National Parks

HITOY CERERE

Area:
9,154 Ha

Location: In the foothills of the Talamanca Mountain Range, southwest of La Estrella Valley, 45 Km from the port of Limon.

This zone is criss-crossed by countless rocky rivers with rapids and waterfalls, some reaching several meters in height. It is interesting to note that the name of the Reserve, taken from the Bri-Bri Indian language, has to do with rain. "Hitoy" means wooly, describing the algae and moss- covered river stones, and "Cerere"means clear waters.

Most of the trees in the upper elevations are more than 30 meters tall and the emergent trees top 50 meters. Commonly found species include the crabwood, wild tamarind, silk cotton, possum-wood and nargusta.

The fauna is rich and varied, although most species either live in the treetops or are nocturnal and therefore are not usually seen.

Some mammals inhabiting the area are the three-toed sloth, silky anteater, four-eyed opossum, Neotropical river otter, tayra, jaguar, tiger cat, tapir, red brocket deer, collared peccary, and howler and white-faced monkeys.

One hundred fifteen species of birds have been observed including the Montezuma oropendola, which congregates to build large numbers of hanging nests in a single tree, vulture, chizo parrot, slatey-tailed trogon and hummingbirds, among others.

Frogs and toads are abundant, but have not yet been studied.
Cahuita.