Located in the very heart of Guanacaste province, this is a vibrant place for wildlife spotting. Palo Verde National Park (created in 1980) extends along 45 500 acres (18 332 hectares). This biological community is mostly sustained by the Tempisque River, which in rainy season floods and irrigates the wetlands.

This national park is undoubtedly diverse since it is constituted of 15 different habitats. Among them, we can mention wetlands, lagoons, swamps, mangroves, and of course, various forms of the dry tropical forest. These vast sections of flooded areas provide a sustained source of food for migratory birds, which happens to fly away from the cold winter of North America. These circumstances also make an ideal place for nesting and growing chicks.

As a result, over 300 species of birds populate Palo Verde National Park, which sums to more than 26 species of mammals like monkeys, several reptiles such as crocodiles, iguanas, basilisks, other small lizards and above 600 species of plants and trees. You can find birds like egrets, herons, ibis, hawks, eagles, and many more. Also, this park is one of the few places in the country that shelter the fantastic but endangered Jabirú (the largest bird in Central America).

Palo Verde is so essential for sustaining Costa Rica’s and the world’s biodiversity (as the country is a biological bridge) that it was even declared a RAMSAR site in 1991 -a convention for protecting internationally significant wetlands-. This place is just incredible in every single way and that can be clearly ilustrated if you consider that from September to March, which is the breeding season, birds can be found by thousands across the different areas of the park!