Golfito National Wildlife Refuge

The Golfito Refuge lies in a rugged wilderness area with very heavy rains.  The terrain was formed by a succession of hard basalts that date 50-65 million years old.

The forest in the refuge is thick, very evergreen.  A fairly common palm that grows here is the black palm.  Also there's a botanical raruty found here, the quira (Carydaphnopsis burgeri), a tree that belongs to the Lauraceae family, a very primitive plant.

There are many resident mammals in this refuge, the collared peccary is a highly social animal that lives in herds.  the agouti is a rodent that belongs to the same family as the paca and its helpful spreading seeds from plants.  There are also raccoons, coati, rats and some reptiles like frogs and snakes.

Back to Map of Costa Rica and its National Parks