| Duration: | 4 Hour(s) - 0 Minute(s) |
| Tour Category: | Half Day Tour |
This incredible protected area measures about 4,700 Hectares and is home to approximately 48% of Costa Rica’s aviary species. This Jaco tour will show you the importance of the region, as it is situated in a transitional region between the tropical dry forest and the humid pacific rainforest. This Jaco tour showcases colorful species of flora and fauna from a varied ecosystem. You will be able to spot the Scarlet Macaw, Collared Aracai and various monkey specimens. At the end of this Jaco tour, your operator will arrange transportation to take you back to your hotel.
Carara is one of Costa Rica’s most popular National Parks, in large part due to its proximity to San José. This is also where many cruise ship’s passengers are bused for a day trip when the liners dock just up the coast at Puerto Caldera and a common destination for field trips by schoolchildren.
One advantage of the relatively large numbers of people that visit Carara is that if you just stop by, you are likely to have several quite competent amateur guides at your disposal. Birders are a friendly lot, and they generally like interest from novices (as long as you don’t interfere with their spotting. Walk quietly and slowly).
Most people don’t even realize they are in a National Park at the “Crocodile Bridge” but the Tarcoles River is the northern boundary of the park. Despite the souvenir stands, t-shirt hawkers, and police cars prominently displayed to deter thieves from removing everything from the tourists’ cars while they peer over the railings at the monsters fifty feet below – it’s a National Park.
Carara is a favorite with bird watchers for several reasons besides its ease of access. First, its position in a transition zone means that residents of both habitats are likely to appear. Second, the Río Grande de Tárcoles has free-flowing sections and its waters seep into seasonal marshlands and a shallow oxbow lake covered with hyacinths further expanding the number of distinct local habitats to nearly a dozen.
Finally, because it is slightly dryer and not all of the trees are evergreen, Carara is more open than the rainforests further south making wildlife spotting easier.
