Monkey's Creek: extreme hiking in tropical dry forest · 35 km from Cartagena

Monkey's Creek: hiking inside a forest that is rebuilding itself.

This is not a recreational trail. Monkey's Creek runs through the core of a tropical dry forest reserve where the foundation releases, monitors, and reintegrates parrots and macaws seized from illegal trade. Every step you take happens inside an active restoration project: corridors being planted, nests being tended, flocks being observed.

The day starts with a traditional breakfast by the lake and a short talk about the conservation work. Then you head out with a guide onto a demanding trail — steep terrain, stream crossings, ascents through mature forest and zones of natural regeneration. Along the way you encounter howler monkeys, white-faced monkeys, and tití cabeciblanco in the wild, plus parrots, macaws, and up to 200 bird species that live in the ecosystem. Before the day closes, you help feed some of the animals in the reintegration process and plant a native tree.

35 km from Cartagena, an ecosystem almost no one sees.

Tropical dry forest is one of the most threatened ecosystems in Colombia: less than 8% of its original cover remains. Villanueva, Bolívar, holds one of the most important fragments in the Caribbean — and the Fundación Loros reserve protects 1,300 acres within it. Walking it means understanding, in concrete terms, what is being lost and what is being recovered.

The full value of your experience is reinvested in the foundation's mission: rehabilitation of psittacines, tropical dry forest restoration, and work with the farming families who sustain the territory.

"An amazing hike through real jungle — we saw monkeys, exotic birds, and stunning scenery. Totally off the beaten path and worth every minute." — Dustin F., Viator (enero 2026)

The primates of Monkey's Creek

The trail takes its name from its monkeys. You hike beneath the copper coats and booming dawn calls of red howlers — and, with luck, glimpse the cotton-top tamarin, found nowhere on Earth but northern Colombia.

Red howler monkey · Alouatta seniculus

The loudest voice in the dry forest — its roar carries for kilometers, most often at dawn.

Cotton-top tamarin · Saguinus oedipus

Critically endangered and endemic to northern Colombia, unmistakable for the crest of white hair on its head.

On the trail

Monkey's Creek is a real expedition — and the forest hides surprises, like a wildlife mural deep in the green.