Write a comment
For years travelers wishing to go from Iquitos to either Brazil or Colombia on the Amazon River had to make a quite boring and uncomfortable, nevertheless exciting 3 days / 2 nights journey on a slow boat or a day trip on a fast boat. Now these times seems to be over.
In just a few days the first ferry connecting Iquitos with Santa Rosa, the little Peruvian border town on an island which is known as the three frontiers, is inaugurated. And the good thing: the trip only takes 8 hours. From there, after visiting police and immigration, travelers can catch another boat either to Colombia or Brazil.
The Norwegian-made high speed craft named “Amazonas I” can transport 296 passengers and 20 t cargo and will not only benefit foreign travelers, but especially one million locals by connecting Iquitos with the little Amazon villages Indiana, Pebas, San Pablo, Caballococha and Santa Rosa.
According to the captain, Carlos Escarpati, the ferry ushers in a new era of traveling on the Amazon. The “Amazonas I” not only makes the trip much faster and more comfortable by having readily available bed-seats and tables, a TV system, toilets, a kiosk and VIP facilities, but also much safer by providing life jackets and a space in a lifeboat for each passenger and using modern European technology including a navigation system, security system, GPS and real-time location system.
