Cerro El Tamoco
| Cerro El Tamoco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 435 m (1,427 ft)[1] |
| Geography | |
| Location | Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela |
| Parent range | Venezuelan Coastal Range (insular branch) |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Hiking trail |
Cerro El Tamoco is a mountain on Margarita Island, in the state of Nueva Esparta, Venezuela. Located in the northern mountain range of the island, near the town of Tacarigua, within the jurisdiction of the Antolín del Campo Municipality. Its slopes are covered with cloud forest and play a significant role in the hydrological regime of the Tacarigua valley; the mountain also holds a prominent place in the ethnohistory of the indigenous Guaiquerí people. In 2024, its trail was certified and incorporated into Venezuela's national registry of tourist routes.
Geography
[edit]Cerro El Tamoco forms part of the elevation system in the north of Margarita Island, an insular branch of the Venezuelan Coastal Range. It rises above the valley where the towns of Tacarigua and Santa Ana del Norte are situated. According to the official certification of the tourist route, its altitude is 435 m (1,427 ft) above sea level;[1] in the GeoNames database maintained by the NGA, it is listed at 403 m.[2] The slopes of the mountain are covered with cloud forest.[3] The vegetation cover condenses moisture from the trade winds, creating a local microclimate with abrupt temperature drops and abundant dew, which helps feed the water currents of the Tacarigua valley, one of the areas with the highest water availability on the island.[3] The average annual rainfall in the massif exceeds that of the arid coastal zones of Margarita, allowing the vegetation on its slopes to persist even during dry periods.[4]
Etymology
[edit]The toponym "Tamoco" is of pre-Hispanic origin. According to the Diccionario Margariteño (Margarita Dictionary) by historian and lexicographer Rosauro Rosa Acosta, the name of the mountain belongs to the group of indigenous mountain names on the island —along with Macanao, Guayamurí, Matasiete, and Tacarigua itself— preserved in the toponymy of Nueva Esparta State since the Guaiquerí settlement period.[5]
Mythology
[edit]The intangible heritage associated with the mountain was documented by the official chronicler of Tacarigua, José Joaquín Salazar Franco, known as Cheguaco. In Guaiquerí cosmogonic conceptions, the mountain appears personified.[6]
Myth of the Guaicos.
[edit]According to the etiological account of the formation of the island's hills, the land of Paraguachoa (pre-colombian name of Margarita Island) was inhabited by people of short stature, the "guaicos." Faced with the threat of invasion by other peoples, they pleaded with Father Sun and Mother Moon to give them strength to defend their land; by the will of the gods, the island was plunged into a long night during which some guaicos grew to the sky and turned to stone. Among these giants —described as "perpetual guardians" of the island— the account names Copey, Guayatamo, Guayamurí, Guaitoroco, Mereche, Macanao, and Tamoco.[6]
The Piache Tamoco
[edit]In local beliefs, the mountain is associated with the figure of the piache Tamoco, a shaman and mediator between the human and spiritual worlds in the culture of Caribbean peoples. He is called in legend "master of the seven colds and prodigious harvests" and guardian of the lands of Arimacoa, the indigenous name for the valley over which the mountain rises.[7] The epithet reflects the meteorological conditions of the cloud forest: fog, temperature drops, and dew, upon which the fertility of the agricultural lands of the valley historically depended.[7]
Traditional use
[edit]The lower slopes of the mountain were historically used by the inhabitants of Tacarigua and Santa Ana for conuco, a traditional slash-and-burn agricultural system inherited from pre-Columbian practices. Cassava, maize, taro, plantain, and papaya were cultivated; the forests on the slopes provided palm leaves and wood for traditional crafts.[4]
Tourism
[edit]The trails on the slopes of Cerro El Tamoco are used for hiking and mountain biking; specialized platforms (Komoot) classify the circular routes in the area as moderate difficulty.[8] In December 2024, the "Ruta Turística Cerro El Tamoco" (Tourist Route Cerro El Tamoco) was validated and incorporated into the national registry of tourist routes of Venezuela; the certification was carried out by the Ministry of People's Power for Tourism (Mintur) and the National Institute of Tourism of Venezuela (Inatur). The route was classified as moderate difficulty (moderate challenge), with an elevation of 435 m above sea level.[1][9]
Fauna
[edit]Cerro El Tamoco is the type locality of the Margaritan hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus semistriatus elieceri), a subspecies of the striped hog-nosed skunk formally described in 2024. The holotype, an adult female (EBRG 3138), was collected on the mountain at an elevation of about 400 m, 4 km east of Santa Ana.[10] Multivariate analyses of 25 cranial measurements showed the Margaritan skunk to be much smaller than mainland populations of C. semistriatus, with no overlap in six measurements; it represents the first known case of insular dwarfism in living skunks and is the seventh mammal known to be endemic to Margarita Island.[10] The subspecies occurs across the island, including the Macanao Peninsula; other insular localities include the Río Tacarigua and Cerro El Copey National Park.[10] Its conservation status is undetermined.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Ruta Turística: Cerro el Tamoco". Inatur Nueva Esparta. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- ↑ "Cerro El Tamoco". GeoNames. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- 1 2 "Sobre Tacarigua". Fundación Cheguaco. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- 1 2 "Tacarigüeros somos". Fundación Cheguaco. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- ↑ Rosa Acosta, Rosaura (1996). Diccionario Margariteño: Biográfico, Geográfico e Histórico. Fundación Editorial El Perro y la Rana / PDVSA.
- 1 2 Salazar Franco, José Joaquín (Cheguaco) (1999). Mitos y Creencias Margariteñas (PDF). Fundación Cheguaco.
- 1 2 Salazar Franco, José Joaquín (Cheguaco) (1996). Leyendas y Creencias Margariteñas.
- ↑ "Rutas de MTB en Venezuela". Komoot. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- ↑ "Mintur certifica nuevas rutas turísticas del estado Nueva Esparta". Mintur. 14 December 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Molinari, Jesús; Abarca-Medina, María R.; Rivas-Rodríguez, Belkis A. (2024). "A new subspecies of Conepatus semistriatus (Boddaert, 1784) (Mammalia, Carnivora, Mephitidae) from Venezuela, and the first known case of insular dwarfism in living skunks". Anartia. 38: 23–44. doi:10.5281/zenodo.13755829.
Bibliography
[edit]- Salazar Franco, José Joaquín (1996). Leyendas y creencias margariteñas (in Spanish). Tacarigua de Margarita: Fondo Editorial FONDENE. ISBN 980-360-005-2. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- Salazar Franco, José Joaquín (1999). Mitos y creencias margariteñas (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Tacarigua de Margarita: edición familiar. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
- Rosa Acosta, Rosauro (1996). Diccionario Margariteño: Biográfico, Geográfico e Histórico (in Spanish). Porlamar: Fondo Editorial del Estado Nueva Esparta (FONDENE).