Is The Amazon Dangerous?
Visiting the Amazon, perhaps the most biodiverse place on the planet is high on the list of backpackers, explorers and holiday makers alike. 'The lungs of the earth cover over 6 million square kilo meters, have over 400 indigenous groups, and around 10% of earths animal species.
In this post I want to cover my mental state when entering the Amazon Rainforest. Starting to dose malaria pills, there were a number of moments when I though I could be putting myself in unnecessary danger. It would turn out the, fear would be unfounded, but I am hoping by reading my fears some of your own may disperse. Lets go into the rainforest.
I always imagined entering the Amazon from Brazil, not Colombia but during my trip from Mexico to Peru, the question, "Are you going into the Amazon?" started being asked. The Amazon has always been high on my places to visit, but I was a solo traveler at this point and felt being with a group would be a 'safer way' of taking on the Amazon.
For reference, I am a 33 year old male from the UK. Thats me over there > hello, that photo is from my Amazon trip taken at one of the stopping points during a 4 day 3 night tour. There is always reason to be vigilant but lets go into the 'problems' that I had my eye on
Problem 01 - The Murder of Experienced Individuals
A reporter by the name of Dom Phillips and an indigenous expert, Bruno Pereira had simply disappeared in the rainforest in June 2022. Their location was not far from my entry point to the Amazon, a town only accessible by plane 'Leticia'. These two gentlemen had vast experience, so my mind went to 'if it can happen to them ...'
To understand a bit more about Dom and Brunos situation, from BBC reporting, it would come to light that Dom was undertaking research for a book on conservation efforts in the area and Bruno had been outspoken about illegal fishing activities in the area. It seems they were ultimately murdered by an organisation that carries out the illegal activities Bruno was campaigning against. After considerable pressure, the Brazilian authorities ran an investigation and arrested personnel who were charged with murder in June 2023.
Problem 02 - Political Uprising
The final round of voting to elect the new Colombian president was to take place in June 2022, the town of Leticia was extremely pro-Gustavo Petro. Interestingly it is illegal to sell alcohol during a ballot weekend due to the level of uprising political votes can cause.
This election like none before had passion extremely high. Petro a leftist candidate represented the solution to help with increasing levels of inequality and rising living costs. If Petro lost the advice given to me was to spend the evening somewhere safe and ride out what would follow.
Problem 03 - The Murder of Fellow Travelers
This is truly tragic. The day before my flight into Leticia, a Dutch girl of 27 and a Brazilian lady were shot dead by two men firing into a building they were in. It is believed that the gunfire was directed at two other men in the same building and the Dutch and Brazilian girl were tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught in the crossfire. All four died, and this made headline news across Colombia.
Problem 04 - Where is the Exit?
Leticia is that it is only accessible by plane or boat. Flights are irregular and effectively if things go south there are no easy exits. You are on your own in a place you know little about with (in my case) poor Spanish.
My mindset was 'Am I putting myself in unnecessary danger?' My flight and accommodation were booked and after a lot of back and forth with my brain, I felt I would be able to keep myself out of danger so I pressed on.
So Is The Amazon Dangerous?
On the plane from Bogota, the person next to me on the flight was watching a live stream of the news unfolding about the shooting of the Dutch girl. I started watching also and made a comment about how awful it all was. The gentleman agreed and said he was a police officer from Leticia! I asked if this sort of thing happened often, and Is the Amazon a dangerous place to visit he reply, no Leticia is usually a very safe place and this is a rare unfortunate incident. We talked for the whole flight, and having spoken to him, I got off the plane feeling a lot more relaxed. The police officer even gave me some tips on where to eat in the area which I will share in a separate post.
Leticia is a very small place and famous for bordering Brasil and Peru with custom-less travel. From the airport I decided to walk to my accommodation, Casa Nora & Alejo. This accommodation, as the name suggests, is the home of Alejo and Nora. On arrival I entered the property to a warm welcome, school work was being completed by the family, and a sense of calm flooded over me. We spoke of the shooting, Alejo reaffirmed the police officers' previous sentiments that Leticia is safe and this was a tragic incident.
There are several ways I up my 'safety levels' as a backpacker which I will go through below but having spoken to both the police officer and Alejo, I felt my usual mode of exploration (walking) would be fine.
Alejo gave me the card for a local tour company, 'Jungle Tours Gamboa'.
I walked to their location and had no reason to feel unsafe. In fact, as time went on, the previous nerves I had felt seemed to dissipate as locals smiled and said hello.
Having spoken to Gamboa, I signed up for a 4-day 3-night tour. I will give a full review in a separate post but here is a one of my favourite photos from the trip.
And The Winner Is
Skipping over the 4 day 3 nigh trip, I landed back into Leticia from the Amazon on the day of the political decision. Pedro won!
Placing my backpacks in the next hostel La Jangada Hostel y Tours, I took a shower and headed into the streets.
Instead of turmoil, there was celebration. All the fear of the unknown, the fear of violence, the fear of political tension. It had all been unfounded. Instead what I ended up with was perhaps one of the greatest adventures and most enriching experiences of my life to date. The simple fact is, Leticia and the Amazon are increadible, the people are friendly, but like most places, it has its issues!
On the evening of Pedros win and my return to Leticia, I was able to meet a friend and go to the top of the church, which is used as a viewing point accessible for a small fee. Here I watched the sunset as thousands of Parakeets returned to Leticia, a daily phenomenon that I was unaware of until being amongst it. At the same time victory parades were taking place creating the most surreal end to a wonderful passage of time. If you want a little feel of the noises and sights of election night in Letica check out the video (prepare for a lot of scooter horns).
In part 2 of this blog I am going to look at the journey from Leticia to Iquitos in Peru as this is an unusual crossing that its best to have a bit of prior knowledge on.
For the love of earth