I awake at about 6am and get myself checked out of the hotel. After so many hotel breakfasts, I decide to pass on this one and just catch the shuttle directly to the airport. The domestic section of Bogota airport is huge, and even though boarding is only an hour away, my gate still doesn’t show so I am not sure which end to head to. I decide to go to the lounge for breakfast and coffee, which turns out to be the right direction too.
I board the flight and settle in to watching Netflix on my ipad. The flight is about 2 hours and goes over the jungle before landing in Leticia, on the banks of the Amazon. This is where Peru, Brazil and Colombia all meet, and the only way here is by river boat or plane. No roads go this way at all.
Arriving at my hotel at about 11am, the room wont be ready for another hour, so I drop my bag and go to explore. Leaving the hotel, I try to follow google maps to the river, but each time I think I am close either a large building blocks me or a chunk of jungle. The humidity and heat are intense but the cloud cover seems to be saving me. Unfortunately, after a couple of kilometres of walking, the cloud clears away, and things change instantly from feeling like 35 to feeling like 45. I walk back to the hotel, slowly melting away, looking for a tuk tuk to take but seeing none all of a sudden. Finally, back at the hotel and set up in a room, I cool off in the shower.
For round 2 of the exploration, I change into shorts and put on a cap. Walking towards the Brazil border the town is super quiet. It turns out all the stores close between 12 and 2. Already starting to feel a second melting coming on, I find a Tuk-Tuk and hire him to tour me around the city.
My Tuk-Tuk driver, Armando, and his co-pilot grandson Gregor drove me around all the key places. This included a trip across the border (no border guards here) to Tabatinga, Brazil and the dock area of the river there. They were fun to hang around with. Armando constantly singing away while pointing things out to me. He seemed to enjoy showing his grandson the “tour guide” he could be. Apparently, he sometimes watches the kid, but still has to go to work so he just brings him along. I am driven past Parque Santander (there is a Parque Bolivar and Parque Santander in every town virtually. Look them up. Important people in history we never got taught in Canada). In the park, every night at about 5:30 a million or more birds return for the night from their day in the jungle.
Armando drops me off at the hotel and I say goodbye. Was well over an hour with the two of them and they were great hosts. I spend a little time booking a river trip for tomorrow and then go grab a drink. As I am doing this, the clouds let loose and the rains came down. Temperature seemed to drop in half within minutes. About an hour of rain and thunder, then everything cleared up again, just as it is about time to head to the park and watch the bird show.
Apparently parrots, parakeets and black birds all call the park their night time home and they do put on a show. Starting at about 5:15 the early birds start to show up. Then, for the next 45 minutes flock after flock fly over, swarm around and settle in the trees. Over a million, but the trees still dont even look full. The volume of all the chirps is deafening and they almost fly into you at times. Never got pooped on though, and that is amazing with that many birds overhead.
Heading back from the park, I stop and eat a street burger. Very good, insanely cheap. After the late dinner I slowly make my way back to the hotel and call it a night.
Colombia Motorcycle Ride 