Tres Fronteras: Visiting Colombia, Brazil and Peru in a Single Day

Tres Fronteras is a Tri-Border Area in the heart of the Amazon, where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil converge at a single point. Great for those who are chasing countries or for those like me, who just enjoy being!

Most visitors arrive here by flying in from Bogotá. From Leticia, Colombia, you can cross into Tabatinga, Brazil, then continue to Santa Rosa, Peru, before returning to Leticia.

It is one of 175 Tri Points around the world, and my third after the Thailand, Laos and Burma, known as the “Goldern Triangle”, and The Three Country Point NL / BE / DE, where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany all meet at a single point.

The thing that makes this particular tri-point unique, is that you can travel to and fro across the border without the need to show your passport as it is a free-passage zone for tourists and locals alike.

And if you make it to this neck of the woods, it’s one of the fun things to do whilst staying in Leticia.

With my buddy Clay, I completed the Trifecta Challenge, visiting a hattrick of three countries in one day.

The three towns of the Trifecta Challenge in the Amazon Basin are:

• Leticia in Colombia
• Tabatinga in Brazil
• Santa Rosa in Peru

We were staying in the Colombian town of Leticia. We did many notable things in Leticia.

• We stayed four nights in total
• I took nine showers during my stay
• Ate street food
• Ate pizza
• I drank two small beers, Clay a few more
• Four litres of water on each of the three days

Are these notable things? I think so.

But on our first morning, the day of the Trifecta Challenge, we went to a small eatery up the street.

I took a rather yummi tamales with egg, chicken and beef. Clay had a sandwich with cheese, ham and egg. And we both had a lulo juice.

In preparation for our trip down the Amazon to Manaus, we walked back to the airport (we had flown in the day before on an Avianca flight from Bogotá) to get stamped out of Colombia. Once that was done, we took a tuk-tuk to the Brazilian town of Tabatinga.

First, we went to the immigration to get stamped into Brazil, and then to port to check out the ticket situation for our trip to Manaus (you might need an entry stamp for Brazil to buy your ticket) and then we headed to the main market street down near the local port.

We tucked into rice and beans (for me) and pasta with chicken (for my travel buddy):

I paid in Reals which I had acquired back in Mexico.

Then for the third part of the Trifecta Challenge, we took a lancha across the Amazon to Chineria Island/Isla Chineria and the village of Santa Rosa.

The boat ride was just five minutes or so, and we paid 10 Reals each.

We walked around a little taking photos:

We stopped at the Hostal Restaurante Rio Gamboa and shared a beer.

In Peru, they use the Peruvian Sol but take Colombian Pesos and Brazilan Reals too.

We paid in Colombian Pesos.

Continuing our exploration, we ended up at the Brisas de Amazonas where we took ice cream.

It is imperative to do notable things when going on short visits. So other than ordering a beer and an ice cream each, I peed twice and made friends with some locals doggies too. We were there two hours or so.

Then we took another Lancha back to Leticia. 10,000 COP each.

The Trifecta Challenge is not so much as a challenge, more of a fun thing to do.

So we were both in Peru illegally (lol) and now, since we are already stamped out of Colombia and into Brazil, I guess we are illegal back here in Letica.

Does Peru count as a country visit? After all, I saw just a tiny village out of the whole of Peru. Technically I was there.

What do you think?