visitleticia

“Tres Fronteras (Portuguese: Três Fronteiras) is the Spanish name for an area of the Amazon Rainforest where the three nations of Brazil, Peru, and Colombia meet. The three cities Tabatinga, Leticia, and Santa Rosa are located in this part of the world, noted for its natural beauty.

Tres Fronteras should not be confused with the Triple Frontier, at the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.” (Wikipedia)

10. Must try Arepas and Empanadas from the street venders

9. Visit the friendship plaza at the border between Colombia and Brazil

8. Enjoy the typical food of Amazonas in the border

7. Go to the Yahuarcaca lakes

6. Go and chill at km #8’s little lake

5. Sunset at Blue moon restaurant with a chilled beer

4. Visit the Indian Communities at the kilometer #11

3. Visit the Leticia’s public Library and Museum “Del Hombre de la Amazónia”

2. Sunday breakfast at the local market in Tabatinga

1. Watch little green parrots arrive to Leticia’s main park in the afternoon (5pm)

Effective since 2004 US citizens require a tourist visa to enter Brazil. Tourist currently in Leticia can go to the Brazilian consulate, located behind the San Rafael’s city hospital.

The wait for the visa takes an average of 1day (2 days max) so plan ahead. The consulate is closed on weekends and holidays.

You have booked your guide and you are ready to go. The first thing you should make sure is to know the length of the trip in order to make proper food/ drink preparations.

When going to a jungle trip in the Amazon you should always:

1. Wear comfortable cotton clothes: long-sleeve shirts, pants (jeans or loose cargo pants) bring an extra shirt in case of excessive sweating and a poncho for the rain.
2. Boots!!!
3. Cap or a hat to protect yourself from the sun
4. Sunscreen, it will wear off after a few hours of sweating, therefore you need to reapply.
5. Mosquito repellent
6. Backpack: travel documents and camera inside a Ziploc bag
7. Bottles of water in case the tour guide forgets to bring some.
8. Snacks
9. Lantern (in case your bad guide forgets it)

Sometimes people wish to save some money in their trips by booking cheap tours; in that case you are better off not leaving Leticia or even your home. If you want to book an excellent trip, the best way to go is  by choosing a good tour guides and spending a little extra, better than finding yourself in a really bad situation in the middle of the jungle. First thing you should do, is always book a tour through an agency. Agencies have policies and standards that can help you when something goes wrong (overbooked hotels, broken boats, closed restaurants)

They always hire professionally highly trained and certified tourist guides.

If you encounter a guide that wants to sell his services to you, you should always ask for his Tour Guide (TG) certificate. If he doesn’t have it, ask him about his agency. Make sure he works at that agency.

This is what a good guide should offer:

• First Aid Kit
• Lantern
• Cooler with mineral water, fruits and snacks
• Garbage bag
• A uniform
• Good knowledge of the river, jungle and surroundings
• Should answer the majority of your questions.

• They should acknowledge what kind of tourist you are (adventurer, xtreme, basic sightseeing, hiking etc) and your age and physical capabilities.

If you are looking for a bilingual guide, that will be a little difficult, guides will speak some English but not dominate the language.

NOTE: There will guides that will offer you the world but you need to watch out for this guides (check out lonely planet) some will take you and steal from you or leave you stranded.

Get yourself a good guide and you will enjoy what the Amazon has to offer.

In Leticia go to a local drugstore and purchase the following:

1. One bottle of MENTICOL
2. One NO PIKEX soap
3. ALCANFOR (little balls)

Cut a piece of no. 2 and a few balls of no. 3 and place them inside the bottle of no.1. Close the bottle and shake it really hard, until it’s mixed. You can use as need it, or if you need to freshen up.

Another big problem is with Aradores ( little bugs that crawl up your legs) the best solution is to rub on your legs and particularly ankles and calves with Johnson’s baby oil. If they already are biting you, buy some alcohol and mix it with no. 3 and rub it on your legs. That will kill the little bugs!

NOTE: do NOT scratch the bugs…they will creep deeper inside your skin and that will take longer to kill them.