El Guácharo National Park is a Venezuelan national park located in the eastern section of the Interior Mountain Range of the Caripe Mountain System, in the Cerro Negro, Cerro Papelón and Cerro El Periquito mountains of the Caripe Mountain Range, between Monagas state and the state Sucre. It occupies part of the municipalities Caripe, Acosta, Piar and Bolivar (Monagas) and Ribero (Sucre). It is made up of two separate units or blocks: Cerro Negro, where the Guácharo Cave is located, and the River Basin of the Caripe River. The park covers 62,700 ha; Which are distributed as follows, the Cerro Negro sector corresponds to 15,500 ha. And the one of the Average Basin of the Caripe river 47,200 ha. It was declared National Park El Guácharo on May 27, 1975 to guarantee the continuity of the geological and biological processes that are fulfilled in the Guácharo Cave. The Cerro Negro, where the Guácharo Cave is located, was the first Natural Monument in Venezuela on July 15, 1949, under the name Alejandro de Humboldt.
The Cave of the Guácharo was first visited the 18 of September of 1799 by the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt; Is located 4 km from the nearest town that is Caripe del Guácharo, north of Monagas State, right in the Cerro Negro sector of the Caripe massif. It is located at 1065 m altitude, with an average annual temperature of around 21 ° C, it is considered until today that it has an approximate length of 10.5 km. It is carved in sedimentary rocks that were formed 130 million years ago in the Mesozoic era in an ancient sea. The sea withdraws product of the lifting of the earth's crust, giving rise to the Eastern Massif. The water erosion, produces leaks that originate a whole network of interconnected branches and galleries. Along the cave there are many galleries or lounges, among which are: the Great Hall of the Fall, the Hall of Alen, the Hall Beautiful, the Hall of Silence, the Hall of the Giants, among others.
