JIQUILISCO BAY
DESCRIPTION
Pancho!!!! Suddenly, Pancho the Monkey starts coming down the trees followed by several female monkeys. Pancho is part of a spider monkey community that lives in Jiquilisco Bay. In the 60´s and 70´s, Hacienda La Carrera included a protected, environmentally conscious zoo. Unfortunately, after the agrarian reform of the late 70's,many animals were killedor sold. Despite this, the spider monkey community was able to survive. Today, much of Hacienda La Carrera has been repurchased specially for agricultural use but a big emphasis is being placed on protecting natural areas. As a result, native wildlife in the area has made an impressive comeback.
HIGHLIGHTS
Enjoy a boat ride through mangroves and beautiful sunsets.
Feed bananas to a community of monkeys.
Taste the original flavor of the cacao fruit.
ACTIVITIES
Sea Turtle and monkey experience.
Water activities: boat tours, kayaks, beach.
Agro tourism: Cacao, Sugar Cane, coconuts.
Sightseeing
DISTANCE
From San Salvador City:
South East110 Kilometers /
2 hours.
RECOMMENDS
Fresh clothing for activities, swimsuits, sunscreen, sunglasses, insect repellent, bottled water.
Jiquilisco Bay has a total area of 637 square kilometers and 50 km of coastline. It has been declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and includes mangrove forests, estuaries, sand bars, beaches, 27 islands of varying size, fresh water lagoons and seasonally flooded forests. It represents a transit point to at least 87 species of migratory birds. The coastal mangroves and estuaries help reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities and agricultural lands to experience natural disasters such as floods, helps stabilize the local climate, and serves as a nursery and refuge for a high diversity of ecological species of economical and aesthetic importance.
It is home to a wide variety of fauna including the highly endangered Hawksbill sea turtle. It is estimated that only 500 females are left on the entire Eastern Pacific region and Jiquilisco Bay is their largest nesting area.