Location: 5 km south of Cañas, district: San Miguel, canton: Cañas, province: Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Zone postal code: 50603.
GPS coordinates: 10.344769,-85.147759 (10°20’41.17″N, 85°08’51.93″W)
Cañas GPS Coordinates: 10.427281,-85.094589 (10°25’38.21″N, 85°05’40.52″W)
Size: 297 ha (748 acres)
Arenal-Tempisque Conservation Area Telephone (ACG): +506 2695-5908, +506 2695-5180
Park ranger station phone number: +506 2674-0429
INFOTUR Tourist Information: 1192
Taboga Forest Reserve Costa Rica: created on May 23rd, 1978 in order to protect tropical forest areas in the foothills of the Guanacaste Mountain Range, part of the Tempisque River Basin, near Abangares and Cañas. It is located east of Palo Verde National Park and west of Rincon de la Vieja National Park, in Guanacaste. This reserve is part of the Enrique Jiménez Nuñez Experimental Station of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG in Spanish).
The Taboga Forest Reserve is covered in dry forest, with lots of Guanacaste or Elephant Ear Tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), the national tree, as well as Gumbo-limbo
(Bursera simaruba) and Autograph Tree or Copey (Clusia major).
There are various paths through the Taboga Forest Reserve, where you can appreciate the variety of wildlife, with a wealth of birds, including the threatened Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria), Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens), Laughing Falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans), Blue-crowned Motmot (Momotus momota), White-fronted Parrot (Amazona albifrons), Blue-Throated Goldentail (Hylocharis eliciae), Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma), as well as curassows, herons, egrets, eagles and doves. Among the mammals that are sighted in the park include monkeys (white-faced and howler), peccaries, raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, armadillos, deer, skunks, sloths, anteaters and many more.
There are no public park facilities at this forest reserve. Other nearby parks includes the Palo Verde National Park, Rincon de la Vieja National Park, Dr. Rafael Lucas Rodriguez Caballero National Wildlife Refuge and Curi Cancha National Wildlife Refuge.
Getting to Taboga Forest Reserve:
The entrance to Sector Santa Maria is located in the southwest corner of the park. To reach this place from the Juan Santamaría Airport, drive north to Puntarenas and then follow the Pan-American Highway to Cañas, Guanacaste, passing through Puntarenas, Miravalles and Abangares. Before Cañas, in the town of San Miguel you need to take an exit to your left and continue for approximately 8.7km, towards the UTN (National technical University). This route requires approximately 3 hours.
From Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR), follow the highway to Liberia and take the Pan-American Highway to Cañas, continue after the town of Cañas for approximately 10km to San Miguel where you need to take an exit to your right and continue for approximately 8.7km, towards the UTN (National Technical University). Driving time is about 1 hour.
By bus:
San José-Liberia, which takes about 4 hours to Cañas (Pulmitan Liberia, +506 2222-1650). Or you can take a bus San Jose-Cañas, which takes about 4 hours to Cañas (Auto Transportes Tilaran, +506 2258-5792), and then rent a car and drive or take a taxi to Taboga Forest Reserve at approximately 18km.
By plane:
You can also take a flight from the Juan Santamaria Airport to the Liberia International Airport, either with Sansa Airlines or Aerobell every day. From here you can rent a car and drive to Taboga Forest Reserve, which takes about 1 hour.
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