Pink dolphins and reformed Colombian rebels turn no-go zone into ecotourism hit

Far upriver in the rainforest, the lure of rare pink river dolphins is creating jobs and promoting conservation and reconciliation after a 50-year war

“The dolphins are more playful than us,” says Diego Cifuentes, co-founder of Villa Lilia Agroecoturistico, a community dolphin-watching project on Colombia’s Lake Nare. “If you give off good energy, they may even touch you.”

Cifuentes is sitting on a boat in the middle of a lake surrounded by thick forest, a two-hour boat ride from San José del Guaviare. In the water, a dozen tourists bob in fluorescent lifejackets, waiting for the chance to meet a boto, the local name for the pink Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). Soon enough, a plume of steam bursts from the water and the humped backs of three botos glide through the surface. The tourists giggle and squeal at the momentary encounter with the rare cetacean.