Thursday, June 6, 2013

weekend trip

Monday is yet another Colombian holiday so we are taking advantage to go on one last trip.  When we were deciding where to go, I suggested a final hurrah to Cartagena but the boys wanted Leticia so we could see the Amazon.  (After four years in Brazil and three in Colombia, our 10 year-old son should see the jungle, right?)

I pointed out that it's only the beginning of the famous pink dolphin season in the Amazon so odds were not in our favor that we'd see them, but still the boys wanted to go to the Amazon.

I suggested that we'd be eaten alive by mosquitoes and could get denque or yellow fever, but still the boys wanted the Amazon.

I reminded them of that fancy pool at our favorite hotel in Cartagena where we could splash away the days, and still the boys wanted the Amazon.

So we're flying out on Saturday to Leticia where we'll be transported by a 30-minute boat ride to our hotel   The hotel is new - first saving grace - and has air conditioning - second saving grace - and has what looks like an infinity pool next to the river - third saving grace - and only has 10 rooms - fourth saving grace.  We might have used up all our saving graces right there. We shall see.

We have three outings included in our package.  We will visit an indigenous community where we'll meet the village shaman who will teach us about the culture, learn about trees and medicinal plants, and have the opportunity to buy handicrafts.  The second trip is a visit to an Amazonian farm, where we will be able to ride buffalo (I kid you not) and take an ecological walk.  The final outing is a trip to the Peruvian side of the Amazon River by boat where we may or may not see those dolphins, we'll have a view of the what-must-be-famous Victoria Regia Hotel (never heard it but they specifically list it), we'll take another ecological walk, and we can rest in hammocks in the middle of the jungle (cue the mosquitoes).

Sounds like a blast, right?

Pictures to come after the weekend, unless I'm in the hospital with dengue.

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