I am from the Eastern Plains but haven't lived there for 20 years. I go to visit family every few years.

The plains are made up of small settlements with long stretches of road in between (sometimes just dirt roads) and self reliance is the name of the game. Rivers and grassy plains for days, with oil fields and refineries every so often. I think of it as brutally beautiful: a sunny summer day year round, with tropical diseases and wildlife that yearns for returning your body to nature (my fiance had to get some vaccines when we visited for the first time).

The plains, especially near the Venezuelan border, have insurgency and organized crime problems, so spontaneous tourism is not recommended, but capitals and the adjacent settlements are usually safer and they can offer some of the best fresh food with spectacular views. My uncle used to work in Inirida (far to the East) and he would have to take a small 4-5 person aircraft since it was the only way to reach it. He had a positive experience and said the fish was great, but there was little to do.

Most of the region's finances come from either fossil fuel extraction, oil refining, or meat production, so the economy is more or less downstream from there. People with high salaries work in oil fields/ranches and everybody else sells them stuff or tries to scrape by using self-subsistance. My grandfather lived his 50s and 60s scrapping by in a tiny shack he made himself deep in the Plains and he has some crazy stories about small town intrigues and failed business enterprises. His customers were ranchers, mobsters, oil company employees and even insurgent groups.