Tortuguero

We went to Tortugeuro as we wanted snakes and we were told this was the place to go. Apparently they just “drop out of trees”…or in one story we heard they even “drop onto your plate while you’re trying to eat”! We had to go somewhere where snakes drop onto your plate.

Alas, after 2 days of snake-hunting not one of our slithery friends had fallen from the sky in front of us, and we hadn’t spotted any of our beloved pit vipers, or the infamous boa constrictor, but we had spotted three beautifully sexy green vine snakes. Check out this little beaut…

Despite relative snake drought, we did however have a fab few days and enjoyed an early morning canoe, night walks, some unfruitful, but enjoyable strolls around the National Park and some lounging on the beautiful black sandy beach. 

Red eyed tree frog-what a stunner!

Angry Spider monkey!

A rather cunning-looking Cayman

Golden silk orb weaver...looks pretty petrifying, but she's actually rather friendly! I held this 'little' (3 -inch long) lady and she was very gentle with me!

An earnest-looking basilisk (or Jesus Christ Lizard)...as you might have guessed from their name these guys can run on water...it looks pretty awesome to watch, but they're far too quick for a picture, so if you want to see what they look like when they run, have a look here  (if you're lazy skip to 45secs)

Oropendola nests. The birds live in colonies and it's the males who make the nests

The male oropendola also carries out a very loud and very elaborate bowing display to attract females, where they literally swing upside-down on the branch. Not great pictures, but they give you an idea-its quite impressive to see if you catch them (or see someone else's equally rubbish but quite interesting video here).