The town of San Agustín is full of small hotels, guesthouses, hostels, and cabañas, both within the town limits and in the country. There is also a luxury option available.
Mocoa is a small city on the fringe of the Amazon jungle in the department of Putumayo. It’s an unattractive and rather unfriendly place, which is understood given its difficult history with guerrilla forces (it’s safe now). As unappealing as my description may sound, a couple days in this city on the road to Ecuador is worth the trouble – not for the city, but for the natural beauty and wildlife around it.
We decided to do a four day trip to Amazonas, the Colombian Amazon region, with On Vacation. I normally avoid all-inclusive tours like the plague, but the price with On Vacation was just too good to beat.
A vast area of Colombia is made up of virgin jungle which is part of the massive Amazon River Basin. Much of the land is protected area. Some of it is populated with indigenous tribes, including a few that refuse contact, and unfortunately, in some areas, paramilitary forces. Due to these and other factors, it’s a wild and quite dangerous section of the country – definitely not a tourist destination.
Fortunately, there is a small section in the southeastern corner of Colombia that is extremely safe and quite developed for tourism.
Jericó has several budget options for hotels. It’s best to go and ask around. Most of the accommodation is within a couple blocks of each other.
Austin is a fantastic city to visit. It’s got a great vibe with amazing live music, good barbecue, and plenty of cultural attractions. It’s a shame I only had one full day to enjoy it, but I love what I saw and will definitely be back one day.
San Antonio is a fun city in Texas. Unfortunately, we only spent two nights and a full day there so I don’t have much to report as far as basic info. I’m looking forward to going back one day to see more.
Big Bend National Park is one of the largest and most remote parks in the United States. It’s located in West Texas and shares about 118 miles of borderlands with Mexico. It was named after a large bend in the Rio Grande and is the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert in the country.
Van Horn is a small town in West Texas. We stopped for the night after visiting Guadalupe Mountains National Park to the north.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a remote park in West Texas known for its stunning natural beauty. It’s located about 100 miles east of El Paso and a half hour south of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.