Chiribiquete: Quick Travel Guide (2023)

Located between the high sources of the Apaporis River and the Yarí River, in the territory of the departments of Guaviare and Caquetá, and consecrated as a National Natural Park only in 1989, the Chiribiquete mountain range is, in the opinion of the writer of these lines, the “last undiscovered lost world of the planet”.

It is a group of tepuis, savannahs, jungles, black rivers and waterfalls spread over an area of 1,280,000 hectares that make up the most beautiful and ignored landscape, not only of the Colombian jungle, but of the entire terrestrial geography.

The tepuis, undoubtedly the most beautiful and impressive element of the park, are tabular mountains or plateaus with vertical walls and completely flat summits. Six of them reach more than 1,000 meters high. Some have sparse vegetation arranged in circular or ovoid lines that follow complex telluric forces.

Useful data if you are going to visit the Serranía de Chiribiquete

• Name: Serranía de Chiribiquete. The National Natural Park of the same name was created in 1989.
• Location: Between the departments of Guaviare and Caquetá. The park is bordered to the north by the high Apaporis springs and to the south by the Yarí River.
• Area: It is the largest National Natural Park in Colombia, with 1,280,000 hectares.
• Climate: Amazon rainforest climate, with an average annual rainfall of 4,500 millimeters and a temperature that ranges between 23°C and 25°C.

• Access: Although access is very difficult, the least complicated way is to take a plane to Araracuara, descend the Caquetá River to the mouths of the Yarí, enter by the Yarí and take either the Mesay or the Cuñaré.
• Nearby municipalities: Puerto Santander in Amazonas and Araracuara in Caquetá.
• Fauna: A true paradise of biodiversity, the park is home to all the mammals of the Amazon.
• Flora: The different types of jungle (dry, flooded, “caatingales”), are home to many species of flora. Particularly curious is the capiruní, a tree whose branches have terminations that resemble the human phallus in a surprising way.
• Recommendations: The park is not open to visitors, only to scientists and researchers authorized by the Ministry of Environment.