An Adventure in the Amazon (Colombia)

Now we were heading back to the mighty Amazon, and we were very excited about it. We landed in Leticia, the southernmost city in Colombia, which lies directly on the Amazon River and forms the tri-border area with Brazil and Peru. We took a car out of the city, about 40 minutes until we left civilization behind, and that's where our 4-day tour through the rainforest began.

Together with our guides, who were all from indigenous tribes, we embarked on an 8-hour journey into the heart of the Amazon. It was raining when we set off, fitting for the rainforest, but soon the sky cleared up and it became oppressively hot. Maria got bitten by some insect, but our guide Rocky knew exactly what to do. He picked some leaves, rubbed the bite with them, and that was it. Since we started late, we had to cover the last stretch in complete darkness. The jungle truly comes alive with the darkness. Everywhere around us, animals were whistling, chirping, or roaring. Finally, we arrived at our camp, a small farm in the middle of nowhere where Anibal, an older Colombian man, lived alone. There we met our whole group, two Germans (Samuel and Julia), an Australian (Matt), our translator from Chile (Diego), and the other guide Amador. After dinner, Rocky and Amador took us spearfishing at night, which was harder than it looked. We caught two fish and at the same time kept an eye out for all sorts of poisonous critters.

After a night in the hammock, we hiked for another 5 hours through the jungle. We were near the Calderon River, so the forest was crossed by many small streams that we had to cross using fallen tree trunks (of course, there were no bridges here). Just don't fall into the water, as there are many snakes, caimans, stingrays, or electric eels. We all arrived safely at our next accommodation, a small house on stilts where another hermit lived with his family. We were warmly welcomed and got a wonderful spot for our hammocks with a view over the jungle and towards the east, where the sunrise was. It wouldn't be an Amazon tour without taking a refreshing bath in the muddy water, better than any shower 😉 That night, we set off on a long hike to find the nocturnal animals. We balanced on many tree trunk bridges, which was even more nerve-wracking at night, because now you wanted to fall into the murky, dark water even less. We also had an encounter with one of the most venomous snakes in the Amazon (lancehead or bushmaster), which we got to experience and survive.

After a wonderfully clear night, the third day began. In the morning, we set off with Rocky and Amador to look for the acai palm. This special palm grows in the jungle and bears the "acai berry" as a fruit, which is very healthy. To harvest it, Rocky climbed the 15-20m high palm and knocked it down, we collected them, and Maria and Amador painstakingly processed the berries into a pulp, which can be added to, for example, muesli or can be drunk as it is. In the afternoon, we set off back to Anibal's first accommodation. Like every evening, there was a walk through the nocturnal forest, and the day ended with a campfire.

On the fourth and final day, there was still the 7-8 hour journey back, after which we returned to Leticia, tired but happy with our wonderful tour.