Hacienda Napoles

The estate was seized by the state in the 1990s and after years of dereliction was redeveloped by the municipality as a theme park with pools, a safari area and an African-style animal collection. The consequential legacy is biological: four hippopotamuses imported for a private zoo were left when the property was abandoned, escaped into the Magdalena river system, and bred without predators or a dry season to limit them - the population has grown into the low hundreds and is spreading downriver, making it the only established hippopotamus population outside Africa. They damage waterways, displace manatees and capybaras, and have injured people; sterilisation and culling have both been attempted and both are contested. The park itself now presents the estate's history critically rather than as spectacle.

What you actually see

• A safari and water park - built on the confiscated estate.
• The hippo problem - the only wild population outside Africa, in the low hundreds.
• Animals spreading downriver - damaging the Magdalena ecosystem.
• A site presented critically - rather than as a celebration.

When to go

Year round; weekends are busiest. A full day.

Honest expectations

Wild hippos in the surrounding river system are genuinely dangerous and are not part of the park. It is hot and humid year round. The park is commercial and aimed at families. The estate's history draws a particular kind of visitor the park has worked to discourage.

Nearby

Doradal is at the highway; the Magdalena river is east.