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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.

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.