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IMPORTANCE

It contains a great ecological diversity distributed in the forests: very humid tropical, humid tropical, cloudy and dry tropical. The higher parts of the park are represented by the massifs of the Orosí and Cacao volcanoes. The park includes about 200 km2 with signs of volcanic craters; the ancient craters of Orosí and Cacao are the most prominent. It is also important to mention that between the Orosito hill and the Cacao Volcano, rivers such as the Ahogados and the Colorado are born which, later, together with other rivers, will form the Tempisque River, the main collector of Guanacaste.



The park preserves the largest herd of wild pigs (Tayassu pecari) in the Guanacaste Conservation Area. In itself it constitutes an altitude biological corridor that allows the seasonal migration of a large number of species such as some insects, birds and mammals; that go down to Santa Rosa, during the dry period and ascend to the higher parts, Orosí Volcano and Cacao.







In the province of Guanacaste, North Pacific, 36 km north of the city of Liberia. It is made up of three sectors: Maritza Sector, Pitilla Sector and Cacao Sector, here the biological stations for scientific and related groups are located. Access is by four-wheel drive vehicle and the respective reservations must be made.







ATTRACTIVE



Maritza Sector: Type of forest transition from dry forest to humid forest, aquatic insects, bird watching, water sources, streams and streams.



Pitilla Sector: The rain forest, bird watching, observation of Lake Nicaragua.



Cacao Sector: Dry - humid transition forest, lower cloud forest, top of the volcano (permission is required to climb to the top), bird watching, El Pedregal viewpoint.



FLORA AND FAUNA





Due to its extension, climatic diversity and location, both on the Atlantic and Pacific slopes, the park has great biological diversity in its evergreen humid forest. The forest on the tops of the Orosí and Cacao volcanoes is primary, epiphytic plants such as bromeliads and orchids stand out, there are ferns, araceae and mosses. In this park there are around 3,000 species of plants. The dominant species are the maría, the tempisque, the cork oak, the capulín, the jícaro danto and the golden fruit. The diversity of birds stands out, there are around 300, among them the turkey, the goldfinch, the Montezuma oriole, the toucan, the king of buzzards, the oropopo or spectacled owl, the bell bird, the umbrella bird, the magpie and the bone loader, among others. Some of the most representative mammals are the tepezcuinte, the deer, the jaguar, the cariblanco, the puma, the tapir, the pizote, the frog, the armadillo, the tolomuco and the two-toed sloth. According to estimates of the number of diurnal and nocturnal butterfly species, there are about 5,000 species.

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