World Heritage List

Costa Rica

Short Story

Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

La Amistad is the largest most remote National Park inCosta Rica. It is nearly surrounded by other parks and reserves for the indigenous Chirripó, Tayni, Telire, Talamanca, Ujarras, Salitre and Abagra peoples. It protects widely diverse habitats, from tropical lowland rainforest, to cloud forests and the northernmost occurrence of the tundra-like páramo ecosystem in the world. Much of the park has never been explored, and it would be ill advised to venture very far beyond its boundaries without an experienced guide.

La Amistad extends past the international frontier into Panama, it is the largest protected region in Costa Rica, has more virgin forest than all of the other parks, and it has been estimated that about two-thirds of the total species found in Costa Rica live here. Hikers and backpackers will be rewarded with glimpses of Baird's tapirs, giant anteaters, all six species of neotropical cats - jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay, oncilla and jaguarundi as well as monkeys, coatis, over 600 bird species, 115 species of fish, and almost 300 reptile and amphibian species. If you are interested in insects or plants there is no point in even trying to provide a number to represent their diversity because new species are being discovered at such an amazing rate