The Amazon Town of Leticia

Leticia is a small Amazon town which at first sight has little more to offer than curiosity value. A collection of low wooden houses nestled alongside a huge bend in the Amazon. It has few fine colonial architectural buildings or traditional tourist traps. But Leticia has so much more to offer if you spend some time exploring.

A recent visitor wrote " Leticia is a wonder, a town where everybody deals with cordiality, where all the people know each other and talk enthusiatically to visitors to their region"

The history of Leticia stretches back to the days of Francisco Orrellana and the conquistadores, when the first settlement was started, but it remains very much a jungle town. A bustling friendly place where people come daily from the surounding areas, deep in the rainforest and far up the rivers to sell their produce.

There is very much a sense of unspoilt living history, where you find mules trotting into town and traditional river boats with their roofs made from palm leaves delivering goods to the bustling marketplace A marketplace with exotic fruits and forest products such as guama, manioc, cassave, marranon, cashew, lilo, and juka as well as the more familiar pineapples, lemons, mangoes etc. The fish market is always worth a visit for a sight of various huge and brightly coloured fish, monsters of the deep Amazon such as Pintadillo, Paische, Pacu, Guacamaya and Dorito.

Leticia has an open border with Tabatinga Brasil, whilst both towns have a vibrant culture of Music, dancing, brightly coloured clothes and warm friendly disposition, both also retain their national identity. The flambouyant Brazilians contrasting with the slightly more subdued but elegant Colombian culture.

In the evenings music and dance are the heartbeat of both Leticia and Tabatinga. In Leticia you can dance to Vallenata, Salsa, Merengue or various regional styles way into the night at bars or dance clubs such as Tacones, El Boom, El Bunker to name a few.

In Tabatinga there are bars and dance clubs of all sizes where you can go to dance, learn or just watch and marvel at the couples dancing, their hips glued together as they execute a very fast and very sensual motion to a hypnotic beat. Most of the larger clubs include a show by local professional dance groups where exquisite dancers (male and female) in exotic colourful costumes (often feathers as headpieces and as small strategic cover-ups) go through amazingly athletic/frenetic but carefully choreographed routines. Much to the delight of an appreciative watching (and often dancing) audience.

Not withstanding the cultural delights of Leticia and Tabatinga, greater attractions await in the forest which incredibly is little over one kilometer from the town centres. This accesibility to the jungle makes Leticia/Tabatinga the ideal base for rainforest tours.