About Leticia
Our Jungle Specialty l Plans & Packages l 1 Day Tours l Lodging l Services l About Us l Photo Gallery l Guestbook
The city of Leticia is situated in the heart of the jungle on the shores of the famous. It was founded in September of 1867 by the Peruvian captain Benigno Bustamante. It was originally a police and customs post known by the name of San Antonio. Some years later a Peruvian engineer by the name of Manuel Chacon bestowed the name of his beloved Leticia upon the little town. Even though isolated, the town developed, nevertheless, due to its strategic position near two other international borders. This fact attracted businessmen and settlers to the region. Leticia is now the capital of Colombia’s Amazon national territory.
Approximately 4½º south of the equator, Leticia is Colombia’s southernmost city. It is in an area known as the “Three Frontiers” since it is located at the point where the borders of Colombia, Peru and Brazil meet. All three countries can be viewed at a glance from Leticia, and it is possible to visit all three in a single afternoon. This international junction is an important factor in the economic and social life of this region.
Besides being a center for both national and international tourism, Leticia is also a commercial river port of regional importance. Local industries include aquarium fish exportation, soft-drink manufacturing, handicraft production, and commercial fishing. Although rubber and wood industries flourished here previously, as well as organized hunts and wild game exportation, these have greatly diminished or are strictly controlled by law.
Leticia has a population of more than 40,000 inhabitants and is a lovely, modern city. Since there are no overland access routes, you can only arrive by air or river transport. There are, in fact, several passenger flights a week connecting Leticia with Bogotá (Colombia), Iquitos (Peru), and Manaus (Brazil). Small riverboats arrive and depart with frequency providing cargo and passenger services between the river towns and although Leticia may seem remote, it has telephone, fax, internet and postal service to all points of the globe.
The regional climate is torrid due to its geographical position. Hence, the days are quite hot. The mean temperature is 28º C. with lows around 18º and highs about 32º. Due to its thick forestation, the climate is also very humid. There are more than 200 rainy days a year, Leticia has an average yearly rainfall of 3.2 meters.
