Leticia, Colombia/Tabatinga, Brazil - Breakfast consists of scrambled eggs with chili sauce and refried beans in Columbia. For lunch there is charcoal-grilled fish in Peru. And rounding things off at sundown are caipirinha cocktails in Brazil. What sounds like a wealthy jet-setter's day can be had by any backpacker for just 50 dollars, a price that includes an overnight stay at a hotel, a ride on a motorcycle taxi and a boat trip.
But first you have to get there: the tri-border area in the Amazon Basin, smack in the middle of a rain forest laced with the mighty river's tributaries.
Even the place names here hint of tropical adventure. Leticia is in Colombia. Tabatinga is in Brazil. And Santa Rosa, a Peruvian island in the Amazon River, can be seen from both towns.
Crawling with navy, army and police personnel from all three countries, the tri-border area is generally avoided by drug barons, kidnappers and other bad guys.
Every Sunday afternoon is party time on the outskirts of Leticia. The music is loud, rum and beer flow freely. A woman adjusts ribbons in her granddaughter's hair. Some locals, along with two "gringos," play volleyball on a lawn flanked by tall trees. The sun casts its dying rays on the blue-brown water as it dips behind a thick curtain of green.
Time now for Peru, where another party runs until deep in the night. Small boots, some illuminated, make for Santa Rosa from Tabatinga and Leticia.
Several generations dance in three wooden-shanty bars there. The rhythms in Peru are similar to those in Brazil and Colombia: salsa, rock, merengue and bajata along with some rap and lambada.
Among the revellers are two globetrotters from Miami. One of them, a 25-year-old named Jim, raves about Colombia's Amacayacu National Park, which is about 80 kilometres away.
He spreads his arms wider and wider as he says, "I saw anacondas there on two days. No one will believe me back home. Luckily, I have got photos."
Rene Riveros nods in agreement. A Brazilian who operates a travel agency in Leticia, he prefers to drink his beer in Peru. "Life's relaxed, no passport checks, no racism," he says. "The people from the three countries get along well."
Guests at the Hotel La Frontera get a close-up of two countries at once. Its facade lies in Colombia, while Brazil is just a metre away. From the hotel's long balcony you can see both countries' flags, as well as delivery vans, motorcycles and pedestrians crossing the border.
The border post in Tabatinga is not manned at this particular moment, and the guards in Leticia casually wave everyone through.
Javier Espiritu Ramos is director of the Decameron, a hotel in Leticia. He is familiar with travel advisories by some European countries and the US State Department warning of violence and other security risks.
"Colombia's peace process has made progress in recent years and there are fewer dangers," he says, referring to clashes between government forces and guerrillas.
As for the tri-border area, he adds, attacks are almost unheard of.
Be that as it may, Riveros believes in vigilance. "You have got to be cautious everywhere and never get careless," he says. "Here, too."
Internet: www.columbiaispassion.com, www.peru.info, www.braziltour.com.
