COLOMBIA

Despite a wealth of natural beauty, Colombia is perhaps South America's most notorious country, due to problems with drugs and terrorism—with the two being closely related. Spanish is the main language, like most South American countries. The main place visited by tourists in the Colombian Amazon is Leticia. This is a town of about 20,000 located on the main stream of the Amazon where the borders of Colombia, Peru and Brazil meet—hence the area is also called "Tres Fronteras" (Three Frontiers). Leticia is a remarkably safe and friendly town, considering Colombia's poor reputation for security. Various factions have been embroiled in a civil war for the past 25 years. It seems most of the problems that have affected the rest of the country have yet to filter down to Leticia.