• Day 066: Tuesday March 6th

18:00 This morning I received news from DL that in fact the Monte Verde Reserve was closed due to the excessive winds not getting on with the big trees so well.  So instead I got to go up to the Santa Elena Reserve instead.  I braved the wind and rain to find the taxi, feeling like a walking traffic cone as I wore a large one piece pullover waterproof coat with no arms.

In the park I walked along 4 or 5 paths (“Senderos” – Hikes) where I spotted some Prayer Plants, nice Mosses, Liverworts, Ferns, Palms, Pea family plants and of course Coffee.  These trails or paths normally take ~7 hours apparently but I completed them in just 3 hours, this might be due to a combination of me being fast and that, with the rain, a lot of the animals were hidden away.  That said, along the way I saw a pretty ‘Red-Tailed’ Trogan, a so-called Giant Rainforest Millepede, and heard some very angry Wrens that must have spotted a snake or some predator/intruder they were not happy with… or they saw me!  Nature aside it was really interesting to walk in a “Cloud Forest,” I couldn’t see the Arenal volcano from the viewpoints as it was again fairly misty, illustrated more so when I climbed a precarious looking wobbly metal lookout tower to meet only rain and wind at the top of the thing, and with these conditions it meant the light levels were too poor for getting quality photos using my camera though I tried. The following photos summarise my experience in Santa Elena:

Must Be Entering A Cloud Forest (D.Philpot)

For Those Wondering "What Is A Cloud Forest?" (D.Philpot)

Vista Down Towards A Volcano & The Caribbean (D.Philpot)

A Giant Rainforest Millipede - Technical Name (D.Philpot)

Garden Plant? Nope! (D.Philpot)

To Keep In Mind... Altitude (D.Philpot)

The Wobbly/Sketchy Observation Tower (D.Philpot)

"Legendary" - Somewhere Out There... (D.Philpot)

Cloud Forest Giants (D.Philpot)

After the reserve I got the taxi back to the “Serpentario” (‘snake museum’) in the nearby town of Santa Elena.  Here they had some really quite beautiful specimens of “poisonous” and “non-poisonous” snakes, as the signs put it.  My favourites were the Eyelash Vipers, Green Palm Viper and the Oriole (“Mika”) snake.  I was amazed to find that they were, for the most part, positioned as if they were plastic toys or someone put them there just because they were in such iconic positions.  Whilst I left my camera batteries sneakily charging, I spoke to another visitor about the Sloth Sanctuary in Limon which I was banking on visiting if I don’t get to see a sloth or two before August. 

If you are not prepared for a barrage of Snake photos, look away now:

Serpentario, Snake Museum Exhibit, Entrance (D.Philpot)

I Thought "That's An Odd Light Bulb" - Eyelash Pit Viper (D.Philpot)

Eyelash Pit Viper - A Toy? (D.Philpot)

Another Mean Eyelash Pit Viper, Gorgeous But Deadly (D.Philpot)

Some Vine Snake Hiding (D.Philpot)

A Friendly Mika (D.Philpot)

One Of My Favourites (D.Philpot)

Slumping Boa (D.Philpot)

Basilisk "Jesus Christ" Lizard Breaking Up The Snakes (D.Philpot)

Curled Up Rainbow Boa (D.Philpot)

Favourite <3 Vine Snake 1 (D.Philpot)

Favourite <3 Vine Snake 2 (D.Philpot)

Snake Head... (D.Philpot)

Useful Snake Education 1 (D.Philpot)

Useful Snake Education 2 (D.Philpot)

Poor Coati :-( (D.Philpot)

I got another taxi back ‘home’ where I met my host brother getting off his bus, which was an old American yellow school bus of course.

I Live On That Brown Road Waaaaaaaay Down There (D.Philpot)

How Costa Ricans Work On Power Lines - Freestanding Ladder (D.Philpot)

20:30 Spent this evening practising Spanish with everyone again, my host dad was particularly impressed and said “With practice I would become a welcomed Costa Rican in no time” and then we called it an early night, I think with the altitude change everything is that much more tiring for everyone, apart from the small kids who of course are used to it and soldier on like it is nothing.