Amazon Three Borders 3-Day Tour: Leticia, Puerto Nariño & Cacao Island

The Amazon three borders tour covers a piece of geography that very few travelers reach: the point where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil converge at the edge of the world’s largest rainforest. Over three days and two nights, you move between a Colombian natural reserve, a car-free Amazonian town, and the Peruvian community of Cacao Island — each with its own character, its own wildlife, and its own way of relating to the forest around it.

Day 1: Flor de Loto Natural Reserve

Day one begins at Leticia’s airport with a transfer to the Flor de Loto Natural Reserve. The reserve is your first introduction to what the Colombian Amazon actually feels like when you’re inside it rather than looking at it from a boat: birdwatching along water channels, canoeing through flooded forest, artisanal fishing with local methods, and a night outing after dark when the sounds and the sights of the jungle shift entirely. You spend the first night here, with no electric power and no city noise. A flashlight, rubber boots, and a willingness to be present is all the equipment you need.

Day 2: Puerto Nariño and a Tikuna Family Dinner

Day two takes you to Puerto Nariño — one of the most ecologically preserved towns in the Colombian Amazon and one of the few places in the country where cars are not allowed. Everything in Puerto Nariño moves by foot or by boat. The town’s lookout tower offers a view of the Amazon’s floodplain that no photograph quite captures. The craft shops and monuments reflect a community that has chosen, deliberately, to live in relationship with the jungle rather than apart from it. In the evening, a family from the Tikuna indigenous community hosts your group for dinner at their maloca. The Tikuna are one of the largest and most historically significant indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin, and this dinner is not a staged event — it is an invitation into a home and a tradition.

Day 3: Cacao Island and Community-Led Conservation

Day three crosses the border. A boat takes you to the Peruvian community of San Antonio, on Cacao Island. The community has built an ecological trail through the surrounding forest — not for tourism, but for conservation. The trail was created to observe, study, and protect the primates, birds, and sloths that live in this stretch of the Peruvian Amazon. You walk it with your guide, who explains what the community is doing and why. This kind of community-led conservation, where the people who live alongside the wildlife are the ones responsible for protecting it, is one of the Amazon’s most important stories. The trail ends with a traditional lunch before the boat returns you to Puerto Nariño and then to Leticia.

Three Days, Three Different Sides of the Amazon

Across all three days, the tour covers a range of what the Amazon offers that no single day trip can reach. The natural reserve gives you the landscape. Puerto Nariño gives you the culture and the history. Cacao Island gives you the conservation reality — what it actually takes to keep this ecosystem functioning, and who is doing that work.

Practical Details for Your Trip

A few practical notes worth knowing before you book: yellow fever vaccination is mandatory for the Amazonas department, and it needs to be done at least two weeks before you arrive. Rubber boots are provided — give us your shoe size when you book. Bring a personal flashlight for the first night at the reserve. Long sleeves, long pants, mosquito repellent, and waterproof clothing are the right equipment for three days in the jungle. All meals and both nights of accommodation are included.

Pair It With More of the Amazon

For travelers who want even more time in the region, the LINK: Amazonas Natural and Cultural 5 Day Tour → Amazonas Natural And Cultural 5 Day Tour extends the experience further into the territory and its communities. For those with a shorter window, the LINK: Amazon Jungle Overnight at Tarapoto Lake Tour → Amazon Jungle Overnight At Tarapoto Lake Tour offers one night and two days inside the reserve.

Book Your Amazon Three Borders Tour

Ready to reach the heart of the Amazon across three countries? Book the Amazon Three Borders tour above and your private guide will handle everything from airport pickup to the final return to Leticia — all you need is your yellow fever certificate, a flashlight, and the right boots.