted and fell into the swamp. At 8 O'Clock we got a ringside seat in the dining pavilion for the Show de Garotas. The hotel had hired a troupe of Brazilian dancers to provide the evening's entertainment. Dressed in Amazonian ceremonial and gaucho dress, the young women (and a couple of men) put on a spectacular show (under emergency lighting) that more than made up for the crappy conditions at the hotel.
The following morning, I told my wife, “We gotta get out of this place!” Without sharing any trade secrets, I was able to get my wife and I on a lancha back to Leticia by the afternoon. The hotel's customer service manager, a gracious young lady originally from Bogota, accompanied us. She put us up in an affiliate hotel for the night, and helped us find other suitable accomodations the following morning. As it turns out, we made a new friend in Carolina, the customer service rep. We originally had our eye on the Decameron. We checked it out, liked what we saw, but alas, the Decameron was booked solid. Our next stop was a small “Mom and Pop” hotel at the intersection of Cl 10 & Cra 8, Zuruma Hotel. The place is a small boutique hotel with 12 newly-renovated aparto-studios. The rooms are new and immaculately clean. We paid 150,000 pesos per night for 3 nights... American breakfast included. The hotel has a small pool in the center of its courtyard, as well as an outdoor dining and lounge area. The owners and staff are most accomodating. The other guests who stayed at the hotel included a Colombian scientific team for the study of Zika, a team of Peruvian customs agents, a furtive American who was working with the Peruvians, and a wealthy businessman. There were also several itinerant guests (young ladies) who came and went. We enjoyed our stay at this cool little hotel and plan on returning to Zuruma on our next trip to Leticia.
During our remaining 3 days in Amazonas, we took time to explore Leticia and neighboring Tabatinga. There are various river tours to choose from... where you can either book with a group or hire a personal lancha. Most of the lancha tours will take up most of the day... and in some cases, an overnight stay. There are various destinations to choose from including Puerto Alegre in Peru, Puerto Narino (about 2 hours upriver from Leticia) and Isla Micos (habitat for various species of monkeys). Amazonas is a haven for nature lovers, birdwatchers, eco nuts, scientists, anthropologists, back packers and hippies from all over the world. And of course, there are always a few nutty pensionados (like me) who visit Leticia.
So, based upon my 5 days in Leticia/Amazonas...
PLACES TO SEE/ THINGS TO DO:
1. Parque Santander (aka Parque de Loros)- This is the main park of Leticia. A small cathedral is located at the north end of the park, government and military buildings to the east and south... and Colombian Army barracks to the west. It is also called Parque de Loros (Parrot Park) because thousands of parrots gather in the trees just before dusk. The roar of the collective squawking is deafening... and the smell can be overpowering. As quickly as the parrots arrive... they disappear. Here at the park, you will find district headquarters and/or barracks for the Colombian Coast Guard, Armada Nacional (Special Forces), Marine Corps, the Colombian Army, Policia Nacional the Governor's Residence, Departmental Assembly of Amazonas, and Amazonas administration building and the Central Bank of Amazonas.
2. Centro Leticia- Nothing is too far in Leticia... Centro is a few blocks from Parque Santander. Here you will find the main shopping district along with a number of good restaurants and panaderias. (Colombian bread and pastries made at lower altitudes is to die for...) We hit a home run at Tierra Amazonica... an excellent restaurant that specializes in local fish and ceviches. While you're waiting for your drinks and appetizers, enjoy the local artwork in the restaurant. Another great place to snack inbetween meals is Panaderia El Mana down the block from Parque Santander next to the Asemblia and Bancolombia. Here you will find outstanding pasteles, pan de quesos, croissants, bread and calientados. It's the place where you “go to be seen” and rub elbows with Amazona's politicians. El Mana is owned by a paisa transplant from Marinilla, Antioquia. Gloria moved to Leticia 2 years ago along with her husband and family... and now has become one of the most popular panaderias in Leticia.
3. Biblioteca y Museo Etnografico de Leticia- Good things come in small packages. Although the library is not very extensive, the Ethnographical Museum is well worth an hour or two. Inside, the museum is a comprehensive display of Amazonian dress, weapons, musical instruments, art and ceremony. Outside the west wing of the building, is a garden, overlooking the Amazon, with a series of storyboards depicting the history of the migrations and growth of Amazonas. Originally discovered by the Peruvians, who named the settlement San Antonio, was later named Leticia in the 19th Century. The region has been a source of contention between Colombia and Peru up through the middle of the 20th Century.
4. Malecon- The malecon follows the waterfront of the northern shore of the Amazon River in Leticia. The boardwalk enables you to get up close to the Amazon River. Along the way, you will find vendors selling food and lanchas available for river tours.
5. Puerto Narino- A small isolated settlement on the Amazon devoid of motorized transportation and maintained in a primitive, pristine state. Nonetheless, Puerto Narino welcomes tourists from all over the world. Be careful when a Narinonino offers you an organic beverage... it may very well be a hallucionogen.
6. Tabatinga- Tabatinga is the “Twin City of Leticia” in Brazil. An unguarded border between Colombia and Brazil at the intersection of Cra 6 and Cl 3 provides easy access to inexpensive duty free shopping in Zona Franca. Tabatinga is worth at least one afternoon of browsing various stores and outlets. Also, Tres Fronteiras is highly recommended for excellent Brazilian steak. 14,000 pesos will get you roundtrip transport from Leticia to Tabatinga on a “Tuk Tuk.”
THE LAY OF THE LAND:
1. Leticia is unlike the rest of Colombia. For one, it is isolated from the rest of the country. Many goods must be “imported” from other parts of Colombia. The added expense of transport drives up the prices of many common items that cannot be produced locally. For instance, soft drinks. Rather than import Postobon and other sodas, Leticia founded its own Bottling company, “Gaseosas Leticia,” which produces a majority of soft drink products consumed in Amazonas... including the ubiquitous Guanana soda. Because of the added expense of transport, DIAN does not collect IVA in Leticia.
2. The Department of Amazonas has a relatively small population (74,000)... about the size of a larger barrio in Medellin or Bogota. Leticia with a population of 32,000 is the capital city... but is a city in name only... and more like a small town. You get the feeling that everyone knows each other... and they probably do.
3. I was told Leticia is second only to Cartagena in tourism. I haven't fact-checked this, but I did see a lot of tourists down there. There were a lot of tourists from Colombia as well as the rest of the world... including Asians and Eastern Europeans. Fishing and agriculture (legal and illegal) round out the rest of the economy.
4. Weather- If you do not like hot and humid, Leticia is not for you.
5. Banking- Bancolombia has a major office next to the Asemblia building. Other banks like BBVA have small sucursals if not at least an ATM. ATMs are not as ubiquitous as in larger cities.
6. A homogenous/one-story capital city- Upon arriving in Leticia, one may get the distinct impression Leticia is a distressed area in need of redevelopment. It's interesting, because when you start exploring the calles and carreras, you begin to realize that there is no rhyme or reason to the layout of Leticia. Other than the handful of 2 or 3 story government buildings in Parque de Loros or commercial buildings in Centro, virtually all other buildings and residences are single story. The other interesting observation, there seems to be only one homogenous estrato in the entire municipality. There are no mansions or ostentatious homes in Leticia. You can walk down any street and find a nicely kept single family house next to a ramshackle shed that serves as a family home. Walk a little further, and you will see the remanants of a foundation or a vacant lot. It's all very odd... but it may be so by design. Ostentatious does not seem to be in the Letician vocabulary.
7. Medical Care- Leticia has one hospital and one clinic with limited capabilities. The general consensus is if you have a seriously chronic medical condition, Leticia may not be for you. Patients requiring heavy duty treatment or medical care are flown to Bogota or other cities with the capabilities to do sophisticated treatments or operations.
SECURITY:
Leticia enjoys a reputation of being a safe and secure place to live or visit. According to what we were told, there is very little crime in Leticia worth mentioning. At first, we wondered was it the heavy presence of the military and other security forces in the city. My wife and I started asking around... including people on the street, shop owners and even a police officer. Everyone with whom we spoke offered a different piece of the puzzle. What we were collectively told is that the heavy presence of security forces in a relatively small municipality helps, but there are other reasons unknown to the average visitor. First of all, the business community maintains a secret vigilante force that keeps a watchful eye on things. No one really knows who or where they are, until their services are required. The vigilantes deal with the culprit so that the culprit will never commit a crime again. A pharmacy owner explained that Leticia has no prison or jail to speak of... so vigilante justice is the order of the day. He explained that there has only been one bank robbery in the modern history of Leticia. The vigilantes caught the robbers (who were from outside Amazonas), and then executed them in the jungle. According to the cop, the remote geography is a deterrent to crime. If someone commits a crime, there are no roads out of Leticia. The only way to escape is by plane or boat... making it very difficult for the bad guy to get away. The other thing I noticed, there are very, very few beggars or panhandlers on the streets of Leticia. During my 5 days in Leticia, I only saw 2 of them.
In spite of the relative safety and good security in Leticia, that was not the case at our hotel, Amazonas, situated 45 minutes from Leticia on the Amazon. According to an employee, the hotel employs a private security force to ward off river pirates from Peru.
THE PEOPLE:
As one would expect, a majority of Leticians are Amerindians... native to the Amazon region. However, I was surprised that Leticia has a large population of “immigrants” from other parts of Colombia... most notably from Bogota. From what I've read, a sizeable number of Bogotanos migrated to Leticia during the 50s and 60s. Colombians from other departments, including Antioquia, migrated to Amazonas in smaller numbers.
If I can generalize, the Leticians seem more “chilled and collected” than the Colombians I am used to in “Greater Medellin” and other regions with which I am familiar. They also seem more alert and focused. The Leticians appear to stay below the radar... and don't like to show off their wealth or status like people do in other parts of Colombia. Perhaps, there is a reason for this, too.
Another observation, I did not see too many Leticians who appeared to be “dirt poor.”
TRANSPORTATION:
Alfredo Vasquez Cobo Airport is outdated, but the construction of a new terminal center is on-going just across the street. Air transport and boat are the only options for arriving or leaving the capital of Amazonas. Because of the close proximity to Brazil and Peru, and the porous border, cursory immigration checks are conducted by the airport security force upon departure.
There are only a handful of privately owned vehicles in Leticia, Moto-trikes seem to be the preferred mode of transportation. Moto-trikes taxis are readily available and very inexpensive... most destinations inside Leticia are a 3000 peso fare. A trip to or from the airport (about a 10 minute ride) costs 10,000 pesos. And yes, there are a handful of normal-sized yellow taxis that exclusively service airport passengers at peak times.
My usual disclaimer, if anyone lives or is familiar with Amazonas, please feel free to correct or clarify anything I've written.
Originally, “On Vacation” tried to book us on one of their charter flights that arrives late at night or very early in the morning. I insisted that we get booked on a commercial flight, or there would be no deal. On the morning of March 25th we ended up on an Avianca flight from Rionegro to Bogota and then onward to Leticia. The distance between Rionegro (MDE) and Leticia (LET) is a little more than 800 miles. The flights went smoothly, and we arrived in Leticia at Alfredo Vasquez Cobo International Airport in the early afternoon after an hour and 40 minute ride from Bogota. The airport appears to be straight out of the 1970 “They Call Me Trinity” movie. Just 4 major airlines service Leticia... Avianca, LATAM, SATENA and VivaColombia. In short order our bags were on the belt. In the meantime, I paid our 30,000 peso entry free (similar to the fee paid when entering San Andres Island). An “On Vacation” rep was at the exit rounding up all the hotel guests on the flight. We boarded one of 3 taxis, and we were off to the rivers edge of the Amazon... less than 10 minutes away from the airport. The first thing that I noticed, there was hardly a 4-wheeled vehicle anywhere in the town. Moto-trikes and bicycles seemed to be the preferred mode of transportation. The other thing that struck me... Leticia, the capital of Amazonas, is not a city, but rather a large pueblo that could be explored in two days, or less, on foot. The heat in the mid-afternoon is stifling... just as I expected. Our little group of explorers was herded into an “almost” air conditioned building on the waterfront. We all broke out our DEET and OFF cans, and sprayed ourselves with repellent for the subsequent trip into the jungle.
Leticia is positioned at the point where the boundaries of Colombia, Brazil and Peru converge... the region is commonly known as “Tres Fronteras.” There is an open border between Leticia and the Brazilian town, Tabatinga. No passport, cedula or even driver's license is required to cross into Brazil. Most of Tabatinga is Zona Franca... with plenty of stores to purchase clothing, shoes, beauty products, food and confections at deeply discounted prices. (Places like this are always a hot button for my wife). Prior to this trip, I did not realize Leticia is cut off from the rest of Colombia. The nearest civilization is a couple of hundred miles away through the jungle. There are no roads from greater Colombia to Leticia. The only way in is either by air... or the Amazon River. Because of Leticia's autonomy and remoteness, it is an excellent port for smuggling contraband and other “stuff.”
Our lancha finally arrived at the landing (for lack of a better term). We were led across the street... and then made to walk the plank onto a lighter tied to the wharf. A 30 passenger lancha was alongside the makeshift dock. One by one, we boarded the boat, and then made way for our jungle lodging 45 minutes away on the border with Peru. We briefly headed down river, and entered Brazilian waters before heading up river. We passed by what appeared to be a post-World War II corvette anchored near the entrance to the port. The old ship definitely was not ex-US Navy. From the oddly-shaped crow's nest on top of the main mast, I would guess it was perhaps French or even British before its new life in a South American navy. The lancha, with its 100 HP Honda outboard, skimmed along the Amazon nicely. The owner/operator was chatting up his business with the passengers... offering tours of far-flung locations along the river. About half an hour into the voyage, the skeg of the motor started digging up mud. The skipper ordered everyone forward which remedied the problem. The remaining 10 minutes of our trip to the hotel was uneventful.
A welcoming committee was on the dock waiting for us. We were instructed to go eat first, and then take care of checking in. Someone mentioned that our luggage would be unloaded from the boat, and then delivered to our respective rooms once we checked in. We were reminded to attend the 6 O'clock Orientation meeting (a sales pitch) in the only air-conditioned room in the hotel. Neither my wife or I had planned on attending. The chow was terrible. I ended up eating a couple of cups of meatball soup which was at best edible. The bagre cakes served in the buffet line were as hard as hockey pucks... so I just stuck with the soup. One by one, we checked into our rooms... but “someone” forgot to move the bags from the dock to the hotel. So, we ended up returning to the docks, and retrieving our luggage on our own.
We found our room out in one of the outlying wood and thatch buildings in the jungle. We were definitely communing with the wild... loved it... but as one can imagine, repellent is a must out in the jungle. Luckily for me, the flying carnivores seemed to be more attracted to my wife's sweet flesh rather than mine. Our room was spacious with a loft. Plenty of beds in this unit... including two king-sized beds with mosquito bedding on the main floor... and two smaller full-sized beds in the loft. Plenty of room for a family. The room included an older model flat screen TV, mini-fridge and a phone to call the front desk. The bathroom consisted of a wash area and shower room. No hot water shower, but then again, the 90+ degree temperature keeps the water pretty warm. There is very little potable water in the hotel. If you need water for brushing teeth, or taking a pill, 300 ml bottles of purified water are available in the mini-mart for 3000 pesos. Drinkable water is available in the dining pavilion during meal times. As one would expect, all sorts of flying and crawling critters infiltrate the lodging areas of the hotel... that includes chocolate bar-sized cockroaches. As we moved our bags into our room, we bumped into one of my Clinica Somer doctors' assistant... it's a small world after all! She had arrived a few days earlier with her family from Rionegro. Our room was hot, but tolerable. The single fan kept us from sweating too much. Room air conditioners are centrally controlled, and are on only from 8:00 pm until 4:00 am. Around 5:30 pm, the power went off in our room... as well as throughout the rest of the hotel. We laughed, and said it probably was a ploy by management to get everyone out of the rooms, and into the 6:00 pm meeting. Emergency power was available in only a few parts of the hotel like the kitchen, reception, dining pavilion and the “air conditioned” meeting room. We by-passed the meeting, and sat down at the bar for a couple of cold drinks. It was rapidly approaching 8:00 O'clock, and still no power. No one on staff could tell us why there was no power... or when we could expect it back. Finally, we approached one of the maintenance men. He told us that one of the wooden posts supporting the main bus providing power to the hotel had rotted and fell into the swamp. At 8 O'Clock we got a ringside seat in the dining pavilion for the Show de Garotas. The hotel had hired a troupe of Brazilian dancers to provide the evening's entertainment. Dressed in Amazonian ceremonial and gaucho dress, the young women (and a couple of men) put on a spectacular show (under emergency lighting) that more than made up for the crappy conditions at the hotel.
The following morning, I told my wife, “We gotta get out of this place!” Without sharing any trade secrets, I was able to get my wife and I on a lancha back to Leticia by the afternoon. The hotel's customer service manager, a gracious young lady originally from Bogota, accompanied us. She put us up in an affiliate hotel for the night, and helped us find other suitable accomodations the following morning. As it turns out, we made a new friend in Carolina, the customer service rep. We originally had our eye on the Decameron. We checked it out, liked what we saw, but alas, the Decameron was booked solid. Our next stop was a small “Mom and Pop” hotel at the intersection of Cl 10 & Cra 8, Zuruma Hotel. The place is a small boutique hotel with 12 newly-renovated aparto-studios. The rooms are new and immaculately clean. We paid 150,000 pesos per night for 3 nights... American breakfast included. The hotel has a small pool in the center of its courtyard, as well as an outdoor dining and lounge area. The owners and staff are most accomodating. The other guests who stayed at the hotel included a Colombian scientific team for the study of Zika, a team of Peruvian customs agents, a furtive American who was working with the Peruvians, and a wealthy businessman. There were also several itinerant guests (young ladies) who came and went. We enjoyed our stay at this cool little hotel and plan on returning to Zuruma on our next trip to Leticia.
During our remaining 3 days in Amazonas, we took time to explore Leticia and neighboring Tabatinga. There are various river tours to choose from... where you can either book with a group or hire a personal lancha. Most of the lancha tours will take up most of the day... and in some cases, an overnight stay. There are various destinations to choose from including Puerto Alegre in Peru, Puerto Narino (about 2 hours upriver from Leticia) and Isla Micos (habitat for various species of monkeys). Amazonas is a haven for nature lovers, birdwatchers, eco nuts, scientists, anthropologists, back packers and hippies from all over the world. And of course, there are always a few nutty pensionados (like me) who visit Leticia.
So, based upon my 5 days in Leticia/Amazonas...
PLACES TO SEE/ THINGS TO DO:
1. Parque Santander (aka Parque de Loros)- This is the main park of Leticia. A small cathedral is located at the north end of the park, government and military buildings to the east and south... and Colombian Army barracks to the west. It is also called Parque de Loros (Parrot Park) because thousands of parrots gather in the trees just before dusk. The roar of the collective squawking is deafening... and the smell can be overpowering. As quickly as the parrots arrive... they disappear. Here at the park, you will find district headquarters and/or barracks for the Colombian Coast Guard, Armada Nacional (Special Forces), Marine Corps, the Colombian Army, Policia Nacional the Governor's Residence, Departmental Assembly of Amazonas, and Amazonas administration building and the Central Bank of Amazonas.
2. Centro Leticia- Nothing is too far in Leticia... Centro is a few blocks from Parque Santander. Here you will find the main shopping district along with a number of good restaurants and panaderias. (Colombian bread and pastries made at lower altitudes is to die for...) We hit a home run at Tierra Amazonica... an excellent restaurant that specializes in local fish and ceviches. While you're waiting for your drinks and appetizers, enjoy the local artwork in the restaurant. Another great place to snack inbetween meals is Panaderia El Mana down the block from Parque Santander next to the Asemblia and Bancolombia. Here you will find outstanding pasteles, pan de quesos, croissants, bread and calientados. It's the place where you “go to be seen” and rub elbows with Amazona's politicians. El Mana is owned by a paisa transplant from Marinilla, Antioquia. Gloria moved to Leticia 2 years ago along with her husband and family... and now has become one of the most popular panaderias in Leticia.
3. Biblioteca y Museo Etnografico de Leticia- Good things come in small packages. Although the library is not very extensive, the Ethnographical Museum is well worth an hour or two. Inside, the museum is a comprehensive display of Amazonian dress, weapons, musical instruments, art and ceremony. Outside the west wing of the building, is a garden, overlooking the Amazon, with a series of storyboards depicting the history of the migrations and growth of Amazonas. Originally discovered by the Peruvians, who named the settlement San Antonio, was later named Leticia in the 19th Century. The region has been a source of contention between Colombia and Peru up through the middle of the 20th Century.
4. Malecon- The malecon follows the waterfront of the northern shore of the Amazon River in Leticia. The boardwalk enables you to get up close to the Amazon River. Along the way, you will find vendors selling food and lanchas available for river tours.
5. Puerto Narino- A small isolated settlement on the Amazon devoid of motorized transportation and maintained in a primitive, pristine state. Nonetheless, Puerto Narino welcomes tourists from all over the world. Be careful when a Narinonino offers you an organic beverage... it may very well be a hallucionogen.
6. Tabatinga- Tabatinga is the “Twin City of Leticia” in Brazil. An unguarded border between Colombia and Brazil at the intersection of Cra 6 and Cl 3 provides easy access to inexpensive duty free shopping in Zona Franca. Tabatinga is worth at least one afternoon of browsing various stores and outlets. Also, Tres Fronteiras is highly recommended for excellent Brazilian steak. 14,000 pesos will get you roundtrip transport from Leticia to Tabatinga on a “Tuk Tuk.”
THE LAY OF THE LAND:
1. Leticia is unlike the rest of Colombia. For one, it is isolated from the rest of the country. Many goods must be “imported” from other parts of Colombia. The added expense of transport drives up the prices of many common items that cannot be produced locally. For instance, soft drinks. Rather than import Postobon and other sodas, Leticia founded its own Bottling company, “Gaseosas Leticia,” which produces a majority of soft drink products consumed in Amazonas... including the ubiquitous Guanana soda. Because of the added expense of transport, DIAN does not collect IVA in Leticia.
2. The Department of Amazonas has a relatively small population (74,000)... about the size of a larger barrio in Medellin or Bogota. Leticia with a population of 32,000 is the capital city... but is a city in name only... and more like a small town. You get the feeling that everyone knows each other... and they probably do.
3. I was told Leticia is second only to Cartagena in tourism. I haven't fact-checked this, but I did see a lot of tourists down there. There were a lot of tourists from Colombia as well as the rest of the world... including Asians and Eastern Europeans. Fishing and agriculture (legal and illegal) round out the rest of the economy.
4. Weather- If you do not like hot and humid, Leticia is not for you.
5. Banking- Bancolombia has a major office next to the Asemblia building. Other banks like BBVA have small sucursals if not at least an ATM. ATMs are not as ubiquitous as in larger cities.
6. A homogenous/one-story capital city- Upon arriving in Leticia, one may get the distinct impression Leticia is a distressed area in need of redevelopment. It's interesting, because when you start exploring the calles and carreras, you begin to realize that there is no rhyme or reason to the layout of Leticia. Other than the handful of 2 or 3 story government buildings in Parque de Loros or commercial buildings in Centro, virtually all other buildings and residences are single story. The other interesting observation, there seems to be only one homogenous estrato in the entire municipality. There are no mansions or ostentatious homes in Leticia. You can walk down any street and find a nicely kept single family house next to a ramshackle shed that serves as a family home. Walk a little further, and you will see the remanants of a foundation or a vacant lot. It's all very odd... but it may be so by design. Ostentatious does not seem to be in the Letician vocabulary.
7. Medical Care- Leticia has one hospital and one clinic with limited capabilities. The general consensus is if you have a seriously chronic medical condition, Leticia may not be for you. Patients requiring heavy duty treatment or medical care are flown to Bogota or other cities with the capabilities to do sophisticated treatments or operations.
SECURITY:
Leticia enjoys a reputation of being a safe and secure place to live or visit. According to what we were told, there is very little crime in Leticia worth mentioning. At first, we wondered was it the heavy presence of the military and other security forces in the city. My wife and I started asking around... including people on the street, shop owners and even a police officer. Everyone with whom we spoke offered a different piece of the puzzle. What we were collectively told is that the heavy presence of security forces in a relatively small municipality helps, but there are other reasons unknown to the average visitor. First of all, the business community maintains a secret vigilante force that keeps a watchful eye on things. No one really knows who or where they are, until their services are required. The vigilantes deal with the culprit so that the culprit will never commit a crime again. A pharmacy owner explained that Leticia has no prison or jail to speak of... so vigilante justice is the order of the day. He explained that there has only been one bank robbery in the modern history of Leticia. The vigilantes caught the robbers (who were from outside Amazonas), and then executed them in the jungle. According to the cop, the remote geography is a deterrent to crime. If someone commits a crime, there are no roads out of Leticia. The only way to escape is by plane or boat... making it very difficult for the bad guy to get away. The other thing I noticed, there are very, very few beggars or panhandlers on the streets of Leticia. During my 5 days in Leticia, I only saw 2 of them.
In spite of the relative safety and good security in Leticia, that was not the case at our hotel, Amazonas, situated 45 minutes from Leticia on the Amazon. According to an employee, the hotel employs a private security force to ward off river pirates from Peru.
THE PEOPLE:
As one would expect, a majority of Leticians are Amerindians... native to the Amazon region. However, I was surprised that Leticia has a large population of “immigrants” from other parts of Colombia... most notably from Bogota. From what I've read, a sizeable number of Bogotanos migrated to Leticia during the 50s and 60s. Colombians from other departments, including Antioquia, migrated to Amazonas in smaller numbers.
If I can generalize, the Leticians seem more “chilled and collected” than the Colombians I am used to in “Greater Medellin” and other regions with which I am familiar. They also seem more alert and focused. The Leticians appear to stay below the radar... and don't like to show off their wealth or status like people do in other parts of Colombia. Perhaps, there is a reason for this, too.
Another observation, I did not see too many Leticians who appeared to be “dirt poor.”
TRANSPORTATION:
Alfredo Vasquez Cobo Airport is outdated, but the construction of a new terminal center is on-going just across the street. Air transport and boat are the only options for arriving or leaving the capital of Amazonas. Because of the close proximity to Brazil and Peru, and the porous border, cursory immigration checks are conducted by the airport security force upon departure.
There are only a handful of privately owned vehicles in Leticia, Moto-trikes seem to be the preferred mode of transportation. Moto-trikes taxis are readily available and very inexpensive... most destinations inside Leticia are a 3000 peso fare. A trip to or from the airport (about a 10 minute ride) costs 10,000 pesos. And yes, there are a handful of normal-sized yellow taxis that exclusively service airport passengers at peak times.
My usual disclaimer, if anyone lives or is familiar with Amazonas, please feel free to correct or clarify anything I've written.