Leticia (Amazon Tri-border)

An Amazon river port where Colombia, Brazil and Peru meet, with boat trips to see pink river dolphins, parrots returning to roost at dusk and indigenous villages.

Leticia, capital of Colombia's Amazonas Department, sits on the north bank of the Amazon at the country's southernmost tip. It merges seamlessly with the Brazilian town of Tabatinga and faces Peru's Santa Rosa Island across the river, forming the famous "Tri-border". The city has about 50,000 people and no road connection to the rest of Colombia, so it can only be reached by plane (about 2 hours direct from Bogotá) or by boat. Everything revolves around the Amazon River: in town you can watch parrots return to roost at dusk in Parque Santander and visit the Ethnographic Museum, walk across the border to Tabatinga in Brazil and take a small boat to Santa Rosa in Peru, covering three countries in a day. Along the road north of town are the Tanimboca canopy zip lines and the Mundo Amazónico eco-park. About 30 km upriver is Monkey Island, and 60–75 km away are the indigenous communities around Amacayacu National Park and the car-free eco-village of Puerto Nariño; nearby Lake Tarapoto is the best place to see pink Amazon river dolphins, and spending 1–2 nights in Puerto Nariño is recommended. The climate is hot and humid year-round, at 25–32°C. Jul–Oct is the low-water season, good for rainforest hikes; Dec–May is the high-water season, when you can go by boat deep into the flooded forest. Visitors to Amazonas Department must pay a tourist card fee (at the airport), need a yellow fever vaccination (ideally at least 10 days before departure) and should take precautions against mosquitoes. Going deeper into Brazil or Peru requires formal immigration procedures, but brief visits within the tri-border towns usually do not. Plan on 4–5 days. There are ATMs in town, but communities and boats mostly accept cash only.

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