After only 2 days in the Amazon I realize that I would love to spend a fair bit more time here. It truly is an amazing place, very different from what we are used to. It was cool to have been able to be in 3 countries in a day (without flying). Although I suppose I have done that before back when I only gave Nicaragua 8 hours of my time while going from Costa Rica to Honduras.
Ants reign here. Sure, I saw some other amazing creatures, but if you look close enough, you are always surrounded by ants. Usually it’s just the little tiny ones marching around you, but they are there. At dinner and I look at the floor. Scout team out on patrol. Back in my hotel I look at the wall and sure enough, a group are looking back at me. In the middle of the jungle on the pier, marching processions going on. I even saw a few adventurous explorers clinging desperately to the boat while the wind tried to turn them into the flying variety.
Luckily for me, it seems my sunburn that I saw in the mirror was gone by the morning. As I have had in the past, it was probably more wind burn than anything and I can trust in the SPF50 again.
It rained pretty hard most of the night. By morning, as the rain subsided, most of the roads in the town were partially flooded. I went looking for coffee but struggled to find anywhere decent. I also skipped breakfast again as I’m a little over scrambled eggs for now. I spent a fair bit of time wandering around the town but since I fly out in a few hours, another tour is not on the books.
I pack up and head to the airport. I went quite early in the end. This is because my phone ended up an hour ahead. Colombia in it’s entirety only has one time zone, but when I went in to Brazil my phone switched to “Amazon Standard Time” and never switched back. Data signal was very bad in Leticia so my guess is that it couldn’t correct. I sit down in the waiting room and end up meeting a lady from Malta. She spoke English (native language French) and virtually no spanish. She was on a 3 week trip around Colombia by herself and had just finished 5 days on the Amazon. Unlike me, she had been very good apparently at participating in the Amazon food chain. She claimed to have hundreds of mosquito bites all over her legs. At least they had mostly only happened the day before and she should be around some good medical clinics if malaria kicks in. She was off to Medellin for a day or so then to the Coffee Region. One of my favourite “European” things is how so many people there backpack places well past their teens and 20’s. She was about 35ish and had multiple other backpack trips planned for the coming years too.
Just before boarding, my friends from the previous day, Rafael and Angelica show up. They are on the same flight home. He has a couple from Alberta shadowing him, as he had helped them with arranging seating for the plane and now they weren’t letting him out of their sight until they boarded. Nice people, but also a touch grating. She seemed to find it quite ridiculous that the tours she took on the Amazon weren’t in English, especially for how much they charge! (Seriously? My 12 hour tour was $45Cdn and included lunch and a sloth).
I get to Bogota and catch an Uber to the hotel I booked. When I get there they don’t seem to have my reservation. While they are seeming most apologetic, I am secretly trying to remember if I ever completed the booking, which I kinda think I may not have. They are now fully booked on the regular rooms but they offer me a suite for about $7 more a night. Not really wanting to go looking for something else, and the hotel seems nice, I agree. When the bellhop takes me up to show me the room I’m at first a little confused, it seems like only a typical room. Then he hits a switch on the wall and the blinds raise. Behind the glass door is a private patio with a jacuzzi, gas fireplace and a pretty decent 7th floor view of the city.
The hotel seems to have a theme of artwork made from obsolete and broken things. Outside is a bunch of figures made from broken plates. Inside, hanging from the ceiling, are figures made from records, VHS tapes, cassettes and more. Kinda funky place.
It’s a little late for much cruising around town, so I go across the road for dinner to a steak house. Not a perfect steak but still decent, total dinner cost of $16.
Colombia Motorcycle Ride 