Amacayacu National Park

Amacayacu National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Amacayacu) is a national park located along the Amazon River in the Amazonas Department in the south of Colombia. The park was created in 1975. The word "Amacayacu" means "River of the Hamocs" in the indigenous language Quechua. The Ticuna people currently inhabit a part of the park. The park comprises 4,220 square kilometres of jungle, a significant portion of which is annually flooded by the Amazon River during the wet season. The park's elevations vary from 200 to 300 meters above sea level, and temperatures in the park vary only slightly on an annual basis, from 26 to 28 degrees Celsius.

At present, the park is closed to the public, due to heavier than normal flooding in April to May in 2012. Check the Parques Nacionales Naturales website for updated information.

In order to travel to the Amacayacu National Park, travellers must arrive in the city of Leticia then embark by boat upriver to the park itself. In the park visitors can do different activities such as trips along the Amazon river to different islands like Mico's island where you can find hundreds of monkeys, Mocagua's island where one can see Victoria Regia or lotus flower and one of the most interesting activities: a trip up the Amazon River to Tarapoto Lake which has botos (Amazon river dolphins).

The park includes accommodations that consists of a maloka where travellers can sleep with a group of people in hammocks or cabins for 2 to 4 travellers.

A recommended visit lasts approximately three days. Travellers must be very careful about mosquitos when the sun goes down. Travellers are advised to wear shirts with long sleeves and long trousers.

The park is of considerable interest to scientists. Many zoological specimens have been collected in the park.