Hiss ‘n’ Things, LLC.
Highlights Trip 3

May 14th to 21st. 2002

This trip started out a little different. This time we all didn’t meet in Miami as in past trips. We had Pete fly in to Costa Rica directly from New Jersey and Mark came through Dallas and met us in Costa Rica. I met Bill and Jim at Miami International Airport and we flew to Costa Rica together. By the time we cleared Immigrations and Customs it was dark and we had to wait a short for the shuttle to the Hotel Irazu. We checked into our rooms and met at the bar twenty minutes later. We a round of cervezas Jim asked if they had Beck’s. I told him no, he couldn’t drink that in Costa Rica, he had to have a Costa Rican beer. I order an Imperial, one of the great beers of Costa Rica, the first of many. We sat around for the next couple of hours drinking, talking and listing to the Latin music and getting to know one and other. Finally Mark showed up at the hotel from his later flight through Dallas. We talked until they were closing the bar, we took the hint and paid our tab and headed for the rooms. It was a nice way to get to know one another and I knew we wouldn’t be sitting around drinking any more at night we have other plans. After all we came to herp not to tell stories of past adventures but to create new ones.

The next morning we were up and out to breakfast by 7 A.M. At 8:00 the car picked us up to take us to the car rental office to do the paper work and pickup your cars. This is always a scary part for me. The rush hour traffic in San Jose is for hard core drivers only here the timid walk. I asked for a volunteer to drive today from downtown and though the mountains. Without hesitation Bill reached for the keys. We went back to the hotel picked up our belongs and took off North on the Autopista heading for the Hotel Villa Lapas two to two and half hours away. On our way we stopped at the bridge over the Rio Tarcoles to see the crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) there were over twenty big crocs all in the twelve to fifteen foot range just hanging around in the water or on the bank. All the guys were taken picture after picture while I stayed under a shade tree talking to a Costa Rican fellow who told me that early someone stopped by the bridge with a road kill animal and thought it in the water for the crocs. He said the biggest one ended up with it and swam off up stream with it in his mouth. “What a way for road clean up.” We drove into the hotel fifteen minutes later and went to the office to check in. I said hello to many of the people there seeing them again for the third time in a year. As we were checking in a guy start heading our way and by the look in his eyes I knew I found a herper. Pete, who came to Costa Rica a couple of days ahead of the rest of us. Pete had been to Costa Rica three time before and knew his way around. I introduced Pete to the rest of the group, we when check into rooms and headed back the the dining area for lunch. Everyone wanted to eat fast so they could start taking pictures of the spiny tails and basilis which are abundant on the hotel grounds. I told everyone to take some pictures but meet at the rooms in an hour and we would go out on some trails to hunt for the herp that were a little harder to fine then Spiny tails and Basilis. I would like to mention that Bill was the first driver on any of our trips that stayed up with me on the drive over. Every time I looked in the mirror he was in sight. And he like me being a flat land driver from Florida kind of makes it amazing.

I started a little early rounding everyone up and had them all in a group at the end of an hour. (I’m learning from experience) On the first outing I want to go as a group so everyone can fine their way back to the hotel and help identify the herps we may be so lucky as to encounter. But the main reason is to caution everyone about the Fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper) who is abundant in the area they are ambush predators lay at the edge of the paths and wait for the prey to come by, well the prey are like us they like to take the path of least resistance. That can mean trouble for us if we are not very careful taking the paths in the jungle.

So we are off heading to the back of the hotel grounds where there is a small bridge across the river to the beginning of the trails. Before we were even off the hotel grounds Pete spotted a Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus). Well, I’ve been dying to catch one of these beauties for a long time, having only found a few road kill of the species. I was about 30 yards away from here he was pointing I cover the ground like a sprinter (Well, at least I thought so). I saw him and made a grab and missed, second grab and I had him. Well, being it’s a racer it was mutual, he had me. I been catching racer all of my life and my only goal is to see if I can catch them without being bit. Sometime I’m successful but most of the time I’m not. Anyway he let go and then bit me again, ten seconds later the back of my hand is totally covered in blood. Everyone is trying to get a picture and I got blood running down my forearm, so I hand the snake to Pete and he get bit and starts heavy bleeding. Finally he grab him behind the head and the rest of the pictures are taken. We release the snake and headed for the trails. I had rapped a snake bag around my hand now for about twenty minutes, I decided to take a peek I unwrapped it and the blood starts flowing again. After forty-five minutes it has finally stopped, until I bump it and it start again. Pete doing about the same. What I didn’t know before is the Speckled Racers have a anticoagulant in their saliva. And Boy! does it work. For the rest of that day and the next every bump would start the flow again. The same for Pete and being in the jungle it’s hard not the bump things.

(Jim holding speckled racer )

On the hunt through the trail we caught a dart frog (Dendrobates aerates). Well, I can rest a little easier now we caught the racer and we now can’t be skunked. Our first night on the road we came across 3 or 4 road kills but no live snakes.

The next day after long and leisurely breakfast we decided to head for Jaco to act like tourist buy some tee shirts etc. But one of the main reason Jaco is always on our list of placed to go is the farmacia. You can buy liquid Flagyl there for around twelve dollars and use it for reptile parasites this is a must for herpers. In the States you can only get it in tables form. Also picked up some meds I take. I got a three month supply for less then a one month supply at home. Pete and I talked to a young lady that books charter boats for sportsfishing Her English was fair and my Spanish is poor but somehow I explained that we wanted to go fishing for Sea Snakes (Pelamis platurus) this is the beautiful black and yellow Pelagic Sea Snake, which has the widest distribution of an sea snake in the world. Well, after asking me fifteen time what I wanted, I finally convinced her that she heard me right the first. She call one of the Captains she booked for and after explaining to him a few time. She told me he said he wouldn’t have me or any snake of his boat. I was “muy loco”. She told me not to worry, her husband was a Captain and he was “muy loco” too and he would take us. She said come back in an hour and he would be there. We met up with the rest of the group and everyone has ready to spend and extra fifty dollars for a shot at catching a Sea Snake. In an hour I was back and met Marcelo the captain/husband he kept asking how I was going to catch the snake if I didn’t have a net? Well, I hadn’t planned this so I didn’t bring anything from home to catch a sea snake. So I told him I was going to lean over the side of the boat and grab him with my hands. “Oh! he said, so you have antivenin of coarse?” Well, no! “You are muy loco.” Si! Then I gave him a deposit for the next morning, we would have the boat and the Captain for five hours.

Next morning after breakfast we piled into the car and we were off for our next adventure at sea. We found the meeting place only fifteen minutes last. Marcelo had a second Captain with him, his name was Enrique I guess he didn’t know what to expect and thought he might needed backup. I knew we needed to find the slicks in the water where debris gathers in the ocean. The slicks are caused by the currents or the wind. And today was a windy day we had white caps, not a good sign. If you think finding a snake in the jungle is hard just try the ocean looking for a snake that only grows to about two to two and a half feet long. It’s a big ocean out there. After a hour of hunting, Marcelo set four line with plastic lures on and we trolled while we strained our eyes looking for our quest. Another hour goes by and the wind dies down and we start seeing some slicks we finally find one with some debris in it. Marcelo said he saw a sea snake, I tell him to turn around and go back, but he think we will find another up ahead. We don’t. But before long we hook up with a dolphin we give the pole the Jim who is from Indianapolis and never caught a fish this size, he fought for about ten minutes before we had gaffed him into the boat. A while later a big sailfish jumped out of the water in front of the boat. We trolled though the area a few times and he finally came up behind the bait and banged it a few time but didn’t hook up. About 12:00 I told Marcelo to take us in it wasn’t going to be our day for sea snakes. He said no he had another place to try, so off we went, a half hour later I told him let go. No, no, no we can’t go in until Enrique and I see you catch one, we will never get another chance to see it happen. I was dying for a creveza but agreed to another half hour. Enrique had seen four sea snakes the day before. But today it didn’t happen, maybe next trip. Marcelo filleted the fish for us to take back to the hotel. That night they cooked the dolphin for our group and brought it out on a large platter with the two huge fillets on a bed of lettuce with carrots carved into butterflies and tomatoes made into a bird. If was a master piece and very, very delicious.

That night we were on the road cruising having come across a few snakes I was really surprised to see what I thought had to be a green iguana crossing the road past midnight. Sure enough it was a green iguana because Mark jumped out of the car and caught it. The iguana crossed the road and once he got off the road he stopped, making the catch possible. It would have never happened in the day time. This is the first green iguana I have seen at night except in the trees. But this iguana was not through he gave me another first. The next afternoon we were photographing the caught from the night before. Out came the green iguana he was a beautiful male with very bright green colored body with some orange on this head and as fat as he could be. We took pictures holding him in the beginning and then on the ground holding the base of the tail so he didn’t run away. Finally we had him sitting on the ground with no one holding him. Well, everyone had gotten all the shots they wanted and he still stayed there. We all came to one side leaving him plenty of room the move, but he just looked at us. Then someone moved up and touched his tail and he was off to the races for about fifty yards until he was into the bushes. What shocked me was he was bi-pedding all the way. His front legs were tucked to his chest and he was propelled by his hind legs only. I see Basilis do it all the time and I the years I bred Frill Dragons I would see them do it occasionally but never have I seen or even heard of a green iguana running bi-ped style. Of coarse you don’t often find green iguanas on the ground with enough space to run any distance.

Later that afternoon I took everyone over the the town of Tarcoles a couples of kilometers away we found a road the beach, it was just about sunset. The reason we had come there at that time I keep a secret, I thought with a little luck I just might gave the guys a little something to remember. I knew from being told by a couple people that several Scarlet Macaws come into the trees by the beach at sunset to roost for the night. I just didn’t know exactly were and I still don’t. But we all enjoyed be on the beach for some this trip was their first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. We took pictures and watched a large Costa Rican family play a game of soccer on the beach. We don’t see the Macaws come in, but upon leaving I did find a road leading to the river. We spent some time there hunting around and we were treated to two groups of white ibis come into the trees just across the river from us. I would think close to 100 bird in all, a few at a time would come in and where ever they would land the ones closest would try to snap at them and yell like hell for disturbing them.

That night we were on the road for a few hours at it started raining and the frogs started coming out we saw many deferent species but I could only recognize the Bufo toad and a few other. We came to an area where we saw red eyed tree frogs and stop and caught a few for photos, we could have had a bunch if we wanted. Later after the rain stopped we came across a snake we had been looking for and Bill caught his first Fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper) the only live one we encountered on this trip and it was a good thing because this was our last night on the road.

( Last dinner before our last night hunting, from left to right sitting Jim, Bill, Pete standing Jim and Mark)

The next morning after a nice breakfast and a hundred cups of coffee we packed, said our good-byes, pass out some tips for the staff and we were off heading back to the airport. But first we planned to stop in Grecia at the “World of Snakes” to see their exhibit. Marcel the owner showed us around the exhibit stopping a each enclosure and giving all the details. When we finished he took us to the breeding area which is not open to the general public. There we saw many babies and the adults that bred them. We had a treaty seeing baby Bushmasters (Lachesis stenophrys) that were just a few week old. After the complete tour Marcel took us to his house where we bought some of his really neat herp tee-shirts.

After we took the cars back and got a ride to the airport where we said good-bye to Mark and Pete who were staying and extra night at the Irazu because it is cheaper staying there that night then staying in a hotel in Miami. They would catch an early flight in the morning and be home the same time as if we flown with us. We didn’t come across as many snakes on this trip as we had in past trips but then again we didn’t have as many Herpers looking. But we all had a great time looking.

Species List

The following is a list of snakes our herpers encountered on our trip to Costa Rica May 14th. to May 21st. 2002. All of the snakes were encountered on the road at night, except three* that were caught off the road in the daytime.

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 does not include the numerous other forms of reptiles and amphibians we came across on this trip.

This list was compiled by: Jim Kavney.

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Each of the Herpers on our trip has a few things to say about their personal experiences.

My Trip to Costa Rica
From a Herpers Point Of View

The following information was provided by members of our group, of our trip to Costa Rica, November 2001. Each member of the group was asked to send me an email in their own words describing their impression of the trip. 

Here is what they had to say: 

MARK

Jim…I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Costa Rica trip. It was worth every penny and I highly recommend it to herpers and non-herpers alike. This was my first trip out of the country and I will never forget it. As much as I enjoy keeping herps, nothing compares to seeing these animals in the wild. Every day was something new and you never know what you might see. This is a great trip I wish I were still there. I can’t thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to do this.
Anyone interested in herps or other wildlife not to mention incredible scenery and great people should seriously consider taking this trip. You’ll be glad you did. Once again thanks for everything. ……Mark 

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PETE

Jim had a great trip, more variety and quantity than in 3 previous trips. Staying at the Villa Lapas and its amenities was interesting, had a large hyla jump on my face while sleeping. Seeing speckled racers, coach whips, cat eyed snakes on the grounds was fun as well as a large variety of lizards, amphibians and the macaws, parrots and toucans where an added bonus. Road cursing was interesting, from chasing lesser anteaters in the ditch to the finding of 3 kinds of boas, fer de lance, tree snakes etc, and never knowing what would be around the next turn always adds interest to any trip. Keep me posted on your next trip, if I am In the country I would like to go again.

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JIM

Hey Jim! That mystery snake mark and I found in Carara Park could be
Dendrophidion vinitor (barred forest racer) or a subspecies of it. I have a
pretty good close-up of the head. I’ll send you a copy of it soon.
I don’t really have a favorite part of the trip. There are too many. I
enjoyed finding just about everything because, everything I found was
something new to me. The Columbian boa and Boa constrictors were very cool
to find (It’s still hard to believe we found boas while road cursing). I
was happy as hell to catch my first Basilisk in the wild (and to see them
run across water). The Black and green Dendrobates was definitely a treat to
find as were the red-eyed tree frogs! Hiking on the Villa Lapas grounds after
dark with flashlights would yield a huge array of tree frogs, geckos, marine
toads, and bats.
In the mornings, Spiny-tailed Iguanas and Brown Basilisks were abundant on
the landscape sunning themselves. Revealing a piece of melon would entice
the spiny-tails to eat from your hand (at the breakfast table! outside!)
The Villa Lapas was fantastic!! The food was awesome (the guys didn’t hear
any complaints from me and my endless pit, so-to-speak). Open bar was also
very cool. There’s nothing better than grabbing a Pina Colada and hanging
out by the pool!(okay, herping in Costa Rica is better).
The grounds of the resort were beautiful. I’m a fan of fauna, flora, and all
of nature so I was taking in all the sites with my cameras. Tropical plants, larger than I could of imagined, in all colors and shapes. Palms of every type and bromeliads growing from the tree tops definitely had me in Paradise! The birds were another “candy for the eyes”. Scarlet Macaws would give a throaty arraakk! as they flew overhead in formation.We also saw Toucans, amazon parrots, kiss-ka-dees? and the beautiful Quetzal. That was only a small fraction of the bird species that I could remember seeing.We all decided to do a sport fishing trip mostly to see sea snakes. The sea snakes eluded us but, we saw three sea turtles and caught a nice mahi mahi which we had for dinner! The trip in a nutshell, was awesome! I learned a lot from the local people and their culture. Jim is a well seasoned Costa Rican traveler and a great person to hang out with and learn from. Even learned a few words in Spanish. Cerveza phor-vavor (beer please).
In three words I can say it all… I’ll be back!

 

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Thanks for visiting!

 

Last Updated September 2, 2002

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