Hacienda Napoles — Attraction in Puerto Triunfo

This is Pablo Escobar's house. He had many but this is the one where he called home... Where his family lived...... Where he ran his empire! Now the Colombians have turned it into a Latin Jurassic Park/ Zoo/ Water park!!! Pablo imported 3 hippos in the early 80's which have now grown their numbers up to 36 hippos which are 2nd and 3rd generation from the first 3. At one point in the 90's they broke out of the property when Pablo was killed and the police had to put a few of them down as they were terrorizing the near by town. Also he smuggled many other exotic animals into Colombia. Most of which are still right here in the park. So the good people of this beautiful country decided to make lemonade instead of fur coats!

The property is huge! Waaaaaay bigger than Disneyland!!! The roads that go through the park to take you to the different parts are a little over 14 miles long. The best part is there are no lines... Anywhere! Mainly because this place is quite literally in the middle of no where which is great if your a drug lord... However for an amusement park maybe not so great as its 4 hours from the major cities, Medellin as well as Bogota. The only time this place is busy is on Latin holidays where it becomes standing room only in the not 1, buuuuuut 2 water parks on the property, but any other time its a total ghost town!

I really enjoyed the dinosaurs! They are quite big, and next to them they play dino noises and foot step sounds!!! One of the water parks is even Jurassic themed with dinos hanging out and pouring water all over the place. Its funny this place is nothing like what I thought it was going to be, but instead it delighted everyone with childhood magic and beautiful animals. With the big cats you can quite literally get so close to them you can hear them breathe!!! The entire time I was here all I could think about was the "one liners" from the Jurassic Park movies...

I was brought to this area because of the Hippos that live wild in the area. It was neat to see Vanessa, the hippo, up close and even feed her. However, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was alone in her enclosure, I wish they would put her in the nearby lake with the others. With so many living wild in the nearby Magdalena River, what's one more?

As for the other animals, some were in good condition others weren't. You can see what I mean below with the ostrich's eye. I'm no hippo expert either, but it did look like Vanessa was sad.. but maybe that's how they always look, I'm unsure.

The waterpark is neat and if you're into that sort of thing definitely go. My girlfriend and I went twice whilst in Doradal. It is marketed toward families and children, but nonetheless we had a great time at the water park. The park is priced how you would expect any other zoo, safari, or event, etc.

Be aware that you will need to pay extra to take a Motocarro through the Safari since it is too big to walk and see the animals. Which is a plus, many animals did have a lot of space, but others didn't. I believe our motocarro that took us around the park cost us about 100.000COP. Which was a bit expensive, but just know you can negotiate a bit too.

I hope the park continues to improve the animals' conditions and educate the public about wildlife conservation.

I recommend finding a way to see the hippos in the wild if you can. While it's sad how they got here and they are the largest invasive species, they are fascinating to see. I've attached a few pictures from that trip. Boating down the river you see SO MUCH more than just hippos. We spotted caimans, birds, and monkeys all in their wild habitat which was...

Waste of time and money for an international tourist. The interesting thing here would be the history, not the pathetic zoo of a couple of animals and a kid's waterpark which exist all around the world. And they have really tried to hide the history.

The interesting original Hacienda buildings are nowhere on the map to be found and the original gate has been demolished lately. There's a replica at the museum, but who cares. The original structures are the ones that decaying show how time has passed and let your imagination fly you into their time.

History cannot be erased and it should be observed and learned from, was it positive or not. Colombia should finally stop trying to sweep part of their history under the carpet, even if it was a painful part. Shame on the park administration. Turn the park to a positive zoo, but don't destroy the historical parts and the story.

The entertainment park organization was done relatively well though, but it just isn't the only point of the place. Money-bringing international tourists don't drive to middle of nowhere for that.

Safari part of the zoo with freely roaming animals was pretty ok too, with animals looking properly cared of and having enough free space. Cage animals were a different story, with clear signs of stress in some animals and old small cages. As a side effect the old cages also basically prevented useful photography due to very...