Of mountains, wind and waves: Leticia - in the Amazon between Colombia, Brazil and Peru

After more than a month on over 1.500 meters altitude it was quite a change arriving in the little amazonian city of Leticia in the three country-point of Colombia, Brazil and Peru: only 96m above sea level, humidity, rainforest as far as the eye can see, the enormous Amazon river (that is called Rio Solimões in this upper part)… and lots and lots of "zancudos" (mosquitos).
Leticia and the city of Tabatinga in Brazil are actually one city, there is not even a real boarder, just an obelisk that lets you know that you are crossing over to Brazil. The only difference is that once of a sudden everything is written in portuguese. The Peruvian city of Santa Rosa de Yavari is just across the Amazon river on the other riverside. The only way to reach Leticia is by plane or boat.

Even if we didn't notice it in our daily routine, we were aware that this far away place has his own chapter in the history of Colombias illegal drug trafficking. Apparently there are still a lot of laboratories around this "Tres Fronteras" area (especially in the Peruvian rainforest) and Tabatinga is still considered the major point of entrance for cocaine to Brazil. Here and there you see ruins of burned down or blown up houses in the city, mainly former homes of cartel bosses.

We actually didn't do a lot in Leticia, just strolling around the city, acclimating, a little bit of canopy and kayaking in the rainforest and trying out all the delicious fruits of the Amazon - Copoazu, Arazá, Guanabana, Açaí… just to name a few :) With lots of mosquito repellent we even survived the steady attacks of those little bastards.