National Parks of Costa Rica
Tempisque Conservation Area
Barra Honda National Park
Area: 2,295 Ha
Location: Guanacaste Province, 22 Km northeast of the city of Nicoya.
The barra Honda Peak, rising some 300 meters above the surrounding countryside, is formed by limestone reefs -that is , an upheaval of ancient coral reefs produced by faults in the earth's crust. This peak is on the order of 60 million years old.
Barra Honda contains a diverse system of independent caves, 19 of which have been explored to date. The depths of the caves vary greatly, the most noteworthy is the Santa Ana cave, which reaches 240 meters. The most ornate are the Terciopelo, Trampa, and Santa Ana caves, with a profusion of stalagmites, stalactites, pillars, cave pearls, helictites, popcorn, mushrooms, shark's teeth, chalk flowers and needles, and other formations.
The vegetation of the park is mainly deciduous. Some of the most common species of trees are the wild plum, gonzalo alves, tempisque, gumbo-lindo, and wild cotton.
The fauna is fairly varied, with species such as the white-faced monkey, coyote, common long-nosed armadillo, white-tailed deer, racoon and white-nosed coati being the most commonly spotted.
