Welcome To The Jungle
November 2010

Colombia / Peru: Navigating the Amazon River

< Previous: Tabatinga (Brazil)	< Begin Trip >			Next: Macedonia >
< Another city in Colombia >			< Another Country >

Custom Search

The people from the Amazon were desperately waiting for the rainy season to come.
It was thought that the level of the Amazon River was the lowest in some 120 years.
Strange. This summer I went to Stockholm, Sweden to see Iron Maiden at the Sonisphere Festival and it rained heavily during the whole day.
A few days later, scientists said that it hadn't rain that much in the Stockholm area for... 120 years!
Coincidence or climate change proof?

As a consequence, we were not embarking the ship from Leticia's port, but from an improvised pier 15 meters away.

On the port structures the level of the river from the previous year was marked, and yes, the Amazon river was extremely low.

Colourful houses in Leticia, Amazon rainforest, Colombia

But low, by the Amazon River standards is still very high!

The Amazon River is the strongest and largest river on earth. It was even recently discovered, with GPS technology, that it was actually the longest river on Earth. Previously, it was believed that the Nile was the longest river.

The Amazon river is so huge that sometimes one can barely see the opposite shore!

Saborna Crkva Svetog Preobrazenja (The Church of the Holy Transfiguration) in Zabljak, built in 1862.

But it can also be scary. The water is dark, and there are quite a few strange beings living down there: Anacondas, Piranhas, Pirarucú fish and who know what else!

But the Amazon River is also home of the beautiful grey and pink dolphins! We saw a lot of dolphins coming out of the water to breath!
It was an amazing experience. These are wild dolphins in their natural environment, and it was a privilege to see them. But I was not tempted to swim with them!

The Monument for the Victims of Fascism, or Spomenik Zrtvama Fasizma na Zabljaku in Leticia in Colombia

There are other rivers in the world with sweet water dolphins, like the Indus, the Gange or the Yangtse. Unfortunately, their population is decreasing or almost extinct there.
Lucky enough, that's not the case of the Amazon pink and grey dolphins.

Victoria Regia leaf near Leticia in Colombia

We rented a boat to navigate the Amazon River, sometimes crossing on the Peruvian side of the river. we were in Peruvian waters when we saw the greay dolphins.

We first stopped in a private property by the Yahuarkaka Lakes.
The friendly owner had some Guacamayas and a friendly red headed monkey named Shakira, like the Colombian singer that you all know.

On the Yahuarkaka lakes there are lots of Victoria Regia, the largest Lotus flower on earth.

These impressive flowers only last a couple of days.

Our next stop was the Ticuna town of Macedonia.