Few drug lords in history have became household names like Colombia’s infamous Pablo Escobar, whose cocaine enterprise, the Medellín Cartel, wielded an estimated $30 billion at its height in the mid-1980s, making him one of the richest people on the planet, according to Biography. 

But for all his fame and money, Escobar was eventually killed by Colombian police in 1993, leaving behind a family, a vast drug enterprise, and his prized property, a home he called Hacienda Nápoles (“Naples Estate”) in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia. The property spanned nearly 8 square miles, according to Medellín Guru, and is now a family-friendly tourist attraction. 

Escobar is said to have dedicated much of his energies into making the isolated plot of land in the wilderness his own private playground. According to The New Yorker, Escobar had roads paved, installed artificial lakes, and a private zoo with hippopotamuses, giraffes, zebras, and more. There was also a bull-fighting ring, swimming pools, stables, and a fleet of speedboats. By the time of his death, Brittanica reported that Escobar had collected around 200 animals for his private zoo, many of them native to Africa.

When Escobar was killed in 1993, Hacienda Nápoles was largely pilfered and abandoned, per The New Yorker, and most of the animals in Escobar’s private zoo were moved to various zoos and sanctuaries, save four hippos, an invasive species, that have likely now bred more than 80 hippos that mostly live wild, per CNN.

Pablo Escobar's Estate is now a theme park for families

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