Even though I had seen some animals in Tortuguero and Cahuita, I am sure with a guided tour I would have seen a lot more. Not so in the area around La Fortuna. Here I booked two guided tours with Desafio, one a combo tour around the volcano Arenal and the other to the river Celeste. And it does make a difference when a professional walks with you through a national park or if you are on your own.
Let’s take these monkey for example. Without the telescope of our guide, I wouldn’t have seen them at Mistico.
a mother with her baby @Mistico La Fortuna
I am not sure if you can see that but on this tree is a green snake. Can you see the loop on the lower left side. That is part of the snake.
a camouflaged green snake @La Fortuna
Another spectacular find was this tiny red frog, which just a blob on my picture. Honestly it didn’t look much better in reality and I am glad I even saw it. It makes a terrible racket for such a tiny creature though.
red frog @La Fortuna
Or here we saw a bird and a small gecko sharing the same part of a tree. As much as I love my phone, for animal photography it’s not the best tool. Sorry therefore that some of the pictures are quite blurred and you need to use your imagination.
a bird and a gecko climbing a tree @La Fortuna
can you see the bats? @La Fortuna
The badger on the other hand was nice enough to pose for a picture. Although I still had to be quick. He enjoyed running around and giving the tourists a show.
a posing badger @La Fortuna
Here we have a bee hive from which you see exactly nothing, if you wouldn’t know what to look for. The little wax tube is entrance to the hive.
bee hive in a tree @La Fortuna
an iguana in the Parque Nacional Volcano Tenorio @Costa Rica
this is a huge snake weaving along a branch @Mistico Hanging Bridges Park
There was a yellow eyelash viper on the way down to the La Fortuna waterfall. And this time I got a close-up, not like in Cahuita, where the viper was a bit further away.
yellow eyelash viper @La Fortuna
While hiking around the Rio Celeste in the Parque Nacional Volcano Tenorio I saw this empty shell of a large bug. I am not really sure what it was, but I am glad it only left the shell behind. I wouldn’t want to meet it so close with a living creature still inside. Yours, Pollybert
an empty bug shell @Parque Nacional Volcano Tenorio
