Morrocoy National Park is located in the northwest of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, between the towns of Tucacas

Tucacas

Tucacas is a northern coastal town of Venezuela. It is located in the state of Falcón. Elevation 1m....

 and Chichiriviche, at the south east part of Falcón

Falcón

Falcón State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital is Coro.-Demographics and geography:Falcón State covers a total surface area of 24,800 km² and, in 2010, had an estimated population of 950,057. The Paraguaná Peninsula is connected to the rest of the...

. Its continental and sea areas include mountains, shoreline, mangrove swamps, coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s and little islands called “Cayos”. It has a surface area of 32,090 hectares. It was declared national park by the Venezuelan government on 26 May 1974 in order to protect it from human intervention. Flora and Fauna are considered to be very important by local administration. It is a nature reserve and a tourist attraction. People go there mostly on weekends and holidays to have beach days, see the landscape, do some water sports, etc. People can take their private boats or pay for a boat service to stroll around and get to the "cayos".

Visiting Morrocoy National Park

Visitors of the Morrocoy National Park have different places to go and activities to do. In the continental area there is the mountain "Cerro Chichiriviche". On the shoreline there are mangrove swamps and lakes. In the sea area, there are the little islands with white sand called "cayos". The main cayos are: Borracho, Punta Gorda, Sal, Los Muertos, Peraza, Pelón, Sombrero, Pescadores, Playuela y Playuelita, Boca Seca, Animas, Suanchez y Punta Brava. Among the activities that can be done is these areas are: beach activities, boat rides, fishing (with permission), scuba diving, swimming, picnic, sailing, etc. There is as well an island called " Isla de Aves", where research and studies related to ornithology can take place, and a cave called "Cueva del Indio" with petroglyphs. To arrive to Morrocoy National Park by car from Caracas, people can take the expressway Caracas - Morón, then go by the "Troncal 3" way in direction to the towns "Tucacas" and "Chichiriviche" and the city of Coro.

Flora and Fauna

The continental area corresponds to dry tropical forest climate. There are as well plants adapted to high salinity and in some areas xerophilous vegetation like cactus. Some examples of plants that can be found are: "Olivo Caparis", "Indio desnudo" (Bursera simaruba) "Saladillo", different types of mangrove swamps (Rhizophora, Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa and Conocarpus erectus) etc.The sea vegetation includes seaweeds of various types (Fanerógama marina, Thalassia testudinum,Justicia falconensis, Aspilia falconensis, Phthirusa marítima, Lorantaceae, Pitcairnia steyermarki) some only found in this park. The fauna of the park include approximately 266 spices of birds. Among the list of birds are: "corocoras", "tijeretas de mar", flamings, pelicans, herons and much others. As well as the birds, the park has turtles, dolphins, whales, coral reefs and fish like: "mero", "pargo", "curbina", "sábalo" and sea bass. In the continental area there are mammals like: deers, "araguatos" (a type of monkey) "cunaguaros"(a type of wild cat)and others.