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Project Costa Rica Osa Peninsula Crocodylus acutus Survey Preliminary Survey-September 2004
Preliminary Assessment of the Status of the American Crocodile in Southwestern Costa Rica: A basis for Further Study. Abstract: The American crocodile’s range extends from the Southern tip of Florida through Northwestern South America. As such, it is the second most widely spread crocodilian in the new world (second only to the spectacled caiman). Over the course of the past 8 years guiding eco-tourists throughout the Osa Peninsula, wildlife biologist and guide Mike Boston has observed substantial numbers of American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) throughout the rivers and tributaries of the Area Conservation de Osa (ACOSA). Due to a lack of available information on these large archosaurs, it became apparent that little study has been made on the populations of this remote and unique area of Costa Rica. The majority of studies have focused on the much drier, easier-to-access northern regions of Costa Rica. After discovering recurring nests of Crocodylus acutus during two previous trips to Corcovado National Park, as well as numerous other individuals, it became apparent that a thorough study should be undertaken. Private funding has allowed us to complete a preliminary assessment of 3 rivers in the ACOSA. In addition, we reconnoitered a fresh-water lagoon along the Pacific Coast of the Osa Peninsula, home to a large population of crocodiles. It is estimated that only 10,000 to 20,000 American crocodiles exist throughout their range. As their skins are covered with very small osteoderms (relative to other species) they are often hunted for the skin trade. This article summarizes the preliminary survey, and the results to support initiating a long-term census in 2005. Also, accompanying us on this survey was Zack Kerstetter, a naturalist from Philadelphia, whom we met on our April 2004 Corcovado trip. His father is a landowner of some property at the tip of the Peninsula near Matapalo. Several conservation-oriented landowners are working to restore the tropical forests near Matapalo, and they happened to be down there for 10 days as well. In all, over 80 crocodiles ranging in size from 35cm to over 3-meters were observed. Two rivers were surveyed along 4 to 6 kilometers of their length, from a landmark up-river, down to their mangrove deltas where they empty into the Golfo Dulce. One survey yielded 29 crocodiles, while another yielded 19 crocodiles each on two successive nights. A third river, smaller was only surveyed near its mouth, yet held an astonishing 13 crocodiles in just under a half-of-a-kilometer! One crocodile was observed killing and eating a greater fishing bat! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 5: Monday, September 6th. We woke and packed for our boat ride back across the gulf to Jimenez. We departed at 8:30AM and the boat ride was pretty uneventful, arriving back in Jimenez around 9:30AM. Mike made a call to Cana Blanca, which is a lodge across the gulf but in the opposite direction of Zancudo, being located near the Rio Esquinas. Cana Blanca is so remote that it can only be accessed by boat. It actually sits on a stretch of beach within Piedras Blancas National Park, but I doubt you can reach it from the main entrance along the Pan American highway. It is remote and pristine. In fact, it is prime bushmaster habitat, as the steep hills of Piedras Blancas are very high and rugged. The Rio Esquinas sits at the NW corner of the Golfo Dulce and gets some of the heaviest rainfall in the region. While Mike made phone calls, I got on his computer and threw together some datasheets in MS Excel to transfer the data from the notebooks. We record the data in weather resistant field notebooks then transfer it to data sheets as a permanent record. Around noon we headed to Carolina’s to grab some lunch. Mike had gotten through to Cana Blanca and found out that Earl, one of the owners, would be in Puerto Jimenez at around 1PM to pick us up. As it turned out, and how plans usually occur on the Osa, we ran into him as he ate lunch at Carolina’s. After introductions, we sat down and ordered while Earl ran some errands in town and went to get some groceries. Earl and his wife, Carol runs a wildlife rehabilitation center at Cana Blanca, rehabilitating injured and abandoned macaws, parrots, parakeets and the occasional monkey. It is truly one of the most incredible places in terms of wildlife interaction I have ever seen!! If you don’t like monkeys when you go there, you’ll love them by the time you leave. When we arrived at Playa Blanca, Carol was there to meet us, adorned with their current residents: Duke, a baby howler monkey, Sweet Pea, a few-month-old spider monkey; Cabrini, a 9 month old White faced Capuchin monkey, and the star of the show- Poppy, a year and a half old female spider monkey who just LOVES to play tag and be chased. Anyone who is thinking of having kids should visit this place. It was like babysitting a bunch of 3 year olds for 3 days, except that these toddlers are skilled at: stealing cameras, drinking out of coffee cups if left unattended, eating sugar right out of the bowl and tracking it everywhere, stealing bacon (not a bad thing, if I could just train Cabrini to bring some to me too!) and they can be 20 feet up a tree in 3 seconds flat! As much as I miss them, they are a lot of work, and really can only be so well adjusted to human companionship, because they are essentially in their own habitat. The same goes for the macaws and the parrots. Of course, the dedication of Carol and Earl factors in as much as the natural settings do in allowing these animals to adjust and eventually be released back into the wild. I expected monkeys to have a peculiar smell about them, maybe something musky like a ferret, but in fact they smell more like baby powder. The most comical sight was when we first arrived and Poppy sat in a bunch of fire ants and was screeching from their bites. Carol dumped some cornstarch on her, as rubbing cornstarch on you will keep the ants from biting. After arrival, Carol gave us a quick tour of the compound, going through all of the various cages, each of which holds a different species of parrot. She told us how each bird got there, at what stage of its rehabilitation it was at, and when (or if) its going to be released. After the tour and a cerveza, we settled into our cabinas. We spent about an hour playing with the monkeys before dinner. After dinner, Carlos, their helper and an excellent boats-man, would take us up the Rio Esquinas for our first survey of the river. He grew up here and knows the Rio Esquinas very well, especially its mangroves. It had rained pretty hard before dinner and was uncharacteristically windy for Cana Blanca, but by 7PM, it had subsided. The boat we took was a fiberglass boat that Earl built from a form. The boat made me nervous as coming across the Golfo Dulce in the afternoon, I could feel the front of the boat flex each time we hit a wave trough. It was much calmer now, so the flex was less noticeable. Ticos are amazing boats-man, usually running at night without turning on lights, and navigating only by the light of the moon. They navigate simply by knowing these rivers like the back of their hands, and recognizing the silhouette of familiar land features against the sky. What is even more amazing, is that this time of year it’s much more difficult with the cloudy skies and moonless nights! We finished the survey, tallying 19 crocodiles over 5km, reaching the mouth of the Rio Esquinas. By that time it was starting to sprinkle. Carlos opened up the motor and we started to make the short trip back to Cana Blanca. No sooner had we entered the gulf out of the mangroves, when the skies opened up! On a clear night, you can look all the way across the gulf and see the glow of lights in Puerto Jimenez. It started coming down so hard that we couldn’t even make out the shadows of the steep promontories of Piedras Blancas National Park, that were merely 50 yards away. The rain was starting the blast in sideways, so hard that I couldn’t even open my eyes. I could barely make out Zack and Mike crouched down in the bow in front of me. How Carlos could see to navigate is beyond me, but I figured he was just taking this in stride. I was drenched and now beginning to shiver. It felt like the time when I got caught in a rain/sleet/snow-storm on Mount Washington, NH and was completely caught off guard. In about 15 minutes we rounded the point that juts out into the gulf and shelters Playa Blanca. Fifteen minutes seemed like an eternity, but suddenly in the shadows appeared Playa Blanca and a light was on in the lodge. It was eerily similar to the scene in “King Kong” where the natives sneak aboard the ship, kidnap Fay Wray, and paddle back to the island in their dugouts ready to give their prize to Kong. Earl had waited up to make sure we made it back ok. It was now 10 o’clock. We went straight to our cabins, changed into dry clothes, and turned in. One good night on the Esquinas—at least we were making progress. Day 6: Tuesday, September 7th. I woke pretty early Tuesday and went down to the rancho to get coffee. I was immediately accosted by a couple of spider monkeys. I kept Poppy entertained while Earl made coffee. Earl brought the coffee, milk and sugar out on a tray and sat it on the table. I fixed my coffee and no sooner had I set it down, when Cabrini came over, took a sip then grabbed a handful of sugar out of the bowl. In a flash there was sugar spread all over. Anyone who has ever had the insane notion of keeping a monkey as a pet, should be required to spend three days at Cana Blanca to experience what a havoc these creatures unleash! On one hand, you will see the how much fun monkeys can be, when raised in the proper environment and exposed to their natural surroundings. On the other hand, you’ll realize how mischievous they are! Imagine a 3-year old that can steal your car keys and be 30 feet up in a tree in 5 seconds flat! Nothing is safe… well, nothing that isn’t bolted down anyway! Even then it’s just a matter of time until they’ve stolen whatever it is. They are continually getting into everything. I was constantly checking my pockets, because Cabrini was a pick-pocket, but a sweet pick-pocket none-the-less. Mike came down shortly before 9 A.M., and we decided to sit at the table and transfer the data from last nights survey to the data sheets. Well, that plan lasted about 5 minutes, as Poppy decided that the data sheets made a perfect place for a siesta and ended up chewing on my pencil as I tried to write! After her 5-minute siesta, it was time for a game of tag. We spent more time entertaining monkeys than we did counting crocodiles. After lunch Earl offered to lead Zack and I on a hike up in the in steep hills behind Cana Blanca. The trail actually enters Piedras Blancas National Park, as all land above 20 meters in elevation is automatically park property by law. Actually, in a few years, Carol and Earl have an agreement to sell the Cana Blanca property to the national park service and build a new sanctuary on a smaller parcel just up the beach. The park service will turn the rancho and cabinas into a ranger station for Piedras Blancas National Park. The trail we would take was actually a loop. It enters some primary rainforest, and we immediately heard two troops of howler monkeys out on the steep point that sticks out into the gulf. As we approached the top of a steep ridge, the trail started to flatten out. Earl took us to a spot where only the remnants of a fallen log remain, but 7 years ago two of the workers nearly were bitten by a black-headed bushmaster (Lachesis melanocephala),which was coiled up next to the log. The first worker stepped over the log and heard the snake vibrating its tail, sounding like a loud hummingbird. The second worker nearly stepped on the snake, but stopped from jumping over just as the snake struck at the first worker! The snake was subsequently killed. Carlos, our boats-man, rarely ever speaks. However, Earl said that the day he saw the bushmaster, he came back to the rancho with eyes as big as saucers, and he would not stop chattering all day! The hike was a nice break from the monkeys and crocodile counting, even though we didn’t see much in terms of wildlife. We looped around and descended a steep muddy slope, and arrived back at the trail junction when we realized that only one of their two dogs was still with us. Bismarck, their 2-year old Weimerraner was still around, but their older spaniel was nowhere to be found. The last we saw her was at the top near the bushmaster log. Earl wasn’t concerned as the dog knew the area and had spent nights out before. She would probably show up later, if she hadn’t already made it back. She had been bitten by snakes before so she knew not to stick her nose in places she shouldn’t. We arrived back at the lodge, and I went to read a book Carol gave me. I got through 2 chapters before I fell asleep. It’s easy to doze off with the sound of waves crashing on the beach. Mike woke me an hour later for dinner. After dinner we went out for our second survey of the Rio Esquinas. On our way to the river, we stopped off at Los Animas to check with some residents to see if maybe the dog showed up there during the day. The valley from the top of the ridge, actually leads down a different valley up the beach from Cana Blanca. No one there had seen her, so we headed onto the river. We decided that we would survey the Rio Esquinas going up-river from the mouth, up to the previous nights starting point, rather than just going with the current like we did the night before. The rationale for this was that with the rivers running so high and fast, it is much easier to control the boat while going against the current. The Rio Esquinas in particular was higher than the Rio Coto, simply because the area around Piedras Blancas N.P. gets a considerably large amount of rain, unlike the areas along the eastern edge of the Gulfo Dulce. We headed toward the mangroves on the far side of the delta, since we hadn’t surveyed these the night before. We cut through a narrow channel in the mangroves to beat the rain. I still don’t know how Carlos saw that channel, because he turned into it at high speed, and I thought for sure we were going to slam right into the mangroves. We had to slow down near the middle of the delta, as there were several shallow mud flats that were tricky to navigate around at low tide. We had just gotten near the mangroves, when Mike spotted a pair of eyes way out in the middle of the river….doubtlessly a large croc. Carlos pointed the boat out in that direction, and as we got closer the eyes seemed to be darting back and forth, constantly avoiding us, but yet not going underwater! This was odd for a crocodile. That’s because it wasn’t a crocodile, but a four-eyed opossum, which avoided every attempt Mike made to grab it by the scruff of the neck. What was this thing doing out in the middle of a croc infested river, not to mention, a gulf full of bull and tiger sharks? Oh well, it was taking a big chance trying to cross the river. We encountered a half-a-dozen crocodiles within the first kilometer or so, when we found another crocodile hidden in the mangroves. We were already close to the bank, so we tried to get closer to this one, which appeared to be a meter or so long, but it was tough to tell, because unlike the others, this croc was up on the mud bank, deep in the mangroves. As soon as we approached it, it slipped into the water, but we noticed it was holding something in its mouth. At first glance, I saw a leg sticking out of its mouth, but couldn’t see too well, with the spotlights flickering on and off. At first glance, Zack and I both thought it was a crab of some sort, so I immediately grabbed the video camera. As I started to record, Mike said, “It’s a bat!” Holy cow! The crocodile had somehow managed to capture a greater fishing bat, and was attempting to eat it! We didn’t see it catch it, and it is quite common for them to eat carrion. After a few seconds, the crocodile decided we weren’t a threat and it ignored us. It raised its head out of the water and thrashed the bat back and forth violently to try to kill it. This act told us that the croc had indeed caught the bat, as it wouldn’t do this if they prey were already dead (crocs have a good sense of smell.) It used its jaws to crunch the bat’s long bony wings a few times, before lifting its head to let gravity do the work. We could actually see the hand joint of the bat’s wing, and one of its feet sticking out of the crocodile’s mouth. This was amazing; since it may be the first time an American crocodile has been filmed eating a fishing bat! We left the croc to finish its meal, and continued with the survey. Coincidentally, we tallied 19 crocodiles on this night, exactly the same number as the night before.
I tried to carry Poppy up to Mike’s cabin to wake him up, but half way across the yard she jumped down and wrinkled her nose at me, wanting me to chase her back to the rancho. I did for a few minutes, and then took Bismarck, their Weimaraner, down to the beach to play “Fetch the Coconut”. This dog is not even 2 years old, and loves to chase coconuts. We did this for about ½ hour, just long enough to tire him out so we could eat breakfast in peace. We ate breakfast, but not in peace. That doesn’t exist in a world where macaws and monkeys are the centers of attention. We weren’t finished with breakfast when April and May, a macaw pair, landed on the table and promptly marched across the table and grabbed a pancake off of the platter. I can recognize April by her crooked beak and May is her mate, so he’s usually with her. After breakfast, we said our Good-byes, and Carlos took us back across the gulf to Puerto Jimenez. We got into PJ around 10:30AM and checked email. We walked down to Carolina’s for lunch and to discuss how to best make use of the last 3 days. We had already gotten 3 surveys on the 2 major rivers done and that was more than I had expected. Anything more would be a bonus. Mike and I had discussed possibility of trying to find a canoe or boat to paddle up the Rio Platanares. Mike wanted to do a smaller, local river, but the Rio Tigre was far away to paddle, but the Rio Platanares was do-able. We had the option of going further up to Rincon to survey the Rio Rincon, or else going to Caratè on the opposite side of the peninsula to try to survey the Laguna Pejerperrito. Mike really wanted to try to get to the lagoon, so we decided to head out there Thursday on the afternoon collectivo. After lunch, Zack went back to his cabina for a nap, and Mike and I went to rustle up a canoe. We talked to several people who suggested where we might find one. We walked down to the beach and talk to a tico who rented kayaks, and he suggested we use a small 12 foot fiberglass rowboat, but it wasn’t his. We walked back into town and just happened to run into the boat’s owner near the soccer field…that’s how things work on the Osa. Serendipity! We tracked down some paddles and headed back for a nap. Around 7PM after dinner, we went down to the beach, and decided that in this boat, to attempt rowing to the Rio Tigre was absolutely out of the question. In a canoe it was do-able, but since the tide was going out, and the wind was against us, we settled on exploring the Rio Platanares. It was a struggle to row the boat. While it was wide and stable, it wasn’t the easiest rowboat. The dock is about a kilometer from the mouth of the Rio Platanares. You have to paddle past the beach, around one dock, up another beach, past Parrot Bay Village, past the dock at Crocodile Bay Lodge, and then further yet until you reach the mangroves at the mouth of the Platanares. What was even more difficult was trying to approach a wary crocodile close enough for a good view, before it slips under the surface. At least in a motor boat, they are somewhat confused by the motor. In a rowboat, they are just too fast. We surveyed the river from the mouth, up to the “Portage”, a path that leads up the bank from the Rio Platanares and down to the Playa Platanares, which is used by kayakers. A total of 13 crocodiles were spotted in less than a ½ km of river! That is an amazing density for such a small river in close proximity to town! We rowed back to the beach and tied up the rowboat. We had a great workout, and it was very encouraging to know that such small rivers can hold large numbers of crocodiles. In fact, they may be more significant than we thought, and it was fortunate to find this out early on. It felt good to know that we were making the most out of our time, and not just sitting back relaxing and sipping cervezas. I was pretty tired, and so I showered and went to bed. We had a big day ahead going to Caratè. Hopefully, the rivers were passable! Day 8: Thursday, September 9th. We awoke and repacked our bags and equipment boxes for Caratè. We didn’t take much in the way of clothes, as we’d be only spending the night there, then returning to Jimenez the next day. We went into town for breakfast and Mike strolled down to the collectivo office to check on the collectivo. In the meantime Zack and I ordered breakfast. While we were eating, Mike returned to say that the collectivo had not gone to or from Caratè because of the heavy rains on Monday. The word was that several of the rivers were still running very high, and one in particular, the Rio Carbonera, was still impassible. Mike talked to a local taxi driver who had a diesel 4x4 (similar to a Toyota Rav-4) who was willing to take us out to Caratè. Instead of leaving at 1PM, we would now be leaving around 11:00AM. This was music to my ears because I didn’t want to sit in Jimenez any longer than I had to, and it’s always better to be going somewhere. At least then it feels like we’re getting something done. We went back to get our gear, and the taxi driver would pick us up at the apartment. We got our gear loaded into the taxi, and we were on our way. The drive was slow going because of all the high water. Along the way, Mike was asking the driver about the various little streams and rivers to try to pick up any little tidbits of information about crocodile sightings along the smaller rivers. We stopped over a tiny stream, which happened to be a part of the Rio Platanares because Mike said he had seen a small crocodile on a sand bank once several years ago. Sure enough, there sat a 1.5m crocodile basking on a bank where the river made a sharp s-turn, forming a relatively deep hole. We continued on and came upon the Rio Carbonera, which had swallowed a couple of vehicles a few days prior. There was a crew of ticos there with a bulldozer and a tractor trying to smooth out the banks of the river. The water was lower, but the problem with crossing these streams is that the banks tend to wash out and get undercut. The vehicles can usually navigate through high water, so long as you go slow and maintain traction on the bottom. The problem arises when the banks are too steep to get out on the other side! We had no trouble here, nor at the Rio Piro, Rio Oro or Agua Buena. While the water was high and came up over the hood, we had a diesel, so there was no worry about the engine stalling. Mike did mention though, that once they had to get out and sit on the roof of the taxi until another vehicle came along and pulled them out. As we neared Caratè, we passed a lagoon…the Laguna Pejeperrito. As we approached it, the road ascends a high hill, which allows you to look way down over the lagoon and out across the Pacific. As we passed this area, a mudslide covered the road and we started to slide out over the bank! That was not good. I could feel the mud pushing closer to the edge and the vehicle started to lean a little. We barely passed it, but we’d have to go through this muck again tomorrow. We got to the Lookout Inn around 2PM and immediately, Terry, the owner, came out to great us. We had a welcome cerveza and discussed the possibility of borrowing Terry’s kayaks to go paddle around the lagoon to familiarize ourselves with it before we surveyed it that night. I had been in this lagoon two years earlier, when we stayed at Terrapin Lodge. We would go down to the lagoon and hike into it from the beach near the western shallow end. It’s not that deep to begin with, maybe 3 to 4 feet throughout. Terry told us that we may have trouble paddling because the lagoon had broken a path to the ocean and most of the water drained out. This lagoon is a freshwater lagoon, which is held back by a high sand dune on the beach. As water collects in the lagoon, the pressure builds up, and usually once a year it breaks through the beach and empties into the ocean. The lagoon now was maybe a foot deep at most. Terry took us down to the lagoon and dropped us off with his truck. We descended down a steep, slippery, muddy trail to where the kayaks were tied up. It was a smeary mess, and as we slid the kayaks into the lagoon, one slip would sink you into mud up to your thigh. We paddled out into the lagoon, and it was difficult because of the shallow depth. At one point, I was in the middle of the lagoon and my kayak bottomed out. I tried to push off the bottom, but had no success. I got out of the kayak and stood up in the middle of the lagoon. I only pushed it a little ways and it was afloat, but then as I tried to take a step towards it, I sunk down above my knees in the mud. This was not good, since Mike and Zack had paddled way across to the other side of the lagoon to explore some little bays where streams flow in. I ended up just lunging onto the kayak, lying across it like a surfer on a surfboard, until I got my legs free. I rinsed the mud off of my feet and climbed back in. I made a loop around the lagoon, but saw no crocodiles. Eventually Zack paddled back over towards me and said that he had seen one very large crocodile at the far end. He couldn’t tell the size, but said it was large, in the 3-meter range. By now, we had lost sight of Mike. He apparently had disappeared into the reed grass, and was probably in one of the tiny streams that flows into the lagoon. About 20 minutes later, we saw him paddling back along the beach. Somehow, there is a canal through the reed grass that allows you to make a complete loop. He floated back to us and said he saw a monster-crocodile in one of the tiny streams. He had paddled slowly up this narrow channel and was looking at some sticks and branches that were washed up on the bank, when he noticed the outline of tail scutes (or properly called “Whorls”) emerging out of the water. As he followed the tail down he suddenly saw the wide body of this crocodile, who was trying to hide its head underwater (as if it could hide)! Mike suddenly realized, that if that crocodile got spooked, that the channel wasn’t big enough for a giant crocodile and his kayak too, and something was going to give! He quickly, but quietly backed his kayak out of the channel to prevent scaring the giant reptile. As he was telling us, his eyes were as big as saucers! We paddled back to the bank and tied up the kayaks. We walked back down the road, a good portion of which was under water, to the Lookout Inn. Along the way we stopped at the sea turtle research station to say ‘hi’. We marched back to the Lookout Inn and showered while we waited for dinner. Terry and his wife are incredible cooks, and have some of the best cuisine on the Osa. Tonight we were having fish. As we waited for them to prepare dinner, we sat at the bar and listened to the frogs that were starting to call from the lush gardens planted around the Inn. As the Inn sits on a high bank, there are several long stairways down the bank that pass through all sorts of heliconias, bananas, and other tropical plants. We could hear red-eyed tree frogs, smiliscas and even a gladiator frog calling. As we sat on the deck, a red-eyed tree frog called from a tall tree right next to the deck. I shined a light up there and as soon as it called, we could see the leaf shake as the frog resonated its call. We walked down the steps to the pool, and found a giant gladiator tree frog sitting in a pond, as well as several masked tree frogs (Smilisca phaeota) floating in the pool. After dinner, we hiked down the beach to try to do a survey via the kayaks. Kayaks aren’t very convenient for recording data, and a canoe would have been better. We got to the lagoon and realized that the tide was low, and there was barely any water at all in the lagoon. There was absolutely no way we could get a kayak out into the water, since where there was water earlier, now there was at least 10-15 yards of mud flat exposed during low tide. We walked down a path back to the beach and decided to try to do a survey by hiking into the lagoon from the beach. We attempted to walk out onto the mud flats because we could see eye-shine out in the middle of the lagoon. We counted a dozen or so crocodiles, but could not estimate their sizes. We walked around the banks and saw many juveniles, and oddly, instead of darting into the water, these small crocodiles would scurry up the banks into the reed grass for cover. We hiked back to the inn, and made it just in time before it really started to pour. We got wet, but not too bad. Everyone else had gone to bed, so I got a shower and sat out on the deck for a little while since it was still only 9PM. While we didn’t get a good survey of the lagoon, we at least got to explore it a little and gained valuable information as to when you can, and cannot survey this unique land feature. We won’t attempt to survey it when its broken through its banks. At the very least, it was a nice change of scenery, and I never pass up an opportunity to stay at the Lookout Inn. Day 9: Friday, September 10th. The next morning we were planning on taking the morning collectivo back to Caratè, but a couple from New Jersey offered to give us a ride with them. Besides, they welcomed the company and the extra ballast in the car for crossing the rivers. We left at around 9AM and the ride was almost uneventful, except for the one river crossing where the car somewhat floated downstream, only to get traction at the last minute and turn up river rather than slamming head on into a submerged tree stump. We were near Matapalo when we happened upon Zack’s dad, pulled over along the side of the road. He was exploring some property that he had just purchased, and was trying to determine the property lines. After discussing our plans for the day and when we’d be leaving tomorrow, Bert suggested we stay at Bosque del Cabo, another lodge near Matapalo (rated by Frommer’s Travel Guide as the number one eco-lodge in Costa Rica!). This lodge was incredible. The food is incredible, I would say rivaling the Lookout Inn for the best cuisine on the Osa. We piled all of our gear into Bert’s car and headed to Bosque del Cabo to let them know we’d be staying the night. This time of year, most lodges are pretty empty, except Bosque—they seem to always be busy. We dropped our gear, and then headed to the parcel of land that Bert owns to explore some primary rainforest near a waterfall. We hiked this area for a few hours and the ticos Bert hired to cut trails took us down to this incredible 100 foot water fall. It’s in primary rainforest, and I even found a large rodent burrow that the tico confirmed as a Tepiszquintle (the English name is ‘paca’) burrow. Bushmasters favor these large, cavernous burrows as refuges. There could be bushmasters here! We hiked back out, and headed back to Bosque del Cabo at around 3PM. We just relaxed for the afternoon, since we were all pretty well burnt out by the past week. It was good to just relax and read for a change. Dinner was an incredible feast of fish, chicken, rice, beans, plantains, and tres leches for desert! After dinner, we sat around the table talking with the guests about our crocodile work, and recounting stories of past trips catching snakes and crocodiles. Since most of these guests were here for the first time, they were enamored with the various tales of the Osa Peninsula. After dinner we turned in and I was ready to head home the next day. Day 10: Saturday,
September 11th. Today was a travel day back to San Jose.
Well, I arrived at the SANSA terminal in San Jose at 3:30, nearly 45 minutes late, but Bert, Zack and Phil were waiting. I called the serpentarium to let them know we’d be late. We got there around 4PM and were given a grand tour of their display as well as their off-display breeding facility which includes over a dozen bushmasters, nearly 100 eyelash vipers of every color of the rainbow, and even Lansberg’s hognose vipers(Porthidium lansbergi lansbergi) from Venezuela and Panama. Around 5:30PM we left and they dropped me in Alajuela near the town square. We found a taxi driver to take me to Vida Tropical bed and breakfast, as the directions for places in Costa Rica don’t always include a street address. Sometimes all you get is “Go past the library, over the 3rd speed bump, and its 100 meters past the next Cedar tree!” I said “Good-bye” to Bert, Zack and Phil and about 5 minutes later was at Vida Tropical. I checked my email on their computer, and then took a shower before updating the journal and turning in. It was a successful trip, and we accomplished a lot more
than I had anticipated. Now, we would have to begin planning the next
phase of the census, and look ahead to February and figure out the logistics
of the trip—that’s the fun part.
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