Hacienda Napoles

Hacienda Napoles (Spanish for "Naples Estate") was the luxurious estate built and owned by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Puerto Triunfo, Antioquia (320 km NW from Bogotá). The estate covered about 20 km² of land.

History

It included a Spanish colonial house, and a complete zoo that included many kinds of animals from different continents such as giraffes, ostriches, elephants, ponies, rare antelopes and exotic birds. The ranch had a large collection of old and luxurious cars and bikes, a private airport and even a cart racing track.

Following Escobar's death in 1993, his family went into a legal struggle with the Colombian government over the property. The government prevailed and the neglected property is now managed by the Municipality of Puerto Triunfo.

The cost of maintenance for the zoo and the animals was too expensive for the government, so it was decided that most of the animals would be donated to Colombian and international zoos. Some of the last survivors are the hippopotamuses which have become wild. There are plans to take them to a Costa Rican zoo. There still are buffalos, zebras , a rare goat and one ostrich.

Various features

* The estate's entrance has Escobar's first plane as a decoration with a lot of cocaine inside. It is this plane which carried the first shipment of 5,000 kilos of cocaine that Escobar delivered to the United States.
* The rumor about Escobar buying the car in which Bonnie and Clyde were shot by police has been widely spread, but the truth is that Pablo bought that car in an old junk yard in Medellin and filled it with bullets with his own machine gun. He kept it as a treasure exhibited in the zoo, and when asked about it he would say "Eso es pura mierda que habla la gente.(That's just shit that people say)".
* There are some dinosaur statues in a section of the estate. Escobar had a dream of building a theme park with life-sized dinosaurs and a mammoth but the plans were never completed.

Recent years

In September 2006, there was a rumor about building an anti-crime museum about Pablo Escobar, a jail and a theme park. The jail is currently in construction and the dinosaur park has been restored. [http://www.portafolio.com.co/port_secc_online/porta_entre_online/2006-09-04/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_PORTA-3259825.html] .

By November 2006, the property ownership passed to the Colombian government and was valued at 5 billion Colombian pesos (Approx $2.23 million U.S. dollars). [http://www.presidencia.gov.co/sne/2004/agosto/12/22122004.htm]

External links

* [http://www.elcolombiano.com.co/proyectos/serieselcolombiano/textos/extincion_dominio/oct13/napoles.htm Article in Spanish with recent photos]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyTJjbBVXHs Hacienda Napoles Video]