Pearls of Life: Traveling to Puerto Nariño Amazon River with my friend.

View of Puerto Nariño in the Amazon, Colombia.

Picture from the Wikimedia Commons, File: Puerto narino.jpg license “Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License” from James Richardson, 2009.

Traveling to the Puerto Nariño community on the Amazon River in Colombia with my friend was an amazing experience. The mission was to be familiar with the lifestyle of the community of the Amazonian people living on the riverbank.

I was already in Leticia town of the Amazonian Colombia and after spending a full 3 days with other communities I had the urge to spend a few days with my friend visiting another community. Puerto Nariño is the second municipality of the Amazonas department of Colombia, located on the shore of the Amazon River. Most of the residents are indigenous from the Ticuna tribe. 

Boat Ride in the sunset on the Amazon River.

I had the idea that the needs of the communities around the Amazon River and in the town are different. In my previous trip, I was approached by the Shaman and by the head of the community with different demands of needs. Some communities have the need to have health care and vaccinations. Others have the need to have doctor visits. While on the other hand, some have the need to have school and teachings in the community.

The diversity of the communities is noticeable. Not only as their location on the river and the distance from the town but also as a result of their leadership and the structures that the governing is input into the society. As a general picture, I have witnessed the strong connections between the leaders and the communities and the people among themselves and the Amazonas people among themselves. Their lifestyle is an ecological community living with the river cycle of nature. The town is all pedestrian with no car or motorcycle in the area. 

Boat Ride on the Amazon River.

Exploring Puerto Nariño was an opportunity that I grabbed due to the fact that my friend that I was traveling with was living in Letitica and was familiar with traveling in the Amazonas River. My friend was fluent in Spanish and English and he was able to navigate between the boats, traveling, the direction and found at the last minute accommodation. We were welcomed in the community of Puerto Nariño with open arms. I was surprised to find that this community is more modernized than other communities as they are well established with the accommodation, roads, internet connection and social community life. I was very happy to share the accommodation with my friend and others in a new build up structure inside the jungle. A little bit remote from the community center, which means that after dark we couldn’t go in and out and we had to cook our meal outside in the stone oven. It was the first time I had a Colombian arepa, made in a stone oven at night, inside the Amazon Jungle. 

Ayahuasca Tree in the Amazon Jungle.

The sensation of the jungle night at the community is memorable as an extra-ordinary experience, which added wellness to my lifestyle. I was able to meditate in the early hours of the morning and to see the sunrise coming between the trees. Wellness, resilience, determination and meditation all are integrated to one sphere among the Amazon Jungle nature. I highly recommend it for anyone that is willing to experience this kind of natural tour adventure.