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Our first first full
day at Madre Selva begins by walking the long-loop trail, a good solid hike
that lasts all morning. First up, a
pair of lizards on the buttress roots of the “Gecko Tree” where we repeatedly
found several of this type.
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Male
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Female
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Collared
Forest Gecko
Gonotodes concinnatus
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Next, another species of dart frog, less
striking than our first, but beautifully brushed with sky blue
underneath. More committed to
camouflage was this pair of toads in amplexus, nearly unnoticeable on the
forest floor.
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Pale-Striped
Poison Frog
Epipedobates hahneli
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Crested
Forest Toad
Bufo margaritifer
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We come to a silty
creek, so, of course, Dirk jumps in and vigorously attacks the muck (I was to
discover this was his natural behavior).
In the meantime, Ron is staring into the water (his natural behavior),
and for a moment he imagines seeing the back of a Caiman instead of a
submerged log. Then he does a
double-take, and in another moment he’s shouting: “Caiman!!”
Dirk stops raking and
slogs through the sucking mud, leans over the log-like creature, positions
his hand . . . and pounces. Up comes
the twisting crocodilian, snapping and thrashing --- but ultimately smiling ---
in Dirk’s hand.
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Smooth-fronted
Dwarf Caiman
Paleosuchus trigonatus
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While we’re admiring
the Caiman, Dirk goes back to turning the mud, like he’s digging for
clams. He claims to be herping, though I’m convinced he just enjoys getting
dirty. But our boy has done his
homework. Buried down below, deep in
the muck, he finds his target and our first snake of the trip.
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Tri-colored Swamp Snake
Liophis breviceps
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Crossing a bridge I look at the opposite
stream bank and see a small hole in the mud just above water level. Something looks off, and as I get closer a
bit of movement betrays a tiny little nose poking out of the entrance. Looks like lizard to me, but how to prevent
it disappearing down the hole? I
decide to approach it from above.
Standing on the bridge out of sight from the lizard, I reach over with
my snake hook and jam the end into the mud several inches behind the
hole.
So far, so good. I’ve sealed off a retreat, but surely the
lizard will slip through my fingers in the slimy mud, even if I do get close
enough for a grab. I take out my snake
bag, cover both my hands like a giant catcher’s mitt, then plunge down the
side of the creek. Into the mud with a
flop, splashing schmutz (ok, that’s
not Spanish) into my face and hair, I blindly scoop up handfuls of muck with
my improvised glove. Something wriggles
in the cloth and I realize I’ve got it.
Success!
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Common
Streamside Lizard
Neusticurus ecpleopus
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This dazzling little lizard was found among
the leaf litter, as was the tiny snake and LBJ (little brown job) below.
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White-striped
Eyed Lizard
Prionodactylus oshaughnessyi
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Short-nosed
Leaf Litter Snake
Taeniophallus brevirostris
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Long-nosed
Rain Frog
Eleutherodactylus carvalhoi
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Farther on the trail becomes somewhat hilly as we rise in
elevation. The ground is a bit drier
and there are more patches of sun, occasionally exploited by herps like this pair
of lizards or a basking snake.
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Forest Whiptail
Kentropyx pelviceps
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Fer-de-Lance
Bothrops atrox
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We’re now deep into primary forest, and our guide Cesar says
he has a surprise. He takes us to a
secret spot and tells us to keep our eyes open for something special. Sure enough, in just a few minutes we spot a
pair of these outrageous toads.
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DS
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Amazon
Harlequin Toad
Atelopus spumarius
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We close the loop and head back to camp tired, happy, and
hungry, looking forward to lunch --- all our meals were incredibly good,
thanks to the gifted cook, Danilo --- and a siesta.
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