Hiss ‘n’ Things, LLC.
Highlights of Trip 2
Highlights: November 6th. 2001 Trip.
As things turned out the trip was in serious doubt since Sept.11, 2001. The day has changed things thought out the world and our trip was no exception. As we approached the Nov. 6th departure date we had the trip fully booked for several weeks and after much uncertainty everyone was ready to go.
We had a new problem to contend with, Hurricane Michelle was in the lower Caribbean flirting with the idea of visiting South Florida. Each day it was moving our way but at only 5 miles an hour. Each day the pressure was building in me, what to do? Living in the Florida Keys isn’t like living in Miami a few miles inland. We have to be concerned with tidal surges, our island is only a half mile wide and we’re only thirty feet from the water. This Hurricane is a category 4 storm. I emailed everyone and we were on standby until Michelle made up her mind. In the mean time Helen and I put up our storm shutters and made evacuation plans and stayed tuned to the weather channel. By the time Michelle went over Cuba she came out a category 1 Hurricane and turned to the Northeast. She missed South Florida with a day to spare before our departure.
Well, the first memorable part of the trip started early the day of our departure Nov. 6th. Around seven o’clock in the morning. I’m having coffee when the phone rings. It’s Lindsey. He and Lynne have just been refused boarding by American Airlines their connecting flight to Miami. American refused them because they didn’t have proper documents required by Costa Rica to enter the country. Pryor to 9/11 a US citizen could enter Costa Rica with a tourist card (purchased upon landing) and one other piece of identification e.g. a passport or a birth certificate or a valid drivers license. The rules had changed now. They required a passport or a certified birth certificate. Of course they never changed the information on their website.
I called my son our travel agent and explained the problem. There was little he could do they had already missed their flight. He did come up with a solution for a certified birth certificate you could get it that day by going to the County of your birth and for a small fee you can get your birth certificate. That’s in Florida at least. He also got American to cut the cost for changing flights from $100 per person to $25 each. They took an afternoon flight into Miami and an early flight out from Miami to Costa Rica the next morning. I picked them up at the airport in San Jose at 9.30 that morning.
We had to be at the airport anyway to pick up Matt’s luggage, which didn’t make it on our flight. This was Matt’s second trip with Hiss ‘n’ Things and both times his luggage didn’t make it. This time was better because his bags made it the next day the first time he didn’t see them for three days.
We picked up our cars from Budget Car Rental in San Jose and headed back to the Hotel Irazu where we had stayed the first night. We checked out a short time later and started our two and a half hour drive to the Hotel Villa Lapas where we would stay for the next six nights the remainder of our trip. We stopped at the bridge over the Rio Tarcoles to see the crocodiles. There were about 15 big ones sunning themselves along the riverbanks. Ten minutes later we were checking into the hotel and shortly thereafter we were enjoying lunch and a cerveza. After lunch everyone grabbed their cameras to get shots of the spiny tailed iguanas and the basilisk lizards, which are easy to find on the hotel grounds.
At dinner that night I gave my talk about road safety and driving conditions in Costa Rica. The driver is responsible for the car and all persons in the car, which is a heavy load especially when you see a snake on the road. Everyone’s adrenalin starts pumping real hard and it’s easy to make poor judgments like not paying attention to oncoming traffic. We started our first nights hunt around 8:00 Adam, Lindsey, Lynne and I in one car and Steve, Matt, John and Dan in the other. We met them on the road around 12.00 and we had a Sibon and had come across an Imantodes, Sibon and Bothrops asper dead on the road. Steve’s car had nothing at that point. We met them again around 1 AM and they had caught a Fer-de-Lance (B. asper) and had come across a couple of road kills. We headed back to the hotel and they made an unproductive extra run.
The next morning I awoke around 6 AM and headed to the dining area for a cup of coffee. I grabbed a cup and walked around the grounds to see if anything was out and about. No herps were about but many, many birds were flying around and singing their songs. I went back and got another cup of coffee and took it back to the room. Steve and I were rooming together and he was up. I asked him what he had done with the Fer-de-lance? He said it was in a bag on the floor by his bed in the corner. This alarmed me, I said to him, since this was our first night in this room what would have happened if he or I got up to use the bathroom in the dark and made the wrong turn and stepped on the bag with a hot snake in it? I said lets be extra careful and put him in the closet in the bathroom. He agreed and I left for breakfast. We all had a big breakfast and then we took pictures of the snakes we had caught the night before. After, we all went into Jaco to use the Internet and let everyone know we were OK. We stayed for a couple of hours. We all headed back to the hotel except Dan, he rented a mountain bike for 24 hours so he could ride around. He was soaked with sweat when he got back to the hotel.
A few hours later I thought it would be a good ideal to wash a couple of tee shirts that were dirty. I had brought a small bar of laundry soap in San Jose the day before, so I looked for it and couldn’t find it. I looked and looked and still couldn’t come across it. I checked in my luggage, the drawers, in my shaving kit, all around the room. On my third trip around I’m getting pretty frustrated, why can’t I find it? I’m in the bathroom now cussing up a storm. Now I’m starting to move things, I knew I didn’t put it under anything but maybe something got placed on it and there’s two of us sharing the room. On the shelf by the sink I see my old beat up stained jacket, I grabbed it and wondered how my sleeves got tied in a knot? I moved it a little but the soap wasn’t there. Well, I better look under it I move my hand a little and picked it up. SNAKE—- FER-de-LANCE, my mind tells me. My knees go weak and I start breathing real hard, it’s suppose to be in the closet with the doors closed. I realized I’m not bit not even struck at, thanks to the fact that Steve double bagged him. I calmed down and everything is OK. I look again and this time I see an old beat up stained pillowcase with the snake in it. It’s the same color us my jacket hanging in the closet. I find Steve and tell him of my close call and some new rules regarding hot stuff. 1. No picking them up by hand, we have a bagging system for each car. With the bagger and a snake hook there is no need for physical contact. 2. All hot stuff is double bagged. 3. Hot stuff stays is the trunk of the car and is not taken into the rooms. 4. After picture taking the hot snakes will be put back into the trunk of the car and immediately driven up the mountain and released.
I don’t keep any hot animals at home. I did as a teenager and had some close calls. I felt that sooner or later I’d get tagged or worse yet leave a cage open and let him lose in the neighborhood and have to worry about someone else getting bit. It’s just too easy to lose your train of thought and make a mistake. Oh! By the way I found my bar of soap the next day in my camera case the next day.
At dinner the third or fourth night Dan brought his guitar and after dinner he started to play and sing. He’s really pretty good and his voice wasn’t bad either. Everyone was asking him to play this song or that he knew most of them and we had a few sing-a-longs. It was nice and I would like to thank Dan for be so thoughtful and for lugging his guitar all the way to Costa Rica. After the song feast we headed out for another night of hunting.
Dan, wailing away on his Guitar.
Another night after dinner we had Lindsay and Lynne show us how they used their sonar detector to find bats flying around us. They both belong to a Bat Rescue Program and have a ton of knowledge about bats. One fact they bought to our attention is the number of bat species in all of the US is in the low forties and in Costa Rica there are 104 species of bats. Later we found some hanging outside of our rooms and got some pictures. It’s amazing what you can learn on these trips when you have experts along.
One morning after breakfast Lindsey and Lynne wanted to go to the waterfalls, I said I would drive them up and pick them up later when they were done. Adam decided to go along with me, it’s about four kilometers from the hotel to the entrance. Once you get there it’s a forty-five minute walk down and quite a bit longer coming back up. It’s a pretty spectacular site. The waterfalls are six hundred feet and theres ten natural pools at the bottom for swimming. It’s a lot of effort but well worth it. We were driving back to the Hotel on the dirt road when I spotted what looked like a snake in the shadows from the trees and it was hard to tell. A second later he must have seen the car because he started the move like an Olympic sprinter. I slammed on the brakes and shut the car off and grabbed a the door handle, Adam was already out of the car, of course in my excitement I pulled the handle like my car at home and the door didn’t open. A second later I was out of the car and Adam was making a dive just before the snake would have made it over the edge where we would have been able to get him and live to tell about. Adam had him by the tail and I made a grab for the head and only got bit twice. But we had a beautiful 7 foot Spilotes. I would have hated to see this one get away it was just magnificent. I’m so glad I had Adam with me, I don’t think all of the others would have made the dive he did and not be worry about getting bit.
One day or two before we had to leave Steve, Matt and I decided to go on the cable ride though the rain forest. This is new at the Hotel they didn’t have it the last time. They built platforms around the trees about fifty feet up at the beginning and end of the ride. They protected the trees by using 4 x 4’s on the backside so the cable couldn’t hurt the trees. The trees have a stairway going up to the platform all welded together with no sharp edges and safety cables to hook onto all the way. A very professional job especially out in the jungle.
Well, the first thing we had to do was get into a harness. This took a while because it wasn’t just the three of us it was seven or eight of the young guys from the Hotel. I had no idea why they were going along, I figured one or two would go or maybe they were going along for fun. Anyway, we crossed a small river on a footbridge and started down a dry riverbed. The guys were walking about thirty yards ahead of us in a group. I hear them talking to someone off in the jungle in English. I said to myself that voice sounds familiar. The voice is saying “Don’t come in here there’s snakes in there under every bush, it’s dangerous.” I’m wondering what the hell is he talking about half of these guys don’t understand what he’s saying. So, I headed in and whom do I find but, Jeff Corwin of “The Jeff Corwin Experience” which airs on the Animal Planet Channel. I’m sure all the herpers out there are familiar with. Well, there is Jeff just finished taping a shot with a Bushmaster. We got to see the snake and I told him we were in Costa Rica herping, the night before we caught a five foot long Fer-de-lance, just a little small talk. He was on his way out and we had to go do the cable run. You just never know whom you might run into in the middle of the Jungle. We walked on for another fifteen minutes, waded though another river before coming to the start. We climbed to the platform about fifty feet up a huge tree. They had us clipped on to a cable at all times for our safety you could fall but not far, which is good because there is no 911 out here. At this point I find out why there is so many guys with us. They would go ahead of us to make sure we had a soft landing and not go into the trees. There were eight stop along the almost half mile run. At some of the stops we would climb up the stairs they built to gain maybe fifteen feet to keep the cable at an angle. A few time I had to dodge a climbs or two that had grown close to the cable that kept it interesting. It was worth the money and I plan to do it again on the next trip.
The night before leaving Costa Rica the waiter at the restaurant set up our table for us in a special way. He had decorations with candles, Flowers and palm leaves he had folded the napkins into our water glasses to look like birds. It was a real nice touch. The hotel staff seemed to like us. Being an eco-hotel they get their share of wildlife people mostly people looking at birds but us they remembered. It’s hard to forget people jumping up from lunch to chase a lizard, catch him and bring him back to the table and talk to him.
Left to Right. Standing: Jim, Adam, Dan, Lindsay. Sitting: Steve, Matt, John, Lynne.
All in all we had a great bunch of Herpers on this trip we all worked well together and learned from each other. Everyone had a great time and an experience they won’t forget. I’m looking forward to the next group in May ’02. —————- BE THERE!!
Jim Kavney
The following is a list of snakes our herpers encountered on our trip to Costa Rica November 6th. to November 13th. 2001. All of the snakes were encountered on the road at night, except three* that were caught off the road in the daytime.
|
Sibon nebulatus Cloudy Snail-eater |
7 |
5 |
|
Imantodes cenahoa Blunt Head Tree Snake |
1 |
|
| Bothrops asper
Fer-de-Lance |
5 |
14 |
|
Corallus ruchenbergerii Central American Tree Boa |
1 |
|
|
Lampropeltis t. stuauti Stuart’s Milk Snake |
1 |
2 |
|
Epricrates cenchria maurus Rainbow Boa |
2 |
|
|
Micrurus nigrocinctus Central American Coral Snake |
1 |
|
|
Boa constrictor Common Boa |
3 |
|
| Spilotes pullstus
Tiger Rat Snake |
1 |
1 |
| Leptodeira septentrionalis
Northern Cat-Eye Snake |
1 |
|
| Dendrophidion vinitor
Forest Racer |
1 |
|
| Coniophanes fissidens
Brown Debris Snake |
2 |
|
| Stenorrhina freminvillii
Red Scorpion-eater |
3 |
|
| Enulius flavitorques
White Collared Snake |
1 |
|
Total 52 |
19 |
33 |
Note:
The snakes on this list is probably not complete as we saw some snakes on the road that we were unable to catch, they made it off the road and into the jungle before we could stop them. Also all road kills probably not recorded specially the last couple of nights. This list doesn’t include the numerous other forms of reptiles and amphibians we came across on this trip.
This list was compiled by: Jim Kavney.
Each of the Herpers on our trip has a few things to say about their personal experiences.
Click here to read things from the Herpers point of view.
Hi Jim,
Sorry this has taken so long but we have been busy with construction here and then the Holidays and Mary Joan and I have been under the weather for awhile.
Obviously this was a great trip, this being my second experience. Everything was the same or better than the previous trip.The hotel has added a treetop cable slide,
which was lots of fun. The herping proved to be excellent in the fall with larger and new species since my trip last Spring.
This trip is a great value and if you love nature and herping you can’t go wrong.
If you have any questions please feel free to E-mail me.
Steve Brito, smj198@bellsouth.net
Adam: Hey, Jim this is Adam Greiner, how are things going. I think one of the most exciting moments was when we saw the big Spilotes. When I noticed that he darted back to the other side of the road, and that you were having trouble getting out of the car, I knew that you really wanted to catch him. So I jumped out and ran to him, to find him in amongst the branches, so I grabbed him a little past mid section while you ran up just behind me and went for the head. I thought that snake was so fascinating and pretty. I never knew that spilotes (tiger rat) snakes got that big or even that they were found in Costa Rica. I enjoyed him a lot. Over all I thought that every snake we encountered dead or alive was beautiful and an experience not to forget. I hope maybe another time we can catch snakes together again. Thanks a lot.
Adam
My Costa Rica Experience:
For me Costa Rica proved to be as exciting and as memorable a place as
everyone had told me it would be. The beaches were deserted except for
crabs, seabirds and turtles. The trails and forest was as lush and tropical
as a tropical island paradise. The views and landscapes were breathtaking
and like none ever witnessed by me in the USA. The variety of environments
and ecosystems make this small little country one of the most diverse
countries as far as wildlife and plant life in the world. The country
drastically changes from sierra conifers at the elevation of 10,000 feet to
sea level tropical rainforests not even 100 miles to the east and west.
Because of these elevation changes, the roads and driving held some of the
best challenges of our trip. The hairpin turns, steep slopes, and occasional
landslides challenged my skills as a conservative driver. The other great
challenge was locating snakes where everything is so thick and hidden you can’t possible know where to look for them. Despite advice from experienced veterans instinct led me to turn over tin where I found nothing but scorpions and tarantulas. I tried long walks down trails and long jogs and bike rides down deserted roads and still found no snakes. It was only by driving the roads late at night, that this group of experienced herpetologists located the Fer-de-Lances, Boas, King snakes, and various other “serpentes” characteristic of this area. The snakes could hide everywhere and had always to be on the watch for birds, mammals, raptors, crocodilians, and herpetologists who loved to capture them or eat them. The snakes were a definite challenge to first locate and then capture in the warm tropical environment where you would think they would be everywhere. warm tropical environment where you would think they would be everywhere. On the other hand, the lizards were the most plentiful family of reptiles observed. Dozens of species were observed and chased by the young and old in our group. Youthfulness and no fear proved to be an advantage to snagging aggressive Iguanas out of trees or hollow logs. The hotel Iguanas would frequently join you for breakfast. Fruit cocktail was their favorite entree and they had no qualms about begging for their share. The accommodations with overly hospitality and blended fantastic fruit drinks at their open bar. Over all the resort was great despite being empty of other tourists or herpetologists. Meals were better than home cooked and satisfying after a long day of hiking and before a long night ahead of road cruising. The after dinner guitar music was also great for gearing you up for being up all night looking for snakes on the roads. Besides all this the best thing about Costa Rica that everyone repetitively says is the people. These simple Latin American people are nicer than any other people in the world are. Despite the language barriers people would go out of their way to talk to you and help you. The trip was great and I look forward to going back.
Dr. Dan Meak
No man is free who is not master of himself.”
–Epictetus
“The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.”
–H. G. Wells
Matt:
Once again I had a great time. If you read about the first trip Jim set up you will see that I was there. I had a great time then and now. We almost had too good a time if that’s even possible. I have to say that if you have ever considered doing a trip to Costa Rica this is the way to go. Jim organized everything, and for that price… what’s there to think about? Since I was on the trip in May 01 I already knew Jim and Steve, the rest of the new group was just great. We all got along like we knew each other for years. I guess that’s how it goes when you put a group of people together with different backgrounds but have similar interests.
To see my pictures from the first trip go to: www.e-visivo.com/cr
If you have any questions please feel free to call or email me:
mattg@e-visivo.com
1-630-988-3441
Matthew J Giandonato – Chicago
Lindsay & Lynne:
Hi Jim,
There are many wonderful things about this trip but probably the best thing (and the main reason Lindsay and I took this trip) was the chance
to get to see animals in their native surroundings doing what comes natural.
Watching a Basilisk get up and run on two legs across the hotel lawn, patio and river renewed my interest in what otherwise had become a fairly blasé animal in the typical 50 gallon tank in someone’s home.
Equally thrilling was the opportunity to get to find my first wild dendrobates (poison dart frog) on the rainforest floor as we were gasping our way up a fairly steep path that had taken us to a beautiful waterfall. I was amazed at how this tiny, green and black frog stuck out like a sore thumb once you spotted it. It was even fun having to remind yourself not to rub your eyes, stick your finger in your mouth or touch anything until you washed thoroughly; knowing these guys were the real thing and excreted the real poison! It was just another reminder that we weren’t in Kansas (actually Florida) anymore.
I worked at the Dallas Zoo in the bird department for a year, so, getting to see and hear some of the birds I used to take care of – flying, calling, hunting and just being free – made the trip extra special for me.
The Hotel Villa Lapas was absolutely gorgeous. The grounds are kept beautifully and the owners and people who work there are so helpful and friendly. I equated it to a land locked cruise ship with a huge variety of animals roaming the grounds. During breakfast you could hand feed fruit to the Spiny-tailed lizards and the basilisks; at night there was a young Coati who would hang over our table and beg for handouts and even a little pet javalina that begged to have it’s tummy rubbed. The abundant variety of animals on the grounds was apparent the minute you opened your hotel room door and stepped out. You could see – two varieties of geckoes on the wall, lesser lined bats hanging from the walkway ceiling, monkeys screeching in the trees and macaws squawking as they flew to their roosts at night.
 |
Lindsay:
Our trip mates were as varied as the wildlife; from an 18 year old high school graduate to a retired airline pilot/fireman, from a school teacher to a veterinarian, from a machinist to an ex-purchasing agent and reptile breeders and so on. Varied as we were, we still had one thing in common – a love for herps of all kinds. It’s nice to be with people who appreciate and seek out the unappreciated and even feared or hated. We came to see herps and we did – over 10 species of snakes (including the prized Fer de Lance), 7 species of frogs and 12 species of lizards. The river was full of huge, yellow Crocs and we even got a glimpse of the elusive Jeff Corwin (an unexpected bonus). Insects, birds and mammals were everywhere and added to the thrill and enjoyment.
Our trip was exciting, fun, even relaxing and well worth every penny. Definitely a “do over.” Thanks Jim, for a wonderful trip and an experience we will never forget.
Lynne Howell & Lindsay Pike
Jim,
First of all sorry for taking so long to reply….
as for the trip the only bad thing is that it had to
come to an end but you’ll have that…. The area was
great and the weather couldn’t have been any
better…. the fact that we caught a nice variety of
animals was good… we got to see a good amount of
snakes, the lizard were nice to see right out side
our doors… I think my main highlights of the trip was finding the fer-de-lance and the poison darts…Of course an eyelash viper would have been nice but that gives me a reason to go again…. I hope everyone had a wonderful time like I did and I hope to do it again soon… John
Thanks for visiting!
Last Updated December 9, 2004.