Travel Colombia

When you walk through the Amazon there are thousands of small animals, being at the same time wonderful, dangerous and deadly... Here's one of the most beautiful worms there, but you better not touch it or you will have to go running to the hospital (something difficult) if you want to prevent something worse, as this worm is very poisonous. We found it in the house of Don Francisco pretty close to the Calderon´s river, an awesome place.

One and a half hour far away from Leticia, you can cross the amazons river and get into Marasha´s Natural Reserve in Peru. This is a little paradise in the middle of the forest, with a 2 km lake and a beautifull backpackers house. We stayed there for three days, walking throught the forest and kayacking in the lake, some "siestas" in the hammocks and having really good food in the wood house, which is right at the border´s lake. You can also ear the sound of the Pirarucú (big fish) hiting the water with his fins.

In the Amazon´s forest the year is divided by two seasons, raini season and dry season. Landscapes and travel itself will be very different depending on the season because the water level changes very much, sometimes are differences of 18 meters, so in November we can see the water marks over the tree´s roots and in Febrearuy you are almost canoeing at the crowns level!

If you are planing few walking days by the forest, best footwear are those rubber boots, and you can buy them everywhere in Leticia. It is also better wide clothes and long sleeves, it doesn´t matter you will be sweating anyway.

The Calderón river is an affluent of the Amazon, and we had the luck to overcome it in motor boat during three days, and to lower it with a canoe that we borrowed from a family in the middle of our way. It is necessary to have much balance if you don´t want to fall down, so more than once we sank and we walked throught the mudded river´s bottom untill we got to the nearest border to drain the canoe without bothering the caymans that were resting on the way, in these moments you always think… Why me?

Go with a local guide is essential in an expedition of eight days through the jungle, otherwise you´ll be dead in less than 24hrs!! Chirui and Don Nicolas, two huitotos natives, were our guides, they teach us everything about every corner of the junle and different ways for fishing piranhas for dinner. Before get into the jungle we bought some bullets, wich can be changed for food.

When the sun begins to set in the jungle, it´s time to look for a good campsite and "build" our Tambuche (camp) for the night and put our hammocks under cover preventing us from the rainstorms. A good thing to buy in our country are the hammocks with mosquito net included, the rest of the things can be bought in Leticia. Once you go to sleep, don´t leave your shoes on the floor because next morning you can find unwanted guests!

Size of the fauna in Amazons is spectacular, you have to be careful where you put your hands because one Conga´s (big ant) bite or another thousands of annimals could spoil your trip. But don´t worry, you will get use to it after some days!!