Columbia's former prison island, Gorgona now open for ecotourism

Columbia's former prison island, Gorgona, is now open for tourists and snakes. The island is home to three known venomous species of snakes including Bothrops asper and two species of coral snakes -- Micrurus dumerilii and Micrurus mipartitus. The tourists have to wear boots before stepping foot on the Gorgona National Park. The island inhabits a host of other wild animals as well.

Famous for its snakes, tourism was unattainable for the Island until now.

The Columbian island got its name from its Spanish discoverers. In 1527, Francisco Pizarro arrived at the island on his way to Peru. He, along with his thirteen men, inhabited the island for seven months. Pizarro lost many of his men to snake bites. Thus, the name Gorgon which refers to a mythical female monster (also known as Medusa in some mythologies) who had a head full of venomous snakes for hair.

According to the Gorgona National Natural Park authority, the island was closed for tourists since it lacks tourism operators and doesn't have accommodation or restaurant services. The park, until now, was open to researchers and scientists arriving on diving boats during daylight hours. However, it now open to the general public.

Gorgona was a maximum-security prison for 25 years until 1984, when scientists, environmentalists, and human rights defenders led a campaign to close the prison. The Park was thus created and incorporating a great portion of the marine area around it.

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The prison was supposed to be escape-proof as the island was surrounded by shark-infested waters. However, some prisoners -- who were part of the timber cutting crews -- are said to have escaped on rafts out of balsa wood.

Gorgona also houses many unique species of reptiles like the endemic blue anole, the only all-blue anole lizard in the world. 

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