Puerto Nariño: Home of the Pink and Gray Dolphins in the Colombian Amazon

There is a town on the banks of the mouth of the Loretoyacu River in the Amazon, where motor vehicles and motorcycles are banned. It is surrounded by nature, lakes, indigenous communities, and rainforest. This town is called Puerto Nariño and is considered Colombia's most beautiful municipality.

This beautiful town is home to more than three different indigenous ethnic groups: the Tikunas, Cocamas, and Yaguas. It also has more than 22 indigenous communities located along the banks of the Amazon, Loretoyacu, Boyahuazu, and Atacuari rivers.

The Amazon's pink and gray dolphins are the most iconic animals of our region. Here we know them as Bugeos Colorados (pink dolphin) and Tucuchi (gray dolphin), and they are an integral part of our culture, with myths and legends surrounding these mammals.

Puerto Nariño is strategically located at the mouth of a tributary of the Amazon River, next to an important wetland called Tarapoto. Because of this, dozens of pink and gray dolphins live in this area, as it is a crucial feeding source for them. We can guarantee a 100% chance of seeing pink dolphins at the river mouth or in the wetland lakes.

Learn a bit more about the Amazon's pink dolphins

The pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), also known as boto, bufeo, Amazon dolphin, or tonina, is a species of toothed cetacean mammal in the Iniidae family. It is an endangered species. Two subspecies are known: Inia geoffrensis geoffrensis and Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana, distributed across the Amazon basin, the upper Madeira River basin in Bolivia, and the Orinoco basin, respectively.

For information on tours in the Amazon and Puerto Nariño, we recommend visiting the website of the tour operator AmazonasJungleTours.com.