Hato La Aurora

The Llanos are flat seasonally flooded savanna, and the ranches that work them - hatos - run cattle across enormous areas. La Aurora covers around seventeen thousand hectares and the family took the decision in the 1970s to ban hunting on it, which over decades has made the wildlife unafraid: capybaras in large groups, caimans, giant anteaters, deer, hundreds of bird species, and a puma and jaguar population that is present though rarely seen. It is one of the more reliable places in Colombia to see the llanos fauna in the open rather than in forest. Visits are by booked stay with the ranch, using horses and open vehicles. The dry season concentrates animals at remaining water; the wet season floods the plain and access becomes difficult.

What you actually see

• Wildlife unafraid of people - after fifty years without hunting.
• Capybara, caiman, anteater and deer - visible in the open.
• A working cattle ranch - seventeen thousand hectares of it.
• Seasonal flooding - which changes access entirely.

When to go

December to March, the dry season, when animals concentrate at water. Several days.

Honest expectations

The wet season floods the plain and the ranch becomes hard or impossible to reach. Access is four-wheel drive on rough tracks. Stays must be booked - it is a ranch, not a park. Heat, sun and mosquitoes are heavy.

Nearby

Paz de Ariporo is south; the llanos run east to the Orinoco.