Alejandro de Humboldt Natural Monument (Cueva del Guácharo)

In the Northeast region, in the Monagas State (Venezuela), there is one of the most imposing and important natural monuments of Venezuela: the famous Cueva del Guácharo, a cavern of exceptional beauty, whose singular physical and biological attributes were recognized since Alejandro Humboldt he will visit it in 1799 and mention it in the list of his trips to the New World: "What is most famous in the Caripe Valley, after the extraordinary freshness of the climate, is the great cave or cavern of Guacharo.

In a country that loves marvelous things, a cave where a river rises and which is inhabited by thousands of nocturnal birds, whose fat is used in the Misiones to season their food is an inexhaustible object of talks and discussions ".
One of the outstanding features of this monument is that it serves as a habitat for the Guácharo Steatornis caripensis, a bird of nocturnal habits adapted to live in darkness, which only leave the cave in twilight and nocturnal hours when they go out in search of food. Also live in this ecosystem some bats, insects, rodents, arachnids and coleoptera.