La Amistad International Park

This is Costa Rica's larges, most remote, and least known parks. Its vast upland wilderness hugs the southern part of the continental divide. Costa Rica has about half of the park, the other half being in Panama, and it represents one of the first attempts to create and manage an international protected area.

The elevation within the confines of the park ranges from 200 to 3,549 meters. One of the most interesting geomorphic discoveries made in Chirripo is the existence of several glacial features that are almost perfectly preserve.

There is an astonishing number of habitats within this vast wilderness area as a result of differences in altitude, soil, climate and topography. They include paramos, swamp, oak forest, madrono forest, fern groves, high mixed forest and very moist evergreen forest.

There's an extraordinary array of wildlife, identification has been made of 263 species of amphibians and reptiles, about 400 birds and at least 500 species of trees, alongside 130 different species of orchids. The most common animals are the tapir, jaguars, ocelots, peccaries, otters, porcupine, skunks, giant anteater and salamanders.