# Costa Rica - June 2008  2.5 megs of pics



## barabootom (Jul 4, 2008)

We recently returned from a two week trip to Costa Rica.   We saw a great variety of wildlife.  I tried to shrink down these pics so they would load faster but still ended up with over 2 megs.  I apologize for that.  First we went to Arenal.  We zip lined and did a few excursions from here.  I asked about local tarantulas.  No one claimed to have ever seen any.  I looked on a few hikes but couldn’t find anything.  I only did one night hike here and it was short and unsuccessful.  The scenery is great.  Here is the Arenal Volcano.  







I did catch one huge male Megasoma elephas beetle at a soccer field light.  I only had my movie camera though. I may post a video of it later.

This is a crater on top of Cerro Chato in Arenal.  It was 4 hours up and 4 hours down, a long day.  It probably could be hiked faster, but I like to poke around looking for invertebrates.  We saw very little animal life here.  We did swim in the crater.







Here is a large land snail on Cerro Chato.







The hike up Cerro Chato was quite beautiful.  Everything was covered in moss.







We went through some caves called Venado Caves.  It was quite interesting and not like any cave tour I’ve been through before.  We waded through very narrow, dark tunnels in knee deep water with bats flying everywhere.














We saw a few tailess whip scorpions in the caves.







And lots of spider-like cave crickets.







We took an excursion to Caño Negro from Arenal, (2 hours) and saw a lot.  Caño Negro is a wetland near the Nicaraguan border.  Here is a typical habitat in Caño Negro.







I asked around about tarantulas and I had several people describe a black tarantula with gray hairs.  I didn’t have the chance to look for any.  My excursion was a boat tour.  We did see a lot of wildlife though, esp. birds.





















We saw a lot of bats.  







Lots of caiman and a few alligators.







We saw lots of iguanas and other lizards.













We saw one sloth.







We also saw several species of monkeys but always at a distance.

Our next stop was Río Celeste.  Río Celeste is a small developing town known for a chemically blue river due to volcanic activity.







It’s about a 3 hour hike to the falls.  This is cloud rainforest and fairly wet.

The town has a lot of farmland.  I searched for tarantulas but couldn’t find any.  When asking around, I had several people describe a black tarantula with red abdominal hairs.  They said they are very rare in this area.

Here is a typical habitat outside of the forest.







We saw lots of leaf cutter ants.  Here is a massive leaf cutter ant nest about 12 feet wide.  My family is in the background.







Here’s a shot of leaf cutter ants at work.







We saw some nice frogs at Río Celeste.







A poison arrow frog.







Another frog.







A neat moth came to a light at Río Celeste.  This moth is a little more than an inch as it sits.







We saw more snakes here than anywhere else.  Here’s a coral snake.







And a fer-de-lance.







And a pit viper.







We found an interesting caterpillar.  Possibly automeris.







Here is a forest crab.







A nice flower from Río Celeste.







I found a few of these sheet web spiders.  One old trunk had 6 sheets all around it’s base with a spider in each one.  It has a very small body but very long legs, about 4 inches.







Next we went to Monteverde.  Monteverde is also a cloud forest but more developed for tourism and home of B mesomelas.  We did the usual tourist stuff like hanging bridges etc, but I also did a night hike looking for mesomelas.  I found a few.

Here is a typical habitat for mesomelas.







And mesomelas.







Here is one hiding in a hole in a tree.







I found lots of these very large spiders, easily 4 inches.  I’m not familiar with them but some lived in burrows like a tarantula but most were wandering.







I found one snake in Monteverde.  It’s about 2 feet and very pretty, almost iridescent black.







Here is an interesting bird from Monteverde.  There were also lots of hummingbirds.







These millipedes were everywhere in the early morning after a rain.







From Monteverde we went to Tambor on the Pacific Coast.  Here is a tropical dry rainforest.  We did some fun stuff like four wheeling and fishing.  I asked about tarantulas and had several different descriptions.  All black, all brown and brown and white.  Many people said they had never seen tarantulas.

Here is a picture of one of my sons fishing.







I found lots of interesting orb weavers here.




















We went to a preserve called Curu to hike and got up close to several species of monkeys.  Here is a howler monkey.







And a whitefaced monkey.







In Curu there were mangrove swamps.







Here is a neat crab near the ocean in the mangroves.







I found a nest of very large velvety ants (velvet ants?).  They were nearly an inch and lots of them in a tree.







I found lots of brown tarantulas.  Here is a typical habitat.  I did this about 2 pm and found hundreds of nests.  It surprised me to see so many at the entrance of their burrows so early in the day.







A typical nest.







This one looks blue.







I flushed a few out with a long stem of grass.  Most appeared to be about 6 inches and very docile.  













Nearer to the coast most holes are crabs.  







There were lots of skinks.







Here is an unknown spider from the mangroves.







Sadly there was a red algae bloom at the end of our trip here that killed thousands of reef fish.  They washed up on shore all at once one night.  Here is a large puffer that died.  They were every 5-6 feet on the beach.  There were also lots of dead parrot fish and triggers, eels and a few other assorted reef fish.







The next day vultures were all over the beach eating the fish.  The vultures were so overfed that I could walk right up to them and they wouldn’t fly away.  When you’re 3 feet away they are very impressive birds.  







I’ve been to Costa Rica 3 times now.  There is still a lot I haven’t seen.  I would recommend Costa Rica to anyone interested in any kind of wildlife.


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## crpy (Jul 4, 2008)

very very awesome, thanks for sharing. 

I believe Ctenid spider and Dolomedes respectfully.


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## Fingolfin (Jul 4, 2008)

Thanks for so many pics!!! Very exciting trip you must have had...


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## SoupyC (Jul 4, 2008)

Incredible pictures! Thank you for sharing!


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## dtknow (Jul 5, 2008)

Incredible! I just got back from an 11 day trip. Your photos blow mine away though.


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## myrmecophile (Jul 5, 2008)

Great stuff. your velvety ant is a Camponotus, probably Camponotus sericeiventris.


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## Pulk (Jul 5, 2008)

WOW, awesome set of finds!


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## syndicate (Jul 5, 2008)

very cool!thanks for sharing
-Chris


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## MaartenSFS (Jul 5, 2008)

I especially like that photo of the bats on a tree. Weren't you basically wading through bat guano in those caves? Isn't it funny how the locals never know about the wildlife around their homes? Thanks for sharing.


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## Elgavilan3 (Jul 5, 2008)

*Costa Rica*

Excellent photography! I can say this as at one time I had a studio and photographed professionally. I found Arenal to be awsome. Even though I lived there for a time I never tired of Costa Rica or its wonderful people and surroundings. Hopefully in the near future my wife and I will move there.


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## barabootom (Jul 6, 2008)

MaartenSFS said:


> I especially like that photo of the bats on a tree. Weren't you basically wading through bat guano in those caves? Isn't it funny how the locals never know about the wildlife around their homes? Thanks for sharing.


Thanks for the comments everyone.

Yes, there was lots of bat guano in the caves, but mostly in certain areas.  They gave us paper face masks to use if we thought the smell was too strong.  I really didn't think it was bad.  There was lots of water going through the caves cleaning things up.

I was especially surprised in Tambor when so many people who had spent 30-40 years living there told me they had never seen a tarantula and then I find large numbers of them with so little effort.  But then I can spend 5 hours searching for spiders when most people don't want to find them.


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## ahas (Jul 6, 2008)

Thanks for sharing.  Nice pics.  I like those small bats.  :} 

Fred


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## pato_chacoana (Jul 11, 2008)

Congrats on the trip, looks like you've found lots of wildlife!! I'm planning my summer trip (I'm in the southern hemisphere hehe), still haven't decide where...maybe Perú. But a field trip is for sure!!  

Best regards,
Pato.


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## barabootom (Jul 11, 2008)

I've seen your picture threads.  You always pick awesome places.  I'll look forward to your post.   



pato_chacoana said:


> Congrats on the trip, looks like you've found lots of wildlife!! I'm planning my summer trip (I'm in the southern hemisphere hehe), still haven't decide where...maybe Perú. But a field trip is for sure!!
> 
> Best regards,
> Pato.


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## Nam (Jul 11, 2008)

Very nice that trip looks so fun


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## tin man (Jul 14, 2008)

thats awsome. i also went to costa rica this summer. it was an awsome trip, however i only saw one tarantula and it was a costa rica zebra.they seem much bigger in there natural habitat


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