Barra Honda National Park

The Barra Honda National Park is in the northwest of Costa Rica on the Nicoya Peninsula. It was founded in 1974 to protect one of the largest cave systems in Costa Rica.

The park covers an area of ​​about 2300 hectares located on the southwest shore of the river Tempisque. It consists largely of laubabwerfendem, tropical dry forest ( secondary forest ), smaller parts are covered with evergreen forest and shrub vegetation. Representatives of the fauna are howler monkeys, agoutis, peccaries and anteaters.

In the area of the National Park there are 42 caves which have arisen in the past 70 million years of erosion. They were discovered in the early 1970s. Bones and stone artifacts testify that the caves were already used over 2000 years ago by the ancestors of the indigenous population.

About half of the caves has so far developed. The deepest 200 meters cave is the Cueva Santa Ana, in the so-called " Pearl Hall " is located with stalactites and stalagmites, which forms the visitors stimulate names like " lion's head ", " fried eggs " and " shark teeth ". Here and in the cave Pozo Hediondo ( Stinktopf ) live large populations of bats. For visitors relatively well accessible about 60 meters deep cave is Terciopelo (named after the Terciopelo Pitviper ) with five halls. The descent can only be done under guidance with rope ladders and rope safety.