Costa Rica National Park Braulio Carrilio

In 1978, the street through Braulio Carrillo opened, which connects San José in the central valley with port Limon in the Caribbean. In the same year, a big part of he Central Cordillere Mountains got declared to be National Park Braulio Carrillio. For economical reasons, It was very important to construct this road, winding through the dense tropical rain forest. Even if the street is used much, destruction of this untouched region could be prevented by making it become a National Park. The whole park has a very dense vegetation, green hills, steep canyons and a very original flora and fauna.

The park covers about 44.000 hectares and reaches from volcano Barva until down to the beginning of the Caribbean platform. The park is very important for the water system of the country. You will find cloud forest as well as tropical rain forest because of the different heights. The park is home of a large variety of animal species, for example sloths, howler monkeys, the famous quetzal, eagles, jaguars, ocelots and much more.

Scientists have found more than 6000 species of plants, for example many orchids and bromelias, mosses and mushrooms, which seem to look like in an unreal fairytale because of the trees. Do not forget a good binocular, since animals are shy and do not often show up to visitors. The sound of the singing birds will even increase the feeling of nature and freedom during your walks.

Park is open daily from 8 am to 4 pm. Before you come to the tunnel, you find the first entrance to the park on the right side of the street. From the ranger station there is a trail leading to an outlook point.
The trail is only about 1 mile long, but takes 2 hours because the big height difference. The next entrance to the park is about 1 mile behind the tunnel. There is a sign at the street. From there you can go for walks of many miles, but it is more like climbing or a combination of both. The trails lead down to Rio Sucio as well as to Rio Hondura, which has to be crossed several times. A last entrance is about 12 miles after the tunnel on the right side of the street. From there, you can walk along 2 different trails that need between one and a half to two hours each.

If you continue driving to Limon, you pass a butterfly farm (on right side) and then you come to one of the biggest attractions, the so-called "Rainforest Aerial Tram". This is a cable railway leading through the top of the jungle trees, which gives you the possibility to watch the life in the tree-tops. Once constructed for scientists, it is a big tourist attraction today. Try not to go during rainfall, since you will not see any animals. From the entrance they bring you with a tractor to the visitors center, where you watch a video about the story of the tram. After that you enter the cage with a guide in your language, who explains and shows you plants and animals. At the end of the trip (about 1 hour) you can have a coffee in the jungle restaurant and they bring you back to the car parking at the entrance. You can book this tour in various tour offices in San José or directly in the tram office: phone 257-5961 - fax 257-6053

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