When considering Orito as a travel destination, you will encounter nature-related features with different geographical contexts: activities offered in the municipality are distinct from a protected area nearby. Hikes through Andean-Amazonian forests and trips on Andean-Amazonian rivers are offered in connection with the municipality. The Santuario de Flora Plantas Medicinales Orito Ingi is located near the destination. The municipal activities and the protected area play different roles in planning a trip.
Hiking or travelling on rivers
The two types of activity differ in how you get around. Hiking routes pass through Andean-Amazonian forests; river trips take place on Andean-Amazonian rivers. This offers a choice between walking through a forest and travelling on the water. When making your selection, you can consider which kind of movement interests you more on a trip. This comparison helps you pinpoint Orito’s nature-focused appeal: you can choose between two different types of activity, rather than between variations of the same activity.
The activities are offered in connection with Orito at the level of its municipality. The Santuario, by contrast, is located near the destination. This geographical distinction is useful when planning: the hikes and river trips are municipal offerings, while the Santuario is a separate point of interest in the landscape. So when deciding on your trip, it makes sense to consider the activities and the nearby protected area separately.
Forest landscape and Cofán territory
The Santuario de Flora Plantas Medicinales Orito Ingi protects 10,400 hectares of tropical forest, Andean forest and páramo cloud forest. The area therefore contains several named forest types within a protected area. In the municipality, the Santuario is the ancestral territory of the Cofán people. This adds a cultural context to its landscape: the protected area is both a forest landscape and the ancestral territory of the Cofán people. The figure describes the size of the Santuario; the three forest types describe its landscape. The figure can therefore be read as the protected area’s total size, and the list as a profile of its natural environment.
The Santuario is closed to the public and has no ecotourism offerings. Check this visitor access information again before your trip. In your planning, it therefore remains a point of landscape and cultural interest, but not a public visitor attraction.
Choosing Orito as a place to stay
When looking for hotels in Orito, it helps to first decide what you want from your trip. Would you like to focus on a hike through Andean-Amazonian forests or a trip on an Andean-Amazonian river? Or are you interested in Orito because of the nearby protected area and its cultural significance? These questions can help you choose a destination without planning to visit the Santuario as an accessible activity.
Discover more destinations: VillagarzĂłn, Mocoa, Santiago, San Miguel, Puerto AsĂs
Go to the regional travel overview: Putumayo.
