Paria Peninsula

Geographical location

The Paria Peninsula is a peninsula in the state of Sucre in the extreme north- east of Venezuela. The Peninsula separates the Gulf of Paria and the Caribbean Sea. On the peninsula there is the, established on December 12, 1978 37,500 acre National Park Península de Paria. Parts of the 70,000 -acre Turuépano National Park located in the southwest of the peninsula. Politically, the peninsula is one of the administrative districts Arismendi, Mariño and Valdez.

Geography

The highest peak is the 1374 meter high Cerro el Humo. In addition, can be found on the peninsula foothills of the Orinoco Delta. One finds typical sandy Caribbean beaches such as Playa Medina, Playa Pui Pui, Playa de Sotillo Chaguarama, Playa Cangua and Cabo Tres Punta. In the south of the peninsula there are swampy savannah.

Climate

The climate is tropical and warm pariah. The average annual temperature is about 26 degrees Celsius. The rainfall varies greatly between West and East, and north and south of the peninsula. The relative humidity is in the range of 80%. Heavy rains there almost all year round. At the driest months are February to May. On the north coast there are, especially in the months of December and January often storm.

Flora and Fauna

To Flora of Paria include orchids, ferns and bromeliads. In isolated areas, there are also endemic plant species. The fauna is poorly understood and involves many unknown species. Among the endemic birds include Weißfleckenkotinga ( Pipreola formosa ), green breast nymph ( Hylonympha macrocerca ), Oriental small spiny-tailed ( Premnoplex tatei ), mourning hooked beak ( Diglossa venezuelensis ) and gold eyes Warbler ( pariae Myioborus ). Besides hummingbirds can anacondas, manatees, howler monkeys, fat Schwalme, the Rotbauchbussard ( Buteogallus aequinoctialis ), parrots and numerous water birds such as Northern grief Antbird ( Cercomacra nigricans ) or silver gray Ameisenschnäpper watch ( Sclateria naevia ). In 2005, a new species of snake was discovered with the name Taeniophallus nebularis in the cloud forests.

History

On his third voyage, Christopher Columbus set foot on August 5, 1498 for the first time South American mainland. He went on that day allegedly in Macuro to pariah land. However, this historical fact Columbus was not aware of. He assumed that he was an island, similar to the recently discovered offshore island of Trinidad.