What makes Colombia so special compared to other Latin American countries, is the feeling you still have a lot to discover. Not that you are the ‘first’ to explore, but there is so much to see and do, and not all can be found in the regular guide books. It’s easy to get of ‘the beaten track’ and enrich your experience in Colombia with something different. Most of the itineraries are confirmed around some of the highlights, while back at home, the experiences you didn’t plan, or found in the guidebooks, are best remembered. The Orinoquía is probably one of the best regions to combine your Colombia trip with some ‘of the beaten’ components.
Hato la Aurora is a huge reserve in the middle of Casanare. Here you find the lodge ‘Juan Solito’, which offer good accommodation, and is probably the best place in Colombia for wildlife spotting. Together with the Panthera Foundation, they have worked hard to conserve and recover the jaguar population in the region. Making this spot even more unique.
The Tuparro National Natural Park is located in the municipality of Cumaribo in the Department of Vichada, in the Orinoco Region, approximately 6 hours from Puerto Carreño. The territory extends over an area of 548,000 hectares and is bathed by the Tomo River to the north, and the Tuparro, Tuparrito and Caño Maipures rivers to the south. The Tuparro is an extensive green savannah crossed by large rivers with powerful streams and golden beaches, small streams of crystalline waters, gallery forests, morichales and salt marshes, as well as enormous crystalline rocks in the form of rounded hills.
The Mesetas municipality is located in the deparment of Meta, at a distance of 3 hours from Villavicencio, the capital. This territory combines the best of the plain, the jungle, and the mountains. Over time, Mesetas has become a tourist destination due to the attractions of nature that it has: rivers, waterfalls, diversity of flora, and fauna. Previously, this was a territory highly affected by the guerrillas, but here the symbolic act of handing over weapons was carried out in the peace process between the armed group FARC and the government in 2017. Today there is tranquility in the municipality, and ecotourism and adventure tourism are becoming stronger.
