This past summer I traveled to Colombia with 2 friends. This wasn't the typical trip you'd see on here with business class flights, everything done with points etc. But I still think it would be helpful to anyone who'd like to travel there.
COLOMBIA TRIP REPORT-JULY 2021
Exchange rate-1 USD=3862 Pesos.
All prices are in pesos.
TSAL-Time Spent at location
Playa-Beach
TIPSAlways speak prices out and what you are expecting beforehand. Whether with guides or cab drivers. They will try overcharging and penny pinching, and cutting things out. Be very clear.
If you see cheap flights grab them they will only go higher. That’s what unfortunately happened to us.
You can get around most places by bus.
Our credit cards worked only in some places. Some places don’t accept credit card.
When the credit card machine asks for a pin, put in the last four of the card number.
ATM’s charge large fees sometimes ($13 was our largest). Sometimes ATM withdrawals are capped at 600K
Additionally for some reason with the ATM we were getting an exchange rate of 3551 pesos plus fees for 1 USD. I’d recommend bringing at least some cash.
For some reason we had issues with booking the Latam flights. They kept declining multiple different cards. Once the flights were booked we had the same issue with booking the extra baggage.
If you’d like to book rental cars, book heavily in advance. Renting motorbikes is an alternative.
Uber didn’t really work for us. Didi which is the Uber of Colombia didn’t either.
Most people don’t speak English. Make sure you have google translate handy.
A lot of areas don’t have service. The amazon, Tayrona, and Minca to name a few.
On domestic flights be there at least an hour before.
We brought a george foreman and sandwich maker, with frozen food (make sure to cover smoke detector). There’s not much in the way of kosher food unless you go with just fruits and vegetables, or stick around chabad.
Chabad-Bogota, Cali, Barranquila, Cartegena, Medellin. Website-https://www.chabad.org/centers/default_cdo/country/Colombia/jewish/Chabad-Centers-and-Synagogue-Directory.htm
ITINIRARYJuly 19-Flight JFK-BOG.
July 20-Flight BOG-LET+Jungle tour+sleep with an indigenous tribe.
July 21-Tour the amazon river+Monkey island+Puerto Narino+pink dolphins+Lunch island
July 22-Flight LET-MDE+Walk around Medellin city+Eat dinner at Chabad.
July 23-Tour Communa 13+lunch in guides restaurant (kosher)+Pablo Escobar grave+Pablo’s farm.
July 24-Shabbos with Chabad.
July 25-Tour Guatape+boat tour.
July 26-Flight MDE-SMR+Walk around Santa Marta city.
July 27-Rent motorbikes+tour Minca mountain and city.
July 28-Covid test+Tour Tayrona on horseback+Go to palomino on motorbikes+Return bikes.
July 29-Take a cab to BAQ+Flight BAQ-MIA-EWR.
DAY 1 JULY 19
Flight JFK-Bog
Departing-1:55PM
Arrival-6:45PM
Airport-JFK
Free Wifi-Yes.
Airline-Delta
Cost-14K points+$21/$205
Duration-5/55
Baggage-Personal carry-on+handbag.Checked bag costs $30. I used Amex plat airline credit.
WiFi-$21 for full flight.
Notes-Must wear mask. No requirements for covid test etc. No request for proof of return. Can get the flight for cheaper 12K points. I just waited around too long. If you see cheap flights grab them, they will not get cheaper. Got delayed an hour still arrived the same time.
Covid
Masks-Yes. Airport and plane.
Covid test-Wasn’t requested.
Proof of return-Wasn’t requested.
Immigration forms etc-Wasn’t requested.
Arrival airport-Bogota
Free Wifi-Yes
Notes-Fairly simple. Nothing complicated. No need for any forms or negative covid tests. Typical city vibe.
Transportation-Taxi 20K pesos to hotel.
Notes-Every single person will try to rip you off once learning you’re a tourist. Just beware. You can try using didi which is Colombia’s Uber. It didn’t work for us.
Lodging-Courtyard marriott
Cost-10K/$64 points per night. Includes breakfast.
Beds-two double beds.
Website-https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bogcy-courtyard-bogota-airport/
Notes-Typical marriott. Clean neat. We brought along food that neeed to be frozen. They accommodated us with no problem, and put everything in the restaurant freezer. Shower was terrible. We made food on a george foreman and covered the smoke detector with a bag.
Cell phone service
Carrier-Claro. The best.
Cost-5K for sim. 10K for service for 10 days. Unlimited texts and calls and 4G data.
Store-Most convenience stores. The mall has a claro store that closes 8:15.
Mall website-https://www.plazaclaro.com/#page-content
Notes-When you buy the sim you must charge it up. Not all convenience stores offer that service. You can either do it in the mall or alternatively online. We couldn’t figure out how to do it online. For some reason our payment didn’t process. The airport has a sim you can buy for $40 for 20 days.
DAY 2 JULY 20
Flight Bog-Let+Jungle tour
Departing-9:03
Arrival-11:02
Airport-Bogota
Airline-Latam
Cost-$135
Duration-2 hours
Baggage-1 carry-on. Checked bag costs $13 online and $23 in airport
Notes-You can bring a backpack and handbag, just don’t stick it in their face.
Arrival airport-Leticia
Wifi-No
Reason for going-This is the entrance to the Colombian amazon.
Notes-Very rural airport vibe. They charge 35K (cash only) tourist tax to enter the city. We didn’t have, so they let us in for free.
Transportation-Taxi can pick one up in the airport.
Cost-10K to hotel.
Contact-+57-312-595-7588
Notes-We found this guy he was very decent.
Lodging-Hotel Madreselva/There are some that stay in Puerto Narino.
Cost-3 person room-70K. Includes breakfast.
Beds-1 double+1 single.
Website-https://hotel-madre-selva.negocio.site/
Notes-No AC only a fan. No hot water. Bad Wifi. This is fairly typical for this area. It was a great chill. They made us feel really comfortable and ordered us taxis and booked us a tour guide.
Activities list
Sleep with an indigenous tribe.
Piranha fishing.
Monkey island.
Jungle tour.
Jungle night tour.
Cayman night tour by boat.
Puerto narino.
Pink dolphin viewing.
Notes-Pretty much all these require a guide to take you. You can combine all these into 2 tours.
Guides
Ramiro-Ramiro-+57-320-241-2271 (speaks english). Seemed like a great guy. We didn’t take him. However he helped us out a lot. I would highly recommend him.
Sebastian-+57-321-434-2367. Sebastian is the owner of the tour agency. He speaks English, however the actual tour is done by a local guide who doesn't speak English. He doesn’t really offer much other than bringing you to all the right spots. You can take a bus boat for cheap to Puerto Narino (I believe 10K)
Activity-Jungle tour
Leave from-Leticia
Cost-900K for 3 people. We got scammed.
Advance booking-Recommended try to get a reputable guide.
TSAL-4 hours. Supposed to be all night.
Guide-Scam. See details later.
Notes-This was supposed to be a full day tour with sleeping with an indigenous tribe. We got scammed and went back to Leticia 2 hours in. See further for the full story. If done right it’s supposed to be an experience to remember. For one person, a different guide who is legitimate, and looked great charged 450K for the full experience. Try to pay within this range. His contact is listed above.
DAY 3 JULY 21
Amazon river tour
Activity-Amazon river tour
Leave from-Leticia
Cost-600K for 3 people. This is standard.
Advance booking-Yes try to get a reputable guide.
TSAL-7 hours
Itinerary-Leave from Leticia/Go to monkey island/Stop for lunch on a beautiful island/Stop at an Indian village/Visit Puerto Narino/Sightseeing the pink dolphins/Everything is done by boat.
Guide-Sebastian-(Ramiro had a different tour already).
Notes-Sebastian is the owner of the tour agency. He speaks English, however the actual tour is done by a local guide who doesn't speak English. He doesn’t really offer much other than bringing you to all the right spots. You can take a bus boat for cheap to Puerto Narino (I believe 10K)
Notes on actual tour-Monkey island was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. You have tens of monkeys climbing all over you eating from your hand. Lunch island is absolutely gorgeous. We loved it. The Indian village is a tourist trap. Puerto Narino is cool. There’s this lookout that costs 15K to go up and you can see the entire Amazon. You also see the villagers and how they live. I got a haircut there for a dollar actually. The pink dolphins all depends on luck, how much you’ll see. Don’t expect to have pink dolphins jumping all around your boat. The dolphins are actually pink though. It’s really cool.
DAY 4 JULY 22
Flight Leticia-Medellin
Departing Leticia -1:29PM
Arrival Bogota-3:24
Stopover length-1/10
Arrival Medellin-5:37
Airline-Latam
Cost-$72
Duration-4 hours
Baggage-1 carry-on. Book checked luggage before. $13 online. $23 in airport. You can get away with carry-on+backpack, just be smooth about it.
Notes-Flight was fairly straightforward. It was easy to find the gate in Bogota.
Arrival airport-Medellin
Wifi-IDK
Reason for going-Shabbos to chabad.
Notes-Typical city airport similar to Bogota. There’s chabad in Cali, Bogota, Cartegena, and barranquila this is the one that worked out for us.
Transportation-We hired a guide and included pickup and drop-off from airport.
Cost-1M total. Airport shuttle plus two days of tours.
Contact-+57-317-727-3171
Notes-Emilio is an absolutely great guy. He’s extremely knowledgeable, he speaks fluent English. I highly recommend him.
Lodging-Hotel Florencia.
Cost-3 person room-150K Includes breakfast.
Beds-3 double.
Reason-Directly across chabad.
Website-https://www.booking.com/hotel/co/florencia-plaza.es.html?auth_success=1
Notes-We originally were supposed to stay at the four points sheraton ($55/night+23 minute walk to chabad) however we tried booking too late and there was no availability. Instead we found this place directly across from Chabad. It’s a hostel, and was neat and clean with 3 beds and a good shower, so we stayed. They gave us a physical key for shabbos, which we left with the receptionist whenever we left. There was someone who stuffed his lock with tissues and had his passport stolen. There is a safe. Most chabad visitors stay here. The higher end options near chabad would be the marriott and the dan carlton. You can buy cubans down the block.
Activities
Communa 13
Guatape
Coffee tour
Paragliding
Horseback riding
Pablo Escobar tour
Guides
Emillio-+57-317-727-3171. Emilio is an absolutely great guy. He’s extremely knowledgeable, he speaks fluent English. I highly recommend him.
Sebastian-+57-313-693-8682. Sebastian speaks fluent English. Has a lot of info, really nice guy. Terrible driver.
DAY 5 JULY 23
Tour of communa 13 and Pablo Escobar
Activity-Tour of communa 13 and Pablo Escobar.
Leave from-Hotel Florencia
Cost-1M for 2 day tour and airport shuttle. For just this its 500K.
Advance booking-Yes try to get a reputable guide.
TSAL-8/9 hours
Itinerary-Leave from hotel/Head to Communa 13/Tour the communa/Go for lunch (Emilio restaurant)/Go to Pablo Escobar grave/Tour Pablo Escobars farm in the countryside.
Guide-Emillio
Notes on Communa-We woke up late plus it was Friday. We therefore missed out on Pablo Escobar’s farm. The Communa tour is interesting I would highly recommend taking a guide who can explain the meaning behind the graffiti, and tell you about the history and culture. Without this it would have been interesting to see but not great. It was interesting to see how these people live. Additionally there are small performances all over by the locals which was interesting. There’s an escalator in the middle so the walk is not terrible. The graffiti was really cool.
Notes on lunch-Emilio took us to his restaurant. We bought fruits and veggies and he had the chef prepare us everything with disposable cutlery. It was complicated to explain, but they were happy to comply. It was a good chill.
Notes on Pablo’s grave-Nothing interesting just a grave. Waste of time unless you want the picture.
DAY 6 JULY 24
Shabbos at chabad
Chabad info
Rabbi Levi-+1-601-909-0770.
Price for Shabbos-125K per person.
Website-https://es-la.facebook.com/chabadcolombia/
Notes-They have a restaurant and serve great food. When we came there were two bochurim who helped us out a ton. Shabbos there were approximately 45 people all Israeli, it was really chilled. We had an unbelievable time. It’s not in the most kosher part of town.
DAY 7 JULY 25
Tour of Guatape
Activity-Tour of Guatape
Leave from-Hotel Florencia
Cost-1M for 2 day tour and airport shuttle. For just this its 554K.
Advance booking-Yes try to get a reputable guide.
TSAL-7/8 hours.
Distance
Medellin-Guatape-2 hours
Time at the rock-1 hour
Lunch
Rock-boat-1/2 hour
Time at boat-1/2 hour
Boat-medellin-2/3 hours
Itinerary-Leave from hotel/Head to guatape/Sightseeing on the rock/Boat tour. (Can add lunch included in price)
Guide-Sebastian. Emillio wasn’t available.
Notes-We went on Sunday and therefore there was crazy traffic on the way back. Go a different day. We made a calculation. To hire the guide or do all this ourselves was pretty much the same price, unless you take a bus. We stopped on the way at a rest stop which was pretty cool. They had horses and gift stores.
Notes on rock-The rock took approximately 20 minutes to walk up. It’s really gorgeous. If you do it yourself there’s a 20K entrance fee. You can take a helicopter up for I think $100.
Notes on boat tour- Was pretty cool. We got to see where Pablo lived and heard the history about the town. Nothing too exciting though.
DAY 8 JULY 26
Flight Medellin-Santa Marta
Departing Medellin-9:41
Priority pass lounge-Yes.
Arrival Santa Marta-10:52
Airline-Latam
Cost-$25
Duration-1/10
Baggage-1 carry-on. Book checked luggage before. $13 online. $23 in airport. You can get away with two carry-on+backpack, just be smooth about it.
Notes-Our flight got delayed (2 hours) and they kept switching the gate on us. Be on top of the situation.
Arrival airport-Santa marta
Wifi-IDK
Reason for going-Tayrona/Minca.
Notes-Very rundown city. This is where we really felt third world vibes. Actual Santa Marta beach is nothing to write home about. Neighborhoods to stay in are Taganga, El Rodadero, and city center. El rodadero is supposedly more high class.
Transportation-Taxi/Motorbikes.
Cost-30K from airport/90K full day-45K half day (6PM)+6% for CC/2% for paypal
Contact
Cab-+57-300-335-7234/+57-300-498-3436-He can take you to Barranquilla. Very honest trying to please. Competitive prices.
Motorbikes (adrenaline addicts)-+57-311-364-2134 (Speaks english)
Website-https://www.adrenalineaddicts.co/
Notes-There’s o need to worry about your bikes getting stolen. Your helmet is another story. In general unless you’re a large group bikes will be cheaper and more fun than a taxi.
Lodging-AC Marriott.
Cost-3 people-$57 nightly.
Beds-2 double
Balcony-Yes, every room.
Reason-Marriott is usually clean and neat. Was cheaper than most other places on that standard.
Website-https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/smrsm-ac-hotel-santa-marta/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2&y_source=1_ODk1NTY1NS03MTUtbG9jYXRpb24uZ29vZ2xlX3dlYnNpdGVfb3ZlcnJpZGU%3D
Notes-Clean hotel but a bit rundown. Terrible service. They charged me for room service to bring plastic-ware. They also were the first hotel that didn’t let me use their freezer. Additionally they didn’t let us eat in the lobby. Right near the city center. Right near the beach, which is rundown.
Activities
Tour Minca mountain (Rent motorbikes) Coffee house, waterfalls, hammock, indigenous. tribes.
Taganga
Tayrona national park
Palomino
Pueblito
El rodadero
Horseback riding-In tayrona or in the mountains.
Guides
Adrenaline Addicts-+57-311-364-2134.
Website-https://www.adrenalineaddicts.co/
Notes-They speak perfect English. We rented the bikes from them and drove ourselves. 110 CC automatic-90K Full day/45K half day (6PM)+6% CC/2% Paypal. They are a bit more expensive (20K) but the ease of dealing with them made it well worth it. Their bikes are great. They also offer full day tours starting at 300K a person all inclusive. There’s no need to have a license. Just a passport. We had an incredible experience with them. They speak fluent english, are easy to work with, and are fun guys.
Mexican guide-+57-300-502-3445.
Notes-We did not take this guy. We met him in Minca village. He speaks English and seemed like a decent guy. He knew the area really well. He wanted 220K for 3 people to tour the mountain, and sleep with an indigenous tribe (including motorbikes).
DAY 9 JULY 27
Tour of Minca mountain on motorbikes
Activity-Minca mountain self-tour on motorbikes.
Leave from-Santa Marta
Cost-Bikes-90K full day/45K half day/No other costs associated.
Advance booking-No need. Unless you plan on hiring a guide.
TSAL-Full day.
Distance
Santa Marta-Minca village-40 min.
Minca village-coffee plantation/hammock-30 min.
Minca mountain-I believe like 2 hours all the way up.
Notes-This was one of the highlights of our trip. It was amazing. However it started pouring halfway through. We continued driving, but due to the rain we only made it to the coffee house. The roads turn into dirt roads. So make sure you know what you’re doing on a bike. The coffee plantation is more of a quaint coffee house as opposed to a factory. You’ll see coffee beans growing though. There are waterfalls as well you can swim in, before and after the coffee house. The hammock at the coffee house is gorgeous. Supposedly the last waterfall is the best. Try getting back before dark. There are great hostels to stay the night in. You can also sleep with an indigenous tribe with the guide listed above. Bikes I believe come out cheaper than a taxi/guide, particularly if your 3 people.
DAY 10 JULY 28
Tour Tayrona on motorbikes
Activity-Tayrona national park. Must bring passports.
Leave from-Santa Marta
Cost
Bikes-90K full day/45K half day
Entrance-75K
Insurance for park not bikes-5K
Parking-5K bike/10K car
Boat round trip to playa crystal-100K for the boat irrelevant to amount of people.
Advance booking-No need.
TSAL-Full day.
Distance
Santa Marta-Tayrona-25 min
Tayrona-Playa Marta-25 min
Playa Marta-Playa crystal (boat)-10 min
Notes-Must bring passports. Again I recommend taking bikes it comes out cheaper. It doesn’t make sense to walk to playa marta, it will take hours. There are 3 entrances to the park. We personally went to the playa crystal entrance. There are other entrances which will take you to other beaches.
Notes on Playa Marta-You will either have to hire a guide at the entrance to Tayrona to take you on bike to Playa Marta, or you can take a bus (find out the times). Once getting there you can either hire a guide to take you on a walk through the jungle to playa crystal (45 min), or hire a boat for 100K (try combining with other groups). We personally thought Playa crystal was gorgeous. It’s surrounded by mountains, and the water is green and clear. The sand wasn’t the greatest though. There are people selling soft and alcoholic drinks on both beaches.
DAY 11 July 29
Cab to Barranquilla+Flight BAQ-MIA-EWR
Cab-Santa Marta-BAQ
Distance-2 hours
Cost-250K. This is standard. You can bargain someone down to 200K. We chose someone trustworthy over cheap.
Contact-+57-300-498-3436-Very honest trying to please. Competitive prices.
Notes-Not all cabs can travel to Barranquilla, they need special permission.
Flight-BAQ-MIA-EWR
Departing BAQ-6:55AM
Priority pass lounge-Yes (Cumbia). Nothing to write home about. Alcoholic drinks are capped at 2 per person.
Arrival MIA-10:53AM
Stopover length-3/02
Arrival EWR-4:47PM
Airline-American Airlines
Cost-$223
Baggage-1 carry-on. You can get away with a carry-on+backpack, just be smooth about it.
Stopover airport-Miami
Priority pass lounge-Yes a few. We went turkish there was no AC, and it was packed. Was not a chill.
Free Wifi-Yes.
Notes-Our flight got delayed 1 1/2 hours, we were stuck on the plane.
Arrival airport-Newark
Free Wifi-Yes.
Covid
Masks-Yes. Airport and plane.
Santa marta test cost-The marriott charges 140K for someone to come to your room and do the test. Results are given 15 minutes later. A clinic in the city wanted 130K for a rapid.
Covid test
Rapid works.
Must be within 72 hours.
Was requested in Colombia. They made it very clear that the US is very on top that they should look at it.
Test was not scanned.
Check-in attendant just took a cursory look at the name and date. Hameivin yavin.
AA now has something called verifly which you can use to check-in online.
Immigration forms etc-Wasn’t requested.
Final NotesAll in all this was a great trip. Cheap, gorgeous, and relatively safe. I would love to go back, and would recommend people to go as well. Just don’t be stupid. You’re a visitor in a country where the average income is a little over $200 monthly. If you go I hope you love it, and I’m glad I was able to be a piece in making the experience easier for you. Good luck!!
OUR CRAZY JUNGLE EXPERIENCEWe originally wanted to book an Airbnb, and were in contact with a host, the cost was $48 for two days. After further research we decided we wanted to sleep in the jungle with an indigenous tribe for the night. However since we were bringing food that needed to be frozen with us we asked the Airbnb if we could keep our stuff in his freezer while we went into the amazon. He said sure, for a $30 fee. We thought that was reasonable and agreed.
Originally any guide we reached out too wanted $250 a guy for 2 days. We thought for Colombia this was pretty steep. We therefore asked our Airbnb if he could connect us with a cheaper guide. He said it shouldn’t be a problem. We did not speak out prices but he seemed like a reasonable guy so we were comfortable. Additionally he said he’d pick us up from the airport and take care of us.
When we showed up at the airport we were greeted by three people. Our Airbnb host, the guide, and a translator. We started negotiating prices and we set on a price of 1.5M for everything included. 2 days in the jungle, sleeping with an indigenous tribe, the freezer, and transportation. This was a bit steep but we were ok with it. We then went and dropped our food and extra clothing off at the Airbnb and then proceeded to get on our way to the jungle.
After leaving the Airbnb we went to the ATM where the guide told us that the freezer wasn’t included in his price and the second night hotel stay wasn’t either included. We were already committed so we just agreed. He tried getting us to pay everything upfront but at this we put our foot down, and said absolutely not!
We continued driving and dropped off our translator. We then picked up an indigenous guy who looked a bit unstable. We were told that contrary to what we had made up this was to be our guide. He didn’t speak a word of English and he had a tooth necklace around his neck with some sort of powder in the teeth that he kept snorting. He also had a necklace with green powder around his neck that looked interesting. We then went to a deserted part of Leticia, a different place than where all tours leave into the rainforest. Once we arrived the guide turned to our driver and seemed very upset. Our driver told us that we can’t go into the jungle with our bags, laptops etc. We should leave everything with him and he’d have it for us when we got back. We weren't happy but we complied, and gave him our stuff.
Our guide then proceeded to try getting us to eat the powder he was snorting and the green powder around his neck. He thought we were scared he was poisoning us so he ate first the green powder turned his teeth all black. It was nasty. We did not know what was in there so we very firmly declined. After much discussion he agreed to stop pressuring us. Despite having serious misgivings and second thoughts we then started our trek into the rainforest. A few minutes in we realized all we had were four bottles of water.
We realized we had to conserve water, and so we did. The whole beginning of the tour consisted of visiting the guides family and friends in Brazil and Colombia, and seeing how they lived. (The Amazon is on the border of Peru, Brazil, and Colombia). This was interesting but wasn’t really a jungle experience. After about an hour we entered the Amazon. We didn’t really see any animals but we saw the dense and depth of the jungle which was awesome. About 45 minutes in our guide stopped at a river and proceeded to strip off his clothes to his boxers and jump in. He then tried getting us to join him. One of us did. When he came back to the bank he told us this is where we were sleeping. We tried arguing with him and telling him we were supposed to sleep with a tribe, but he was adamant. After consulting between ourselves we decided we had, had enough and we told him we wanted to go back. He tried arguing with us but when he saw we were firm he very sullenly agreed to take us back.
We started our trek back and approximately 10 minutes in we realized we were going a completely different route. We also realized that our guide was missing his machete, which was his pride and joy the whole tour. We continued walking without saying anything, and the forest started getting denser and denser. We asked him why he was taking us a different route and he said calm down and we should stop worrying. He then took us off the path to an area where we pretty much had to forge our own path, duck under trees climb over stuff etc. We realized that even our guide seemed to be getting confused which way to go. We then came to a river and he told us we all had to swim across. We told him we couldn’t, we had our phones etc. He tried convincing us after seeing we weren't having it. He continued leading us along the river till we came to a tree trunk we could use to cross.
At this point it started to really get dark and we started getting really nervous. Our guide kept telling us to calm down and relax. Anyway to make a long scary story shorter. After approximately 2 hours of walking we emerged in a completely different area than what we had entered. We were safe B”H. In conclusion. This guy was not a complete scam, however he was definitely unstable, on drugs, and had a completely different idea than what we were looking for.
Our guide then went to call his boss to pick us up. When the boss came he told us that since we weren't happy with the experience we could sleep at the place we’d left our frozen stuff free of charge for the night, but the next night we’d have to pay. We said ok. We arrived there and put our stuff down. We then asked the owner of the apartment how much he’d charge us for the second night. He said 360K (this is $120USD). We told him that’s outrageous it goes for $25 a night on airbnb. He refused to even negotiate. We then stopped fighting figuring we’d figure it out the next morning.
The next morning when the boss came we told him we wanted the second night stay included in the price like we had originally agreed upon. To make a long story short after much back and forth, not only did they not agree they went up in price wanting to charge us more for the freezer for the second night as well. At this point we had just about enough, and we told him to give us our stuff and we would make other arrangements. We wanted nothing to do with him. He then proceeded to call the police on us.
When the police came we tried explaining to them what was going on. It was at this point that a local who spoke English stopped with his wife to see what the whole ruckus was about. We explained everything to him and he pretty much told us we were getting scammed. He explained to the police the whole story and the police said we could go without paying for anything, not even the freezer. The apartment owner then proceeded to accuse us of stealing a towel. We told the police they could go through our bags and proved him to be lying.
The local who had stopped for us turned out to be a local guide (Ramiro contact above). He was already going on a tour, but he gladly took us to a hotel and spoke to them for us, getting us a good price for the night. He also connected us with a different tour guide (Sebastian contact above) who was able to take us on a tour of the Amazon river. All in all it was quite the experience, but all’s well that ends well!
