World Travel 4 Indians

Introducing Isla Del Coco National Park

Discovered in the year 1526 Isla del Coco National Park formerly served as the hideout of the pirates who found the place very convenient especially with the profuse growth of coconut trees and plenty of drinking water. The island is a sequestered one, rich in endemic species.

The sheer diversity of plants and animals that are found in Isla del Coco National Park makes it biologically very significant.

The Isla del Coco National Park is densely covered with premontane rainforest. A major part of the vegetation cover is shrouded with either the bromeliads or other epiphytes.

The abundant growth of vegetation is sustained by the more than seven thousand millimeters of yearly precipitation.

You will come across the Roosevelt palm in Isla del Coco National Park which is unique to the Cocos Island. Named after the US President, these trees occur abundantly in the dry slopes that are close to the rocky cliffs.

In fact the park is a virtual natural laboratory that boasts of a varied flora and fauna peculiar to the region. Isla del Coco National Park records the presence of at least 97 bird species that includes the cuckoo and the Cocos Island Flycatcher.

About 20% of the diverse insects found here are autochthonous in nature, apart form the two species of reptiles.

The scraggy coastline is bordered with cliffs that shoot up to a height of 183 meters. Underwater coves are common. The transparent turquoise waters are rich in marine life.

An always green forest, compact and dense, covers the irregular island of 2.400 hectares, frequently cloudy and hit by heavy rain.

You can identify 235 species of plants, 362 of insects and 2 of reptiles: the lizard and salamander; 3 spiders, 85 birds including the sea ones, 57 of crustaceans, 118 sea mollusks, more than 200 fish and 18 chorales.

It is also common to found the white fin sharks, the giant hammer shark, the tuna, the parrotfish, the mantaray and the jurel.

The most distinguish tree species are the Copey, Palo de Hierro and the Palma. Among the birds: the Mosquerito of Isla del Coco, the Cuclillo of Isla del Coco, and the Pinzón of Isla del Coco.

These birds eat the Espiritu Santo, a white bird that visits the island to nest and it is known for flying over tourists heads.

Sharks are almost omnipresent and the gigantic hammerheads, white tipped sharks and whale sharks are frequently spotted. The smaller fish species include jacks, tuna, parrot fish and manta.

World Travel 4 Indians is an international travel site and a repository of useful information on Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica and other major tourist attractions in Costa Rica and the world at large.