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Page 1 of 4 As you head east from San José on the Guápiles Highway the Zurquí tunnel transports you from the modern world into the rainforest and cloud forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park.
 Epiphyte Laden Tree in Braulio Carrillo National Park. The weight of the plants growing on a tree can become so great that the roots cannot support it and it all crashes down. (© 1993 Ray Krueger Koplin) The two most important features of Braulio Carrillo National Park are ironically opposed in some ways. One is the huge expanse of virgin forest, and the other is the highway that gives easy access. It is difficult at first from a conservation perspective to consider a major highway an attraction, but in the case of Braulio Carrillo National Park it clearly is. The highway is the reason that this area was protected (see established). Even without leaving your car, the views are breathtaking, and one can't help but feel moved to try to conserve areas like this after traveling through. It's one of the busiest highways in Costa Rica, but if you walk a hundred yards to either side you are enveloped in another time. More than 500 species of birds including resplendent quetzals, bare-necked umbrella bird, snowcap, brown-billed scythe bill, black-crowned antpitta, golden-browed chlorophonia, flame-throated warblers, long-tailed silky-flycatchers, yellow-eared toucanet, and latticed-tailed trogon. On the lower Caribbean slopes, tanagers and hummingbirds are particularly easy to spot. Over 150 species of mammals including howler and white faced capuchin monkeys, tapirs, Deppe's squirrel, white-nosed coati, northern tamandua, jaguars, white-tailed deer, ocelots, pacas, raccoons, and peccaries also invite you to explore their home in Costa Rica.
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