This enormous tropical jungle plain rich in water, rivers, lagoons and swamps is located southern Colombia, along the borders of Brazil and Peru.

Leticia, the capital of the Colombian Amazon, has 25 thousand inhabitants and is located on the banks of the great Amazon River, a 2-hour flight from Bogotá, the nation’s capital.  It is the region’s only large city and many of its inhabitants are originally from other Colombian inland regions or, more commonly, indigenous people from the surrounding Huitoto, Yagua, Tucano, Ticuna, Camá and Inga tribes.  Leticia is close to the neighboring city of Tabatinga on the Brazilian border and the Peruvian border as well.

It is difficult to access much of the Amazon Region because of the thick jungle and a lack of adequate roads or footpaths, but near Leticia there are a number of beautiful sites rich in natural beauty such as the Amacayacu National Park whose name means “river of hammocks” in the Quechua language.  This park is 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Leticia.

The entire region is a huge nature reserve with abundant flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world and there are several national parks such as Amacayacu, the Chuinari and La Paya and places of interest such as the Isla de los Micos (Monkey Island).

In the Amacayacu National Park alone there are over 150 species of mammals such as the pink dolphin (unique to the Amazon and Orinoquia Rivers), the danta, jaguars, manatees, and otters.  There are also all kinds of reptiles, snakes, spiders, ants, batrachians and insects.  There are also amazing fish such as the piracuru and piranas in the Amazon River and in the swamps and marshes and infinite streams that wind through the jungle vegetation

The Amazon River as it rolls past Leticia is so vast that it is often difficult to see the other shore.  The river landscapes -- islands, countless tributaries and ancient riverbeds – make up a huge fresh water ocean surrounded by the immense Amazon jungle.

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Monkey Island, Amacayacu National Park, Leticia Botanic Gardens and Zoo, Amazon Ethnographic Museum of Man, Santander and Orellana Parks, Yabarí River, Lake Tarapoto.

Yellow fever vaccination is required at least ten days before traveling.

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