MORROCOY NATIONAL PARK & CUARE WILDLIFE REFUGE

Print
Details
Category: VENEZUELA
Hits: 2338

MORROCOY NATIONAL PARK & CUARE WILDLIFE REFUGE 
VENEZUELA

FALCÓN (Tucacas and Chichiriviche), (Compass)

Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W 32,090ha, 0-285m, shallow sea, mangroves, beaches, cays, xerophytic scrub, dry and tropical moist forest 
Protected/registered status 
Best Time for visit (25th & 27th September, 2006)

 

Birding Site Guide

These are 2 wonderful protected areas especially for waterbirds. The entrance for Morrocoy is just 10 minutes’ drive from Tucacas, a popular beach town with several places to stay, the cheapest I could find being B30,000. Cuare is closer to another beach town called Chichiriviche, which is smaller, cheaper and probable safer at night. I found a place to stay here for B15,000 called ‘Morena’s Place’ (good luck in trying to find it). There are restaurants and internet in both towns. Tucaras is on the main Valencia to Coro highway but to get to Chichiriviche you need to tell the driver to let you off at the ‘cruce’ near Sanare and change buses. There are also direct buses for Tucacas to Chichiriviche. It takes about half an hour and costs B3,000.

To get to the Morrocoy Nacional Park, take any bus heading from Tucaras towards Coro and get dropped off at ‘Morrocoy’, ‘entrada’ or ‘puesto Parque Nacional’. I had drivers telling they know where it was and then passing it. Don’t trust them. From the stop in Tucaras, it takes about 6-7 minutes to get there. Look out for the mountains on the peninsular to your right. You must get off before this where the road curves to the left and there are a few houses. There is a small sign with ‘Parque Nacional’ on it and a road goes to the right. From here you can walk. There also maybe yellow camionetas that go all the way along although I didn’t find out where these left from.

The first part of the road has dry forest on both sides which is good in the morning (Glaucous Tanager), the right side then opens out and you can walked along the water’s edge. This area is excellent for waders in season. Caribbean Flamingos and Scarlet Ibit are also very common along here. Soon you pass an entrance arch and then a land bridge on the right to a marina. Just after this, there is an area of young mangroves where I heard many Plain-flanked Rails calling. I saw 95 species including 6 lifers.

 
Species seen


Other Fauna 
A total of -- species of mammals. 

There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles. 

Flora 

Author: Charles Hesse

 

www.birdingsiteguide.com