Yellow eyelash viper
In 1960, Costa Rica presidente Mario Echandi Jimenez bought the piece tiny 10.7 km land that is known as Paque Nacional Cahuita for 500 colones. This may seem like alot then, but it was in fact, one measley dollar. It managed to preserve and protect this absolutely fabulous stretch of humid, mangrove and mammal filled rainforest. Thank goddess for presidents who realize the importance of these lands.
Alonzo came to be our unofficial guide for the first 2 miles of the trek and was instrumental in pointing out things we wouldn’t have otherwise identified due to lack of identification books and sheer laziness. Things like the Nonee plant which is a natural digestive and ylang ylang tree, the key ingredient in Coco Chanel No. 5. Crazy spiders, bats and capuchin monkeys. Or cappuchino monkeys, as Alonzo says. Our exploratory hike today was 8.4 km out to Punta Chiquita via Playa Chiquita and Playa Vargas. It started out with a bang. A boa constrictor right at the entrance. Which leads me to a note for that I have no logical explanation. Although the snakes here are venomous, toxinous and in some cases deadly, my powerful – if not biblical – fear of them is less here. By the end of the day today, dare I say I was actually looking for them?! The only thing I can deduce is that they are little, pretty and contain themselves in a a small ball up in the trees, rarely moving or coming down. So, it all comes down the the ground slithering thing, I think. They’re snake-i-ness. Entounces. The boa was teeny like my fist. I got to watch it not move from a safe 9 meter distance. I did get rudely interrupted by a leaf cutter soldier ant biting my ankle and I was positively certain that it was a venomous spider and I caused a bit of a scene trying to get it off. We moved onto other things. Bats, spiders sloths, monos… then we left Alonzo and continued on our self guided walk. Did some shell seeking at Playa Vargas. After our leftover casado lunch at the volunteer house, I proudly spotted a bright yellow eyelash viper. Score! So cool, I stood back while 22 snapped away. A wonderful hike overall. Still no toucans, tho.
Best sign ever
Boa Constrictor