A visit to the Calanoa Jungle Lodge and the Amazon River is indescribable, but of course, I am going to try to describe it anyway. If you do not have time to do anything else, check out the information and photos at the lodge link above.
I had researched lodges on the Colombian side of the Amazon for weeks. The Calanoa Jungle Lodge stood out as special and unique. Everything about it was spectacular. The location, the staff, the cabins, the excellent meals and the property itself. It reinforced everything I had imagined about a visit to the Amazon.
The first step in the adventure is getting to the lodge. There are no roads that chop through the jungle to get there.
After our visit to the Andes, we flew from Pereira to Bogotá. We spent the night near the Bogotá airport before our May 6 flight to the small village of Leticia, Colombia which is the gateway to the Colombian Amazon. Leticia is located at the point of a tiny finger of Colombia that is almost completely surrounded by Brazil to the east and Peru to the south and again to the west. The borders here do not mean much as you can walk across the street and be in Brazil or you can cross the river and be in Peru - the middle of the river more or less serves as the border between Colombia and Peru. There are no official border crossings or border guards.
Calanoa is located on the river about halfway between Leticia and the western point of the "finger" where the Amazon leaves Colombia and turns south into Peru. From Leticia you can opt for the public or private boat west to Calanoa. It is a wonderful 60-90 minute ride and provides an eye-opening introduction to the Amazon.
There are several ways to say "the Amazon" in Spanish but the most common we heard was "los Amazonas" which refers both to the river and the jungle around it.
A video and a few teaser pics from our private boat ride. The video is as we were leaving the Leticia dock and facing Peru before turning west. The captain is explaining that this is the time of year when the river is very high. Many more dramatic photos to come in the following posts.
Arrival and late afternoon view over the Amazon from the lodge dining hall.
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