To suggest that Tabatinga’s Mirador Komara is the best place for sunset over the Amazon River would be folly, given the enormity of the river’s geographic expanse. But the outdoor club on the southern outskirts of the Brazilian city would make any list, especially if sipping caipirinhas and local culture-watching are also goals.
Called Mirante da Comara on Google Maps, the popular nightlife destination lies bankside across a wide expanse of the Amazon, where it reunites on the Brazilian/Peruvian border after a brief channel split that encircles the island of Santa Rosa, Peru. The names translate as Comara Viewpoint or Vantage Point, which proved the perfect punctuation to our only experience in Brazil during our week on the Upper Amazon.
My daughters, two grandkids, and I were there on a Sunday, but we returned to Leticia’s El Parque Santander for the spectacular nightly parakeet roost and didn’t stay for the weekly Mirador Komara show that features feathered and sequined dancers performing to Brazilian Samba.
Tabatinga, pronounced Tabachinga in Brazilian Portuguese, adjoins its Colombian sister city Leticia to the south. Cross under an arch with Bem-vindo a Tabatinga splayed atop the rise, and the primary indication that you’re in another country are street signs in Portuguese.
With a population of 67,000 in Ticuna Indian territory, Tabatinga is the largest of the three Tri-border cities, whose combined populations number 100,000-plus. Leticia is home to some 33,000 Colombians; Santa Rosa some 3,000 Peruvians.
The village that came to be called Tabatinga was initially established in the mid-17th century by Portuguese Jesuits. In 1766, it became home to Fort São Francisco Xavier de Tabatinga, the first Brazilian military outpost in the region. Strategically situated on the left bank of the Solimões River, the fort served as a key Portuguese colonial defense against Spanish invaders.
Until 1983, when Tabatinga became an independent Brazilian municipality, the city was governed as part of Benjamin Constant, a town with 44,000 inhabitants located downstream five miles to the southwest.
Today, Tabatinga is a “vibrant and bustling” city known for its natural beauty, diverse cuisine, culture, and warm and welcoming locals, according to Cities.com.
The city offers visitors a lively atmosphere, with a combination of urban and natural beauty, along with cultural attractions that include museums, galleries, and theaters, as well as outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking, and water sports.
But almost three centuries after the Jesuits arrived, the Tres Fronteras region where the three countries come together remains an outpost of contemporary sorts. Within a 10-mile radius of the Mirador Komara beach, dense jungle dominates the landscapes for hundreds of miles in every direction.
Like Leticia, Tabatinga is a jumping off point for Upper Amazon exploration, which suited our purposes.
The next morning, we were on our way to the Amacayacu River to explore the Colombian Amazon.
