4,5 days 3 nights in Colombian Amazonia with Amazonas Jungle Tours: Reviews, Budget & Activities

We take advantage of our stay in Colombia to go to the Amazon. The Colombian Amazon is less known than the Brazilian or Peruvian Amazon, but it still occupies 1/3 of the Colombian territory, and the Colombian government seems to do much more than its neighbors to preserve it.

Here’s a little practical guide to help you explore this part, as we do 😀

Why the Colombian Amazon?

Firstly for a practical reason: we are already in Colombia.
The Colombian Amazon also has the advantage of being humid and warm all year round, which is very pleasant.

The Colombian Amazon is well preserved because it is too far from everything, even if the government wanted to exploit the resources, the cost of transportation (27 days by boat or 2 hours by plane from Bogota, no way to get there by road) discourages a lot. The indigenous don’t seem to complain. However, the jungles are a little different in each country. We explored only the Colombian part (and a very small part) so we will not be able to compare with the Brazilian or Peruvian parts.

In any case, the program we have chosen in Colombia is particularly suitable for beginners like us, who like to have a minimum of comfort, without wanting to be in a 5-star hotel either.

How to get to the Colombian Amazon?

If you come from Colombia, the gateway to the jungle is Leticia, a city on the edge of the Amazon, bordering Brazil (the city of Tabatinga) and facing the Peruvian island of Santa Rosa. As you can see on the map above, Leticia is located in the heart of the Amazon and is one of the 3 important hubs in the area for treks in the Amazon (along with Iquitos in Peru, and Manaos in Brazil).

What to see in Leticia?

This border town is unfortunately without much interest, except for a few small activities to kill time before leaving on expedition :

• the Parque Santander: which is invaded by hundreds of birds all the time, but especially at sunset when you see thousands of birds (it doesn’t smell very good)
• the Ethnography Museum: free access, with some objects of the natives and explanations in English. The collection is tiny but it is air-conditioned with free wifi, people come especially for that
• the restaurant Tierras Amazónicas: a good introduction to the local fishes

Where to sleep in Leticia?

We stayed one night in Leticia (hostal La Esperanza, with air conditioning, Booking link, nothing exceptional) because our 3 day 3 night guided tour only starts the next day at 7am, but if you travel independently, a night in this city doesn’t seem at all essential.

If you prefer to enjoy your night in Leticia even more, you can opt for Omshanty Jungle Lodge(link Booking), a hut in the forest, but accessible by bus (bus km11, it passes every 20 minutes). There is a restaurant on site, avoid going there on weekends because of the bar/discotheque next door.

From/to Leticia

• Colombia : Leticia is a very isolated city, you can’t get there by car. The only Colombian city connected to Leticia is Bogota: 2 hours by plane (50€ one way) or 27 days by boat. That’s right!
• Brazil
  • Tabatinga is 1km from Leticia, you can get there by motorcycle cab (2000COP), or tuk tuk (4000COP) or by cab (8000COP). The city is more commercial and lively than Leticia, and even Colombians come here to shop because it is cheaper than in Colombia. Tabatinga is also very isolated, you can’t get there by car from another Brazilian city.
  • Manaos: is 3 days by boat from Leticia. You have to get there by small cruise boat (minimum comfort). But there is an airport in Tabatinga to reach Manaos
• Peru
  • Iquitos : at 13h by boat from Leticia (220 soles). The boat arrives/departs from Santa Rosa, the island in front of Leticia. Even if there is an airport in Iquitos, there is no direct flight between Leticia and Iquitos
  • Santa Rosa: is the Peruvian island just in front of Tabatinga and Leticia. It can be reached by boat from the port of Leticia for 3000COP

Transportation in Leticia

You can take a motorcycle cab (2000COP), or a tuk tuk (4000COP) or a cab. Cab fares are shown in the picture below. Save it to zoom in.

Guided tours & Visits

Here is the program of our visits. As we visit in October (dry season where it rains the least and the Amazon is at a lower level), our program corresponds to the Low Water Season program.

In bold: costs not covered by our agency

• Day 1: Flight Bogota – Leticia (place near the window recommended) The agency picks us up at the airport, we pay the fee, collect the boots and raincoat included in the tour price. The agency drops us off at our hotel. Visit of the museum, Santander Park, downtown, lunch and dinner. Night at the hotel. Cf our travel notebook

• Day 2: The agency brings us to the port. Trip of 2 hours by boat to Puerto Nariño. Morning: drop off of our stuff at the hotel. Visit of the jungle. Lunch. Rest 1 hour. Afternoon: admire the pink dolphins. Swimming at the beach in the middle of the Amazon. Rest 1 hour. Early evening: explore the jungle in search of insects. Dinner. Night in Puerto Nariño. Cf. our travel notebook

• Day 3: Morning: boat to another village. Visit of the jungle with a healer/chaman from the village. Lunch. Rest 1 hour. Afternoon: Boat trip: visit of Lake Tarapoto, piranha fishing, night observation of caimans (crocodiles). Dinner. Night in Puerto Nariño (or at the inhabitant’s house if the water is high enough – which was not the case for us in October). Cf. our travel diary

• Day 4: Morning: boat to the Peruvian village Santo Antonio de Cacao located on an island. Visit of the Peruvian jungle. Lunch in Peru. Rest 1 hour. Cf. our travel notebook
  • Normally the tour stops here, but we paid an extra 100,000COP/person to stay here until the next day 7:00 am: Afternoon: watchtower in Puerto Nariño, visit of a hotel with lots of animals (monkeys, macaws, dogs, cats…). Swimming at the beach in the middle of the Amazon. Dinner. Night in Puerto Nariño

• Day 5: Boat to Leticia. Return to the agency to return the boots and raincoat. Short cab ride to Tabatinga in Brazil (gift from the agency). The agency drops us off at the airport. Return by plane to Bogota.

What equipment for the Amazon?

With our program, we can walk all morning and then change at the hostel (and do the laundry) between noon and two. The clothes dry in half a day and we have clean (and dry) clothes every time.

There are Decathlon stores in Colombia, you can eventually get equipped in Bogota, before coming. The Totto brand seems to be very appreciated by the locals as well.

• A clean set to come to Leticia + from Leticia
• For the Amazon itself:
  • a lot of cash: the ATM does not always work in Leticia. And no ATM is available in Puerto Narino.
  • a small waterproof bag for the daytime walk (to carry water and protect the camera + phone)
  • the external battery (you’re going to take a lot of pictures)
  • survival kit (see my kit here)
  • at least 2 breathable long-sleeved tee-shirts (I opted for merino wool), 3 is ideal. If you don’t have any high tech, just opt for 3 long sleeved cotton shirts
  • at least 2 breathable technical pants, but 3 is ideal
  • at least 2 pairs of socks: one for boots, one for normal walking shoes
  • comfortable walking shoes
  • a swimsuit
  • the boots (you can easily rent them on the spot for 5000$/day, the agency lent them to us) – to avoid slipping into the boots, I bought special boots soles for 2€ the pair
  • a waxed raincoat that covers well because it is raining heavily and very hard (the agency lent it to us but if you don’t go with an agency, buy one)
  • sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat (if possible covering the neck)
  • mosquito repellent (can be purchased on site)

Budget

• Return flight Bogota => Leticia : 100€/person
• Night in Leticia: 74 000COP (19€ per air-conditioned double room, link Booking)
• Conservation fee in Leticia: 35,000COP/person
• Conservation costs in Puerto Narino: 10,000COP/person
• Lunch in Leticia: 30 000COP/person (7,8€)
• Dinner in Leticia: 8 000COP/person (2€, barbecue in the street)
• Tour 3 days 3 nights: 1 150 000COP/person or 300€/person, full board, insurance included
  • Note: those who stay only 2 nights pay only 1,050,000COP/person, in this case they return to Leticia on the 4th day around 5:30 pm
• Tip (optional) for guides: 25€/person

Total: 455€ per person all inclusive for 4.5 days and 3 nights – including 3 full days in Puerto Narino, in the heart of the Amazon

Agency contact information

Our agency is called Amazonas Jungle Tours, n°1 on Tripadvisor. The agency is managed by Sergio and offers all inclusive tours from Leticia (except by plane).

He can be reached by WhatsApp if you have any questions (numbers on their site). You can book the tours by filling out a simple form here: http: //amazonasjungletours.com/reservation

Payment is made either in cash or by credit card (+3% fee). Whenever possible, come with cash (free withdrawal at Davivienda in major Colombian cities up to 2 million pesos at a time, we talked about it here). This will save you the 3% fee and possibly a few scares: the mobile network is so bad that card payments can be difficult to pass. And the ATMs on the spot have quite low withdrawal limits.

Tours are available in English or Spanish.
If you request a tour in English:

• either you have a bilingual guide, in which case only one guide accompanies you
• or you have a Hispanic guide, in which case a translator (a volunteer coming here via a Workaway) will accompany you only to translate what the guide says. So you will be accompanied by the local guide (who only speaks Spanish) and a translator. The translator may be German, American, Colombian… or French. But nobody can guarantee you a French translator – so make sure you have a good level of English because there is a lot of vocabulary (plants, animals…). We were accompanied by Nader (a local indigenous guide) and Nadia (a German volunteer who acts as translator).

My opinion on the agency

The plusses :

• Perfect and professional service. From A to Z, always on time, every minute spent with them is a pleasure.
• Dense program but with 1 hour’srest here and there, allowing us to change and recover a little between two visits. It is very appreciable because the humidity is tiring.
• The local guides chosen carefully, we had Nader, who spent all his childhood in an indigenous village 10 days by boat from Leticia. He knows the jungle by heart and impressed us a lot.
• We are accompanied from the arrival to the departure, there are very few moments when we have to manage, it is really restful and offers me a small very pleasant parenthesis (for once, I have nothing to plan)
• Difficulty level: low, really great for beginners, wishing to sink into the jungle but not to be covered with mud without a shower for a week.
• Small attentions on behalf of the agency when we did not ask for anything or when it was not marked in the program: for example the small cab which took us free of charge to Brazil for a ride, while waiting to take us to the airport.
• A very correct price, since everything is all inclusive. If we had done all these activities independently (paying a guide and a boat here and there), not sure that we could have paid much less.
• The groups are small (between 4 and 6 people) and as we are in low season, we had a private tour for both of us (+ a local guide + a translator), it’s royal!

The – :

• having a translator – explanations take twice as long (first in Spanish and then in English). However, it’s hard to have a native who knows the forest perfectly and who speaks English perfectly well, tourism is barely developing, so it’s a very understandable point
• the translator isn’t Colombian but an international traveler recruited through Workaway – this is the only criticism this agency regularly receives, as it seems that a permanent job could have been created for another English-speaking Colombian. But on the other hand, these young people will be the best ambassadors for the protection of the Amazon – and they are treated very well by the agency.
• the chosen base: Puerto Nariño is perhaps too comfortable and too modern for those who are looking for an experience a little more roots, more dirty (we can shower twice a day with our program)
• the hotel chosen by the agency in Puerto Nariño: Paraiso Ayahurasca is managed by a very unpleasant lady who grumbles about micro details and speaks badly to tourists. The hotel in itself is very good by the way.

For independent travelers who speak good Spanish

An alternative would be to spend your stay in a very comfortable chalet in the middle of the jungle with a family of the Ticuna ethnic group. For this, book the hostel Naineku Lodge (link Booking, 13€). Attention contrary to what is marked, the hostel isn’t at all in Puerto Narino

The family will cook for you and take you to visit the jungle and the river by boat (extra charge).

Take the boat Leticia – Puerto Narino (25,000COP/person) but ask to be dropped off at Bocana Amacayacu (as soon as you buy the ticket). Here are the schedules of the boat: 7h; 9h; 12h and 14h. Buy the tickets at the port at least 30 minutes in advance. For the return trip, it is absolutely necessary to reserve because the boat is often full.

The man from the hostel will come to pick you up (confirm the boat schedule with him on the phone see how to buy a Colombian sim card here).

---

The other alternative is to simply take the boat to Puerto Narino and then go around the agencies, which offer half-day tours at around $30/person (by boat or in the jungle). But the program will be less dense than us (we had 3 big activities per day).

For independent travelers who *not* speak Spanish

I know that some blogs recommend Alto del Aguila – Cabañas del Friar(Booking link), a 15mn walk from Puerto Narino but personally, I find it’ s not suitable for the scared😀 (see my detailed opinion here) The monkeys on the spot are cute but it can be a burden to be permanently on guard (they like to jump on tourists, try to get inside to search everywhere). There are also two macaws that have fun flying by grazing the faces of visitors. In addition, on the way between the village and the chalet, many wild dogs become territorial in the evening…

Therefore, Lonely Planet recommends Casa Gregorio: [email protected], or Whatsapp (+57)3102798147, very well rated on Tripadvisor, for a total immersion in a Ticuna village. Depending on the number of guests, the price is between 180,000COP and 280,000COP/person/night, full board with visits (extra charge for the service of a translator)

Idem, to go there, take the boat Leticia – Puerto Narino (25 000COP/person) but ask to be dropped off at Bocana Amacayacu (as soon as you buy the ticket). Here are the schedules of the boat: 7h; 9h; 12h and 14h. Buy the tickets at the port at least 30 minutes in advance. For the return trip, it is absolutely necessary to reserve because the boat is often full

Other tips

• The interest of the tour also depends a lot on the questions you ask the guides, be curious and ask lots of questions.
• Always let the guide pass in front of you
• Do not touch anything without the explicit agreement of the guide
• Watch where you step

To watch our vlog in Amazonia, it’s here (note: the night scenes have not been captured on video, we only talked about it on the blog)

---

I hope you found this guide useful. Feel free to consult our articles on Colombia and our practical guide: 3 unforgettable weeks in Colombia to see how to integrate the Amazon into your program.