Lagos de Tarapoto
A system of thirty lakes declared a Ramsar site in 2018, the first in the Colombian Amazon. Pink and grey dolphins are seen there.
Amazonas
Amazonas
The Colombian Amazonas can be reached only by air or by water. Leticia, the capital, looks across at Brazil and Peru from the last corner of the country; upriver, Puerto Nariño bans cars altogether. Here the landscape is not walked but navigated, and it changes shape with the flood.
Why go
What makes this destination unique
No other Colombian destination is organised around a river of this scale. No road connects Leticia to the rest of the country, and that disconnection explains the rest: Ticuna, Cocama and Yagua communities running their own tourism, pink dolphins in the lakes, and a cuisine of pirarucú, the giant river fish, that exists in no other region.
- When to goFrom June to October the waters drop: sand beaches appear, the paths are passable and it rains less. Between December and May the flood covers the forest and you travel by boat between the trees.
- Getting thereOnly by air: some two hours' flight from Bogotá to Leticia's Alfredo Vásquez Cobo airport. On to Puerto Nariño, two hours by fast boat.
What to see
What you should not miss
Puerto Nariño
A town with no cars and no motorbikes, of footpaths and timber houses above the río Loretoyacu. It is covered on foot in a morning.
Parque Nacional Natural Amacayacu
The park is entered through San Martín de Amacayacu and Mocagua, Ticuna communities that manage the trails, the guiding and the lodging.
Parque Ecológico Mundo Amazónico
At kilometre 7 of the road to Tarapacá: botanical garden, Amazonian fruits, aquarium and regional cooking done over embers.
Reserva Natural Tanimboca
Eleven kilometres from Leticia, cabins and walkways twelve metres up, with night walks and routes through the canopy.
The Amazonian table
Patarasca, fish baked in bijao leaf; chicharrón of pirarucú, fariña, toasted cassava, ají de tucupí and juices of copoazú and arazá.
Where to stay
Hotels we recommend
A selection of houses with character. We work with others too: tell us what you are looking for and we will propose the one that fits.
Signature lodge on the Amazon
Calanoa Amazonas
Palm and timber cabins designed by the artist Diego Samper, in a private reserve neighbouring Amacayacu.
Town hotel in the centre of Leticia
Waira Suites Hotel
The most comfortable base in the city: generous rooms, two pools and one of the most highly regarded restaurants in the centre.
Chain lodge in Leticia
Decameron Decalodge Ticuna
Palm roofs, raised walkways over a fragment of rainforest and a pool, fifteen minutes from the airport.
Eco-lodge with bungalows on the edge of Leticia
Hotel Utüane
Free-standing bungalows among the vegetation, a pool, spa and a restaurant of regional cooking, minutes from the centre.
Hotel in Puerto Nariño
Waira Selva Hotel
The most dependable option in town for sleeping beside the river, with a garden, a terrace and organised outings to the lake.
Where to eat
The destination's table
The kitchens worth a reservation. We take care of the booking and the transfer.
Amazonian river cooking
Tierras Amazónicas
The best known in Leticia. Pirarucú, gamitana and tucunaré, river fish, in a room of masks and carved wood.
Informal international
El Santo Ángel
A short menu of casabe pizzas — cassava bread — wraps, crêpes and meat; the place you come back to at night.
Grill
Punto Lounge
Aged beef and burgers in a sober room; the alternative when you want a rest from river fish.
Traditional Amazonian
Las Margaritas
The obligatory lunch in Puerto Nariño: a home-made buffet with chicharrón of pirarucú and sweet cassava, facing the river.
Does this destination interest you? We build it into a tailor-made route.
Request a proposalHotel and restaurant information is for reference and is confirmed at the time of booking. The recommendations do not imply any commercial relationship with the establishments mentioned.
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