Cueva del Guácharo National Park

The National Park of Cueva del Guácharo, one of the Most Mesmerizing Caves in Venezuela, is located 12 kilometers from Caripe, Monagas, Venezuela. Its focal point is a big limestone cave.

Alexander von Humboldt visited the cave in 1799 and discovered that the hundreds of oilbirds (guácharos in Spanish; scientific name Steatornis caripensis) that reside there belonged to an undiscovered species. The frugivorous, nocturnal species was named after the town of Caripe by Humboldt. The cave is a 10-kilometer-long limestone cavern with numerous big chambers and magnificent rock formations. The temperature within the cave is usually around 19 °C, with a humidity level of 100 percent.

Oilbirds are fruit-eating birds who live in the cave's initial portion. They leave in the middle of the night in search of food. Because of their distinctive sound, the Spanish name guácharo is onomatopoeic, and comes from an old Castilian phrase for someone who shrieks or yells. They have a long tail and bristles around their beak and are dark with black and white patches. They are approximately 48 cm long, including the tail. The guácharos produce an organic layer in the cave called guano, which is made up of excrement and vomited seeds and provides the cave's environment with fundamental nutrients.

The park's most important daily event happens in the evening, when dusk falls, when large flocks of birds leave the cave in quest of food. The birds leaving the cave can be seen by visitors.

Location: Monagas, Venezuela