Day 20: Armenia --> Leticia (and beyond), Colombia
Going to the jungle day...
Early wake up before 6am to get to airport in Armenia so we could fly to Bogota for quick layover before flying to Leticia in the Amazonas of Colombia. The staff at Hacienda Bambusa really wanted to make us breakfast and pack juices and coffee for our early ride. We just asked multiple times for something simple like ham & cheese sandwiches. Those turned out perfect at the airport while waiting for the first flight.
We then boarded flight to Leticia. Looking down from 5-15k feet as we neared the town, all you can see are clouds, rainbows, and trees. The landscape in all directions is trees. I also saw some rivers that are tributaries to the big one. Welcome to the jungle.
Ramiro picked us up. We got quick tour of town heading to our speedboat that would soon take us 56k up the Amazon to where we planned to stay for 3 nights. It's about 1.5 hours upriver.
When we first got on the boat we were told the tiny island across the water is Isla de La Fantasia. You can walk over to island close to where we were at the end of dry season. They river has risen 7-8 meters so crossing on foot isn't possible until several months from now. We went about 600M down this side area in Leticia that move their houseboats/docks up and down by season - 15 meters low to high so that you can get on a boat to go up or down the Amazon. We were next to Brazilian town Tabatinga and also an island called Santa Rosa between Colombia, Brazil, Peru (it belongs to Peru). On other side of island the Amazon is wider than the mass we could see but we were officially on the Amazon. In this region you can move freely between the 3 countries for about 100 kilometers up or down the Amazon river.
Araza (Brazilian) fruit juice served as we got to check in at Calanoa and reviewed our planned tours. We had a huge dump of rain come down for 20 minutes. Luckily for us that didn't happen as we came up the river and sat in the dining hut that was covered.
We were shown our accommodations which is a nice hut named araza (fruit mentioned above) with screens everywhere plus a bed with netting entirely surrounding it. Downstairs under bedroom was a shower and toilet. Just one dial on the shower - cold. Refreshing...
We got situated and took some photos. We learned that the view across the Amazon from our hut in Colombia was 7k. We also learned the mouth down at the end can be about 35k across. We started watching Somm II on Jill's tablet and a new rainstorm came down with such loud drops and volume that we couldn't hear the video and just paused it for a while until the storm blew over.
We got part way through before heading to dinner. We were the only new arrivals today so we learned some things such as the bug nets work well, Deet does not play well with any plastics, and that you will get bites no matter what plus other tips.
It was raining during dinner but let up part way through. So our evening walk in the jungle was not skippable. We walked for just under an hour looking at various creatures that come out at night as well as listening to all of the sounds. It was an interesting start.
Early wake up before 6am to get to airport in Armenia so we could fly to Bogota for quick layover before flying to Leticia in the Amazonas of Colombia. The staff at Hacienda Bambusa really wanted to make us breakfast and pack juices and coffee for our early ride. We just asked multiple times for something simple like ham & cheese sandwiches. Those turned out perfect at the airport while waiting for the first flight.
We then boarded flight to Leticia. Looking down from 5-15k feet as we neared the town, all you can see are clouds, rainbows, and trees. The landscape in all directions is trees. I also saw some rivers that are tributaries to the big one. Welcome to the jungle.
Ramiro picked us up. We got quick tour of town heading to our speedboat that would soon take us 56k up the Amazon to where we planned to stay for 3 nights. It's about 1.5 hours upriver.
Araza (Brazilian) fruit juice served as we got to check in at Calanoa and reviewed our planned tours. We had a huge dump of rain come down for 20 minutes. Luckily for us that didn't happen as we came up the river and sat in the dining hut that was covered.
We were shown our accommodations which is a nice hut named araza (fruit mentioned above) with screens everywhere plus a bed with netting entirely surrounding it. Downstairs under bedroom was a shower and toilet. Just one dial on the shower - cold. Refreshing...
We got situated and took some photos. We learned that the view across the Amazon from our hut in Colombia was 7k. We also learned the mouth down at the end can be about 35k across. We started watching Somm II on Jill's tablet and a new rainstorm came down with such loud drops and volume that we couldn't hear the video and just paused it for a while until the storm blew over.
We got part way through before heading to dinner. We were the only new arrivals today so we learned some things such as the bug nets work well, Deet does not play well with any plastics, and that you will get bites no matter what plus other tips.
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| Tarantula |