DAY ONE ~~~ SATURDAY NOV 23, 2020

All trips start the same way, a trip to the airport, not very exciting! On our 30th trip I had a friend Bill from Boquete, PA., going with me. I was to pick him up at the corner grocery store on the highway. When I got there, he was there and ready to go. We had a 30 minute drive to the airport. When we got there, I pulled up at the door, and we unloaded our suitcases and backpacks. I said to myself I’ll need my passport when I get  inside. I have a leather passport purse which I take everywhere. I opened my backpack, but I did not see it. Oh No !  This is no way to start a trip!  I told Bill and my wife Anne. Did I have time to drive home and get it; the answer was MAY BE, but I didn’t have a choice. I told Bill to go ahead and I would get there somehow. Anne and I left the airport grounds and drove though the city of David. We got to the highway and I was driving 90 KPH, 10 km over the speed limit. I’m was working in my head trying to figure out what I do if I missed the plane, what were my options. They were not good;  I just had to make it period. We got back to the Airport and we ran in. There was only one girl at the counter, I pulled out my passport and told her I had to go to Costa Rica.. She said, I’m sorry but you’re too late. I said I could see the plane is still here she says yes but you’re too late for boarding. I told her the circumstances and that my friend that I was traveling with was already on the plane. I just got to go! I pleaded! She said okay you can try. I did make it ; I was the last one on the plane. (Hint don’t forget your passport!!!)

 We flew from David to Panama City where we had a two hour layover.   we waited in a restaurant until it was time go to security and get to our gate. While we were there, the police worked the dog through sniffing all the bags. They were a couple maybe in their early 40s with a couple of kids. When the dog went by he sat down. He smelled something, the police picked up the bag and walked away didn’t say anything to anybody just walked away. Finally the guy went to where the police were and talked to them. He came back without the bag, he just sat down. I never found out what happened. I figured it must be some kind of legal drugs that they would not let them take it on the plane. We finally got on the plane and an hour later we landed in Costa Rica. We cleared immigration, grabbed the cab and headed for the Hotel Aeropuerto. Two or three of our Herpers were already at the hotel. I got their room number, tracked them down , and introduced myself. By dinner time all were there except Mark coming from England and he wouldn’t be there until 2 AM. On this trip we had 5 herpers : Chris, Dave, Bill, Mark, Cliff on their 1st trip with me and Trent and Paul on their 2nd Trip me. We all ate dinner together and talked about our herping experiences. Trent, whose father was coming with us for the trip, had missed his flight. He lives outside of Boise, ID a long way from the airport.

DAY TWO ~~~ SUNDAY NOV 24, 2020

The next morning we got to meet Mark, our late arrival from England at the breakfast tables. Someone came to the table and told me the rental cars are here. I told everyone to go get their gear ready and I needed two backup drivers. Trent was driving one car and I the other. 45 minutes later we were pulling out on the highway for our 4 -/+ hour drive to the lodge. 

About three quarters of the way to the lodge, I always stop for a break at this little store that has rubber boots, that I recommend that everyone where when we were in the field. Also recommend every one wear snake chaps over their rubber boots. Everyone got what they wanted for our next part of trip, about an hour. Finally we are at the gate and as usual they have a new guy that does not know me. Ten minutes later we start our 3k climb to the top of the mountain and the lodge. I told everybody to look around and see if you can find the first snake of the trip, but stay around the parking lot. We have found quit a few snakes right here. I went to get all the keys! I say Hi to all the staff around. A couple of rooms were not made up yet. They would be done in an hour. It took a while but I was distributing the keys. We have all the bags to unpack, I told everyone to meet at my room in a half hour. We are going to lunch. After lunch we’re going to walk a trail. This trail has a paved walk way so boots were not necessary. The area was both primary and secondary rain forest. We saw some frogs and birds but no snakes yet.

I told everyone to be in the restaurant at six o’clock and we would be hunting by 6:45 to 7o’clock. It would be dark by then. I had to drive down to the gate to pick up Miguel who has hunted with me on every trip I have made to Arenal Lodge.  When we got back to the hotel, I introduced Miguel to everyone and we were ready to go. As we started hunting, you could feel some small raindrops. It wasn’t long before it got a little stronger and  out came the rain gear. Soon somebody yelled snake. It was a cloudy snail eater (Sibon nebulatus) a common snake, our first snake of the trip.

The rest of the night we had pretty persistent rain showers and strong wind.  The conditions were poor but we did manage to find 14 snakes.

DAY THREE ~~~ MONDAY NOV 25, 2020

AS luck would have it, I woke up with a sore throat.  Everyone met together for breakfast.  I told everyone we would meet at my room at 10:00 and we would go for a hike.  By the time everyone got there, we had a pretty good rainstorm going, and we were unable to take our hike.  While I was talking to the manager, I learned that there was a tropical storm coming in from the Caribbean, and that we would have lousy weather for

the next few days – not the kind of news you want to hear.  And its the first time I have had this situation occur during one of my trips. In the morning, 

some of the guys needed to go into La Fortuna, and on their return up the hill , they saw a snake crossing the road.  They stopped and were able to get the snake hook on it and bagged it.  They brought it up to the hotel.  The sun was actually shining and they were excited about their catch.  The told me they thought they had a many-banded coral snake in the bag but they weren’t sure.  I opened the bag and looked inside and said, “ you guys got it -a many-banded coral snake – the first to be caught on any of my trips.”  We spent the better part of an hour taking pictures of that snake and of the other snakes that had been found the night before.  

By now it was time for lunch and hoped that the day would stay as it was at that time.  Unfortunately, the clouds began rolling in about 3 PM.  I felt really bad that the guys had been unable to even see the volcano because of the cloud cover.  Everyone was on their own to look around the hotel grounds and meet back at the restaurant around 6 PM.  As it got dark, we had a light shower, but we decided to give it a try.  Everyone had on their rain gear and we went out and did about a three-hour walk.  By now, I was sniffing and coughing a lot and feeling really bad.  We did manage to get 7 snakes that night.

DAY THREE ~~~ TUESDAY NOV 26, 2020

  We went on a new trail that was about a 3 hour walk that led us to the base of the walk back up to the hotel.  We did manage to get 15 snakes tonight.  One that we had never captured alive before was a mussurana (clelia clelia). 

 On the last leg of the return to the hotel, I had to stop and rest two or three times to get my breath to make it back.  Sadly for me, that was the last night on this trip that I was able to take part in the night hikes.  Miguel basically took over as he had done these hikes so many times in the past.  Dave volunteered to keep a list of the snake found for the rest of the trip. Thanks!

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – When I woke up on Wednesday morning, i decided that I needed to protect myself from getting pneumonia, so I would not be going on the night hikes.  Apparently the weather system had stalled over us and poured gallons of water on us day and night.  The guys were persistent however, and Wednesday found 6 snakes, Thursday – 6 snakes, and Friday – 5.  Nature hunkered down just like we did , refusing to allow us to find the snakes.  Friday morning was a little different however.  While we were sitting in the dining room waiting for breakfast, a group of the waitresses came out carrying a cake and singing Happy Birthday  Jim. It happened that my birthday is December 1, which meant I would not be home, so my friends at the hotel decided to give me a party there.  By the way, the cake had an edible picture of a coral snake on it.  

Saturday – Today we go back to San Jose.  My phone rang in my room about 7 AM, and I was told that there was a snake down by the pool.  I grabbed my snake hook and my bag and headed out to meet the guy that called.  The guys were already in the restaurant and when I went by, I called out to Bill Oates, my friend from Boquete, who knew nothing about snakes before this trip and he had not caught one yet, to come with me.  When we got there, we saw a small rain-forest hognose pit viper coiled up.  I showed Bill how to use the snake hook to pick the snake up, which he did, and deposited it in the snake bag for purposes of photography.  Bill got his first ( and probably last) snake. Now it was time to leave.

 We had our last meal together in San Jose at the Hotel Aeropuerto at which time I apologized for the weather ( over which I had no control) and praised them for their efforts in spite of the weather. 

We  (they) got a total of 56 snakes, only about 50% of the number found in the last 3 trips (118, 122,120).  We’ll hope Mother Nature doesn’t get in our way next time.

I want to say a few words about the staff at the Arenal Lodge.  This was my 11th trip to the Lodge, so all the staff knows me well.  The service they provide is superior and they are friendly and helpful in every way.  I always bring a large “tip fund” to let them know that they are appreciated and that they will be appreciated the next time I come.  I encourage my fellow herpers to do the same.  

Another Trip in the old wet Snake Bag!!!!!

JIM ~~~