Costa Rica Fishing/herping trip Part 4 Final chapter.

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spiltbeerpirate
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Location: Home: Huntington Beach, Work: Kandahar, Afghanistan

Costa Rica Fishing/herping trip Part 4 Final chapter.

Post by spiltbeerpirate »

Here are the links to parts 1-3

Part 1 http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... 00#p204500
Part 2 http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=17593
Part 3 http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=17595

After an awesome fresh tuna/avocado sushi dinner I went to talk to Diego about tomorrows Eco tour. My goal was Poison Dart Frogs. I had pretty much saw and or caught everything else I wanted to see (except Eyelash Vipers). Although the resort does not specifically have a Herp tour, they have guides on staff and will adjust to what you want. So in response to my request, Diego said we can do the Monkey tour again....we just wont look for monkeys. :beer: And instead he would take us on a waterfall hike which would take us through Dart frog habitat. So Cool.
I went back to the room and low and behold on a tree branch adjacent to our balcony, a SNAKE! After quick inspection I determined is was an Annulated Tree Boa (Corallus annulatus)
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I pulled the branch down and carefully picked up the guy who seemed to be just as curious about us. I placed it on the railing for some pics and it quickly found this little nook to curl up in (I think it had been there before).
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After taking pics I held my hand out and the boa came right out of the whole and it wasnt long before it was in my wife's hands.
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She loves mellow boas.

I fetched Diego, our eco guide, I figured he'd want to see it and maybe get a few pictures for the resorts media director. The resort really focuses on getting guests to see and interact with wild life, the staff from guides to groundskeepers are encouraged to kind guests and show them when animals are found on the resort. And it wasnt long before we were involved in an impromtu "show and tell" session. :thumb:
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Reluctantly, my wife surrendered the Boa and we released it back into the tree where is was found. Diana has fallen in love with it and would have taken it home if she could have.

DAY 7 Waterfall hike.

We drove out to where a stream crossed the road and parked. Diego immediately went over and started looking in the closest tree. I asked if he saw something and he replied that a couple nights ago he had seen glass frogs in the tree. Unfortunate they are nocturnal, and we were unable to locate any of them sleeping. But we did find some egg deposits for Cochranella granulosa.
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So we began the hike up river looking along the edges and Diego found the skeletal remains of what looks like a basilisk.
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Father up the stream we found a Costa Rican Blue Shrimp (Macrobrachium sp.)
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At a bend in the river, we caught this little guy. Leaf litter gecko (Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma).
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And a little after that, Diego dove into the bushes and nabbed a Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei)
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On to the first waterfall. I seem to have lost my pictures of the waterfalls. :(
This first one had a nice swimming hole.

Then onto the next waterfall. The trip up was pretty quite, only a few birds, no herps. Then as we approached the waterfall, Diego yelled STOP! and pointed. In the rocky crevice was a Golfo Dulce Dart Frog (Phyllobates vittatus)
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Victory!

On the way back down the trail we spotted a another dart frog.
It was a little ways up a steep part of the trail. By the time I got up there is was almost out of site.
Green and Black Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus)
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It ended up jumping off the tree into the leaf litter below on the steep slope. Our guide Diego almost dove off the cliff after it. :beer: digging through the debris, but it had effectively got away. I really appreciated the extra effort. I dont care what anyone says, Im not about to bare-handle poison dart frogs. Supposedly topically there is no danger unless ingested or it gets in the blood, but Im not taking extra risks in the middle of the Costa Rica rain forest.

After that I was on cloud nine. Ready to head back to the room and relax a little. After getting back and showering, Diana and I took a walk on the beach, talking happily about the trip but also sad that we had to leave the next day. Down on the beach I noticed a bunch of holes. I figured it was probably some kind of crab. A little farther down I found I was right and all the little crabs were wandering around the edge of their holes, but not too far away to escape down them. With my zoom lens I was able to get this pic from far enough away that they didnt flee.
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On the way back to the room I commented to my wife that I hadnt gotten a good photo of a Tucan. Shortly after getting back to the room, as if they had been eves dropping, the groundskeepers called us over to look at something....Tucans.
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One flew away. And then the other kept turn its head back and fourth looking in the window of the nearest room. Then all of a sudden the crazy thing flew at the window!
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Either it saw a bowl of Fruit loops, or it was attacking its reflection in the window. Was very unexpected.

After that is was a lazy evening drinking Pina Coladas and enjoying the company of the staff before our early wake up and flight out.

All in all it was a very successful trip and I love the staff of Crocodile Bay. There motto should be "All you have to do is ask...".
I asked for Sailfish, got it, I asked for Roosterfish, got it, asked for snakes, got it, asked for monkeys, got it, asked for red-eye tree frogs, got it, asked for Tuna, got it, asked for dart frogs, got it, asked for sea turtle, got it, asked for Tucans, got it. I went with a very open and understanding mind. Fish and wild animals do not come on command. But everything I asked for I got, to include special requests on how to cook my catches, what specific snacks I wanted on the boat, and they even went the extra mile to try and find a special bottle of Costa Rican rum for me, making calls locally and to San Jose to find it. I cant speak high enough of their customer service.

Well that finishes it up. It was a trip of a lifetime and you wouldnt have to argue with me to get me to go back.

Thanks for reading. :beer:

Cheers,

Ryan
Zach_Lim
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Joined: June 10th, 2010, 8:37 pm

Re: Costa Rica Fishing/herping trip Part 4 Final chapter.

Post by Zach_Lim »

I've been following your adventure via your past three parts- amazing trip.
Excellent finds and shots.

The tree boa is stunning, as well as the skeletal remains!
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Roki
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Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Costa Rica Fishing/herping trip Part 4 Final chapter.

Post by Roki »

I really enjoyed your series of posts on your trip. Great shots! Glad you guys had a good time. I have thus far found the same with Costa Rica....it just delivers.
Roki
jimoo742
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Joined: November 4th, 2010, 3:43 pm

Re: Costa Rica Fishing/herping trip Part 4 Final chapter.

Post by jimoo742 »

oh man, toucans! awesome!

How close were you? What sized lens did you use?
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spiltbeerpirate
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Joined: May 29th, 2011, 10:50 pm
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Re: Costa Rica Fishing/herping trip Part 4 Final chapter.

Post by spiltbeerpirate »

Thanks for reading guys.
jimoo742 wrote: How close were you? What sized lens did you use?
Id say I was about 18-25 ft. or so. I had my 55-300mm lens on since I had been shooting up into the trees a littler earlier.

Cheers,

Ryan
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