After hightailing it out of Tefe, we spent the next 24 hours on a speedboat which was a five star compared to the slow boats although not the same lazy meandering of the river. Our next destination was the three-way frontier where the borders of Tabatinga, Brazil, Leticia, Columbia and Santa Rosa, Peru meet. We arrived around 10 pm grateful that I had quickly booked a hotel prior to leaving Tefe. The problem was we arrived in Tabatinga, Brazil and our hotel was in Leticia, Columbia. We had no idea what the border crossing would hold.
Jon standing in the snack and restroom area with views of the outdoor seating area behind him.
At the boat dock we encountered two female German travelers (we have encountered many females traveling alone) looking as lost as we were. We decided to share a taxi with them. Before we knew it were at the hotel, the border crossing being all but non-existent.
The next day the owner of the hotel graciously took us to the Brazil border control so we could check out and then to Leticia to purchase our speed-boat tickets to Iquitos, Peru. He dropped us off at a boat dock and said we would need to cross the river to Santa Rosa, Peru in order to get our passports stamped. All a very confusing process made simple with his help.
Santa Rosa, which is where our speedboat would be leaving from the next morning, was basically a mud-flat with bicycle trail wide wood plank roads. The three towns together created a great way to pass a few days.
Images of Santa Rosa from our motor-taxi and wonderful meal of filet mignon and grilled fish for under $20 in Leticia, Columbia.
Our speed boat left Santa Rosa, Peru at the insane hour of 4:30 am with boarding beginning at 3:30. As we had to get driven to the boat dock and then take a short boat ride to Santa Rosa we were required to leave the hotel around 3 am. It is still pitch black at this hour and it was less than comfortable pulling up to a rickety dock with a scrapped up boat with no lights on. Thank god for our trusty headlamps! The 10-hour speedboat to Iquitos took about 14 due to us stopping at every mud bank along way. No worries though, we were entertained by the sounds of a bunch of chickens kept in the storage area. Definitely not 5 star.
Me in the middle of the night looking dazed in front of our speedboat.
Where we stayed, Ayahuasca Amazonas Hotel, which had a hidden oasis inside its concrete walls, on the outskirts of downtown Leticia, Columbia. We had a large private fan-cooled room with a bathroom for $40 a night not including breakfast. The gracious owner provided us a tasty breakfast with eggs free of charge on our first morning.
Jon outside the gate while Nico, the owners’ son, was inside the gate trying every key in the house to try and let us in, a 20 minute process. Jon walking to our room inside the oasis.
Journey with Christina 