Medanos

Medanos is one of Venezuela's national parks, spread over 91,280 ^km2. In fact, the park is a desert, the dunes of which stretch up to 30 km, and reach a height of 40 meters.

The park is located near the town of Koro on the road leading to the Paraguana Peninsula. The park includes the isthmus of Medanos, a desert, mangrove forests and salt marshes. The desert area is increasing every day. Strong sea winds drive the dunes, causing desertification of coastal areas. These constant winds also led to the formation of the Medanos desert, as the local sand is the result of wind erosion of the rocks. For a long time, tropical winds ground the rocks, driving sand into the dunes, which were constantly in motion and changing shape.

Like any desert, there is a rather sparse vegetation, in total you can find no more than 60 varieties of plants here. These include various cacti, mangroves, legumes, as well as several species of poisonous plants. Of the representatives of the animal world, iguanas, bats, lizards, anteaters, rabbits and foxes are found in Medanos. Birds include hawks, partridges, pigeons, pelicans, herons, and sandpipers.

Of the attractions of Medanos Park, it is worth noting the ancient roads built before Columbus discovered these lands, and there is also a chapel here. The chapel was built in memory of the people who died in the desert in 1912 without finding drinking water.

Heavy rains are very rare here, and if they occur, they form lagoons among the dunes in the Lens Maranensis National Park. In the national park, you can go sailing, skiing, surfing and diving, make a fire and set up tents only in designated places.