Leticia is where a wedge of Colombia pokes at the mighty Amazon, a shaft between Peru and Brazil – a tripartite border. Having consulted various sources (Rome2Rio, Lonely Planet, a few others), thought it a good idea to catch a slowish boat (4 days) from Leticia to Manaus. The flight from Bogota at 6 am meant being up at 03:30. The sunrise over the clouds was worth it.

Should someone wish to do it, here are a few things you need to know: everyone (local and visitors) who doesn’t just transit Leticia (to go to Brazil or Peru) must pay a 50000 Col peso tourist tax. You also need a stamp in the passport from the Colombian immigration authorities, but it can only be acquired 24 hours or less before leaving Colombia… As I was staying in Leticia for 2 night (the boat timetable is a bit erratic) the stamp required another trip to the airport immigration office. There is no physical border between Colombia and Brazil at this point, so one needs to take the exit stamp to the Brazilian authorities in Tabatinga, who acknowledge that you are entering Brazil by stamping your passport…which is needed to buy the ticket for the boat. As this was going on, took a boat trip to a monkey sanctuary…

Leticia and Tabatinga flow seamlessly one into the other and the only visible difference is the shop signs – changing from Spanish to Portuguese (and vv). The no man’s land is abstract, but the bureaucracy is very real (“tramites” – paperwork – is the dreaded word in Spanish). The boat timings are vague. The boat I took was scheduled at noon; officially delayed till 1500; we actually sailed at 1700. I had my hammock, and my plate, cup and spoon. (The four days’ trip, with 3 meals a day, was c £40; for that I could wash my utensils.)

There was an added bit of excitement on day 3: we were stopped by the river police at 4:30 and made to dock next to their boat. Everyone had to get off while they searched the boat – turns out they’d had a tip off that drugs were on board. The bush telephone said later that one of the boat cleaners had stowed the drugs in the bilge of the boat. Several arrests were made. Breakfast was very late… (complaints were made when the crew went to eat first, disregarding the queue).

We arrived in Manaus on Sunday morning at 5, 12 hours later than scheduled. The town, over 2 million people, is now an industrial hub for a number of industries – motorbikes, electronics – a far cry from the rubber baron times which started it. The opera house still looks grand and thoroughly European.

My jungle trip (booked through the Amazon Antonio Jungle Tour) started early the next day, going first by car, then by boat: a few days on the Urubu (Vulture) river (acidic, clear brown water) then two days on the Amazon (alkaline, muddy). The acidic environment means there are fewer mosquitoes and other insects, and therefore fewer other animals up the chain. Maybe we’ve been spoilt with the wonderful Attenborough documentaries; it definitely was not easy to spot wildlife, even with the expert help of the guide.

A couple of hours’ trek through the rainforest and a night in the jungle were the highlight. We were only 4 – Alvaro (the guide), Sabine and Chris from Vienna and I. We were full of admiration for Alvaro’s ability to get the fire going from (what looked like) very wet wood. There was a little caiman in the stream we used for cooking and washing…. Of course, it rained torrentially in the night.

There were more animals on the Amazon part of the trip – Jose, our guide, certainly knew where to find them. Sloths, monkeys, birds… Francesco, my new companion, and I were thoroughly impressed. We even managed to catch a piranha (thrown back as too tiddly, but hey!)

Off to Rio next.