Most people don’t think of an endless savannah when they imagine visiting Colombia. But after seeing pictures of Juan Solito Ecolodge there was no way we could pass up the opportunity to see all the amazing wildlife the ranch had to offer.
The ranch is a 17000 hectare nature reserve in the Los Llanos Orientales region of Colombia, also known as the vast plains east of the Andes. This region is home to 100 species of mammals and more than 700 species of birds, with a further 70 species of water birds arriving in the wet season (i.e. great place for birding!) If you didn’t know already, Colombia has 1800 species of birds, which is more than any country in the world and greater than Europe and North America combined.
Blue-grey Tanager 
White-headed Marsh Tyrant 
Burrowing Owl
Juan Solito Ecolodge allows all animals to roam freely on the reserve – even jaguars and pumas – which compromises cattle stock.
Activities at the lodge include a Jeep safari through the entire reserve, a boat trip down the river, horse riding, walking tours and fishing for pirhanas.
Note that the Jeep safari also includes searching for anacondas. We diligently searched the rivers ourselves for the monster snake (we’re from Australia) but if you want to leave it to the guide that’s considered normal.
Jeep safari’s also include a lunch stop at the Hato la Aurora ranch, where you can spend a couple of hours photographing the many birds attracted by bird feeders. Alternatively, you can enjoy walking around the property or ask the guide to teach you how to use a lasso (was not on the itinerary, I think Clinton was the first person to ever consider this a priority)
We seriously considered whether or not to opt for the horse riding, given the large number of patients we have treated in Australia for horse related surgical injuries. Also, we are horse riding virgins. The staff assured us the horses were “muí tranquillo” over and over again, so we decided to give it a go. Rest assured, the horses are indeed very tranquil and we had an awesome experience with just us and the guide meandering through the reserve as if we were 19thcentury cowboys with a GoPro.
At night, the guides whipped out a harp (yes, you heard correctly), two different types of guitars and the maracas. As if they didn’t have enough life skills already, they could play these instruments at a professional level and we had a great time drinking beer, dancing and using Google Translate with the staff.
Getting to the Ecolodge involves a short flight from Bogota followed by a 4 – 5 hour car transfer organised by the lodge or tour company. We used Colombia Oculta travel agency as our limited Spanish did not allow us to communicate with the Ecolodge, and the price was the same as if we had booked with the lodge directly.
As I’m writing this post in the Yopal departures area an airport policeman is singing folk music and shaking the maracas in the gift store. This region is an amazing part of Colombia that shouldn’t be overlooked.
