Waterfalls, the Orosi River and a two tiered tropical rainforest are protected by the 5,058 hectares (12,500 acres) Tapantí National Park in Cartago, Costa Rica.

The park is made up of cloud, tropical, montane and premontane forest. It is a section of La Amistad Conservation Area, and contains an abundance of life and ecological formations. The Tapantí National Park in Costa Rica is accessible and close to the cities of Cartago and the capital of San Jose. There are a number of hiking trails, swimming holes, waterfalls and other allures that can keep visitors busy for a while.

The wide expanse of the park can be attributed to the numerous types of flora and fauna that call Tapantí National Park home. The park has forty five recorded mammal species, twenty eight species of amphibians and reptiles and four hundred species of birds. Tapantí is also home to the largest species of moth known, the Thysania Agrippina or White Witch Moth. Some of the other wildlife of the park includes the tapir, the paca, felids like the ocelot, the jaguarundi and the margay, the mountain goat, the mountain rabbit, the kinkajou, the raccoon, the coati, the white-faced monkey, the Central American agouti, quetzals, hawks, falcons, guans, goldfinches, hummingbirds, parrots, mountain hens, tanagers, golden orioles, warblers, ban-tailed pigeons, ducks, house sparrows, toucans and climbers.

The park also plays first chair to its botanical inhabitants in a sort of music of nature sense. Tapantí National Park is the abode of nearly 500 different species of flora, and is the site of speciation (when a new species forms from ones that already exist). Many of the species that can be observed are endemic species due to speciation. Some of the trees that can be found in Tapantí consists of the magnolia, the burio, the pink ira, the alder, the miconia tree, the papayillo, the quebracho, the sombrilla de pobre (beggar’s umbrella); and a number of other plants such as shortleaf figs, nance trees, oak trees, 47 types of bromeliads, 77 kinds of orchids and mosses, and 220 species of ferns.

It would be a good idea to bring a number of things with you on your trip to Tapantí: sunscreen, hiking boots and gear, insect repellant, snacks, a swimming suit, a map and a compass. The park is easy to get to, but in the rainy season from May to November it would be advisable to make your way in a four wheel drive vehicle. San Jose is about an hour and thirty minutes from Tapantí National Park in Costa Rica.

Location: Tapantí National Park
Items to bring: sunscreen, hiking boots and gear, insect repellant, snacks, a swimming suit, a map, a compass
Species of fauna: the ocelot, the jaguarundi and the margay, the mountain goat, the mountain rabbit, the kinkajou, the raccoon, the coati, the white-faced monkey, the Central American agouti, quetzals, hawks, falcons, guans, goldfinches, hummingbirds, parrots, mountain hens, tanagers, golden orioles, warblers, ban-tailed pigeons, ducks, house sparrows, toucans, climbers
Species of flora: the magnolia, the burio, the pink ira, the alder, the miconia tree, the papayillo, the quebracho, the sombrilla de pobre (beggar’s umbrella), shortleaf figs, nance trees, oak trees
Cities nearby: San Jose, Cartago
Ways to get here: rental car, taxi, private shuttle, tour bus