Down the Amazon and into Colombia!

Hammocks cruising down the Amazon

I have made it to Medellin in Colombia after quite an experience boating down the Amazon, a few days in the town of Leticia and then some time in Bogota. So far I've had an amazing time in Colombia, but it was a bit of a mission to get here! From Iquitos its about two days by boat to the Colombian frontier town of Leticia...

The boat is basically a merchant boat which has two floors which get completely chock a block with passengers, and their hammocks! There are so many people that you end up with hammocks criss crossing in places, and its real chaos before departure with all sorts of people trying to sell stuff to passengers on the boat. Eventually things get going, and you try and get comfortable in your hammock, your only private space! Most of the animals stay on the lowest deck, but the odd chicken or dead pig ended up amongst the passengers... Once the boat sets off, its quite relaxed, you can soak up the scenery, the odd rainstorm, and the other passengers are all eager to find out what you're doing on the boat and its quite a friendly atmosphere... The food isn't the greatest, especially not the breakfast but I survived on popcorn, people from the villages where the boat stopped would always scramble on board to sell you some... With hundreds of people using a couple of toilets, you can imagine that they were a pleasant affair.

Getting to Leticia felt great, it really is a pleasant little town, strikingly more developed than the Peruvian or Brazilian border towns, and you can feel you're getting closer to the Caribean with salsa and reggaeton beats pounding out all over the place... I got to do a tiny bit of rainforest exploration, but you really need to immerse yourself in the forest for a few days to get a real feel for it. I did get to see some pink dolphins, and an immense anaconda captured by the villagers at Puerto Narino, although I wasn't very keen when the guy stuck it practically under my nose!

Getting to Bogota was nice, as I stayed at the house of Elisa, a Colombian woman some might recall from pictures in Argentina... She ensured that I got a good perspective of the city, and got her niece to show me round and take me out to discover the nightlife which seemed almost on par with Buenos Aires! Overall I was really impressed by the place, very clean, pretty efficient transport system, beautiful old colonial areas and some great museums. The Museo del Oro has all sorts of impressive treasures, and the Botero Museum must be one of the best art museums on the continent with works by Botero, Picasso, Dali, Renoir, Monet.... and then there was a Feria del Libro on where I got to meet some Colombian writers... I made it to a football match with Camilo, the brother of someone my Dad knows through work and that was great fun! Another highlight was the Salt Cathedral in the very charming town of Zipaquira, a huge underground cathedral built in former salt mines!!! I was knackered by the end of all this activity, but finished off in style with a trip to a hot spa to chill out!

Medellin so far is very nice too, a pleasant city, which used to be extremely dangerous with around 5000 murders a year (!!!!) but which is now, fortunately for me, pretty peaceful. Overall, I have to say that Colombia doesn't feel particularly dangerous at all, and I definitely feel alot safer wandering around here compared to say Rio. What really makes Colombia though are the people, they are incredibly warm and friendly, and the sparsity of tourists means that they are extremely keen that you have a good time, that you enjoy their country and they are great fun too! Tonight I'm heading to a Don Omar concert, which should be interesting!!!

Eiffel's Iron House in Iquitos

Fruit juice everywhere

Amazon River shantytown

A simple comedor in Iquitos

Eager phone card sellers!

I love the windowless buses!

River shantytown near the port....

Loading the goods

The first night on the boat!

The immense Amazon River

Lovely!

Motorised dug out canoe cruising along the river bank

The port of Pevas

Overseeing the marchandise being loaded and unloaded...

Crates of beer for Pevas!

Pevas food market, uncannily similar to Asian food markets

Passing time

Save the Amazon!

Heading off from Pevas...

Navy setup

Lots of wood!

Very heavy rainfall!

An extremely tall flag post!

Tropical fruit

Not a good catch, this fish enters the bodies of those who choose to pee in the river and eats out your insides...

Local boat

Getting prepared for the next loading madness

Sunset...

The tree canopy and the clouds made this one of the most impressive sunsets I've seen

A stop at San Pablo, where Che Guevara met the leper community

Big parts of the Amazon rainforest get submerged in the rainy season

This passenger didn't fare so well!

A misty morning

This "breakfast" is probably the closest I'll get to feeling like Oliver Twist!

Apart from sitting in your hammock reading, there's not much to do...

Amongst the baby clothes and umbrella, this family had some live luggage!

The sophistication of Peruvian immigration!

The ugly boat I travelled on...

Crossing into Colombia

Living on the edge...

The Colombian Steve Irwin, aka Kapax!

In the backwaters...

This little beast just loved playing on this hammock!

Victoria regia

Colourful!

Kids

The Real Madrid player wasn't too sure about me!

I can't say I'd want to swim around in the Amazonas

Tree climbing

Entering the Parque Amacayacu

Rainforest

Wet and dense!

Its not everyday you get to taste the cocoa fruit!

Puerto Narino!

Lucky they caught this massive anaconda, as the year before one had eaten a teenager!

The village was excited about the catch!

3 men were needed to hold the beast!

Overcast!

Military post in Leticia

The Amazonas from above!

My first glimpse of Bogota

Elisa picking fruit... so many fruits over here!

Centro
Banco de la Republica facade!

Ancient gold face at the stunning Museo del Oro
Joey mate?

Expensive jewellery!!!
Tasty restaurant in La Candelaria

The food here is delicious!

Candelaria street

Near where Bogota was founded

All sorts of potatoes here!

Footie

Bogota from above...

Man praying intensely at the monument to the fallen Christ

Feria del libro

Mario Mendoza and Mauricio Vargas

Not many stadiums sell this sort of munch... Camilo took me to see Santa Fe

The game was 0-0, but the half time entertainment lived things up!

Watching the play!

Anxious Sante Fe fans!!!

Downtown Bogota

The charming town of Zipaquira

The underground Salt Cathedral

Monument to the miners who worked in the old salt mines

Tasty meat!

Zipaquira town centre

Botero painting!

The moon and the Casa de la Moneda

The nightmare of packing my stuff

Colombian breakfast, Tamal

After Peru and Bolivia, its great to see lots of bins again!

Elisa and I at the thermal waters

Policemen heading to relax

My host in Bogota...

Landscape outside Bogota

Campaigning for the next mayor election!

Andrea, myself and Elisa

Link to the previous post:

Peru and the Incas