Simply fantastic - National Park "Armando Bermúdez" - Dominican Republic

followmikecee (61)in #life • 6 years ago (edited)

Hola mis Steemians

After we have visited in the last 3 days exclusively national parks, all of which are located at the sea ("Los Haitises"", "Jaragua " and "del Este"), today we completely change the area and travel together in the interior of the Dominican Republic to the Parque National "Armando Bermúdez".

It exists already since 1956 and is therefore one of the oldest nature reserves of the country. The highest elevations of the entire Caribbean await us here.

The park measures 765 km² and is very close to the popular town of Jarabacoa. Armando Bermudez borders directly on the José del Carmen Ramirez National Park, another national park in the same area. This is a unified, contiguous area of a total of 1,530 km², making it the largest national park area on the island. It is separated by a provincial border that runs through the middle of the reserve.

Parque national Armando Bermudez: Home of the Dominican Alps
The landmark of this large and impressive double park is the Central Massif (Cordillera Central), with its majestic mountains (at least by Caribbean standards). These include the highest mountain in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte (3,098 m), Loma La Pelona (3,085 m), Loma La Rusilla (3,038 m) and Pico del Yaque (2,760 m).

This also explains why this region has the nickname "Dominican Alps" or "Switzerland of the Dominican Republic". Hiking and climbing enthusiasts feel particularly at home here. And on the different altitudes you can observe different forms of fauna and flora.

Impressive vegetation and bird paradise

And due to the very mild mountain climate, the national park is characterized by lush vegetation, which is characterized by extensive rain and pine forests. In Armando Bermudez you can observe some very special plants that only grow here, for example the

myrte
the cherry laurel and walnut tree
the native juniper or the wild tamarind.

Many visitors of the park come mainly because of the many different animal species and the variety of birds. For ornithologists among you, the Armando Bermudez National Park is a true paradise. Here you will find for example:

the Hispaniola woodpecker
Rosy Trogon
Haiti Parakeet
or also palm-talker

Another big highlight are the free-living parrots - unique in the Dominican Republic.

Rare mammals in the National Park

In Armando Bermúdez there are also two extremely rare mammals:

the rodent Hutia (a tree rat)
and the Slit Weevil (looks like a big shrew)

Hispaniolan Hutia_Eladio Fernandez,%C2%A0Caribbean Nature Photography..jpg

And during the winter months it can get very cold in the Parque Nacional Armando Bermúdez and the thermometer often slips to temperatures below zero degrees. Accordingly, during this time it gets very cool during the nights - so really good clothes are recommended. And from April to and with June, on the other hand, very heavy rainfalls are the order of the day.

Rare snow but nevertheless sensitive cold with hoarfrost - that's the Dominican Republic too.

Conclusion:

Those who want to turn their backs on the heat of the coastal regions will find optimal conditions here. The area is considered to be the granary of the republic, which gives it an additional special character. For all lovers of mountain regions, hiking and climbing tours, I can only recommend this national park.

sources of information
Wikipedia
For optimal reporting, I have supplemented my own pictures with pictures from Google sources.

Here you find the articles about the other national parks: