Costa Rica Herp-Trip

Hi,
after I was in Costa Rica with a group of friends the last 3 weeks, I want to give you an overview about our herp-trip.
We met in San José and stayed in that area the first few days.
Some nice finds from this area:
Ischnothele sp. (caudata ?)


and the first tarantula Cyclosternum sp. (fasciatum ?)


After some nice days we drove to Horquetas into the rainforest to the Rara Avis Lodge...
The shuttle to the lodge


That's a beautiful place and absolutly worth visiting it!!! The whole thing in the middle of nature...
the way to our rooms


one of the scorpions Centruroides sp. in our room


white-nosed coati Nasua narica on the clearing in front of the dinnig-"room"


The first eyelash viper we saw was sitting 10, maybe 15, meters away from the dinnig-room next to the way to our rooms.


We spent the days on the trails around the Lodge or photographing the animals we caught on the nightwalks.
Sibon annulatus


juvenile Imantodes cenchoa




an adult


Leptophis depressirostris




Oxybelis brevirostris




Kinosternon leucostomum


But not only reptiles, there were loads of cool frogs too...
Dendrobates pumilio


Agalychnis callidryas


Leptodactylus savagii


Centrolene ilex


And all stuff of invertebrates
Onychophora


Choerododis rhombifolia


Cupiennius coccineus


tarantula Avicularia sp. i think


same


Deinopidae


and this cool guy


I really enjoyed this beautiful surrounding and it was always worth to go for a walk, so everybody showed up with some animals he caught or at least stories about something he saw...


After a few days, the first Bothrops asper, a tiny juvenile, not older than a year




On the same trail, just a few meters further...



Sibon longifrenis, a schlegelii look-alike


One of the last trails we walked leads to the place where the last bushmaster had been seen some years ago, so we gave it a try.




On the way we caught a little lizard and took it with us to take some pictures later. As we all aren't big lizard-maniacs and though that we finally made it to catch one of these fast leaf-litter skinks...
So here is what we got: Celestus hylaius




Also on the same trail we also found another tarantula...


...and another Bothrops asper, a bit bigger than the first one.




Norops capito




Corytophanes cristatus


One of my favourite moments was the arrival of a kinkajou Potos flavus after dinner, to steal some fruits from the kitchen


On our way back to Horquetas we took a few pics of an Oxibelis aeneus we saw.





After those great days in the northern part of the country, we drove in the south to the tropical station from the university of vienna in La Gamba.
Pictures from that place will follow another post

regards
Markus

Thank you for sharing your wonderful pics, Markus. Makes me want to go there

Very nice. I visited Rara Avis two years ago....what a great place, but the tractor ride up the road to get to the lodge is murder!

Looks like a great trip, and some great shots of fantastic animals.

Costa Rica is for sure on my "to-do-list" !

Markus!

What a great series!
I really looked forward to it!
The D.pumilio is a so called ´blue jeans´ there are many,many varieties
of D.pumilio.
D.auratus would have been very common aswell at the streams and falls you have showed
on the pictures.
Normally D.pumilio is easier to find since they are somewhat arboreal.

The next residence after the Rara Avis Lodge was at La Gamba, in the Golfo Dulce Region, in south of Costa Rica.
There is a tropical station from the university of vienna.
We arrived in the evening and some friends took us on a little tour through the area that night.

Near the station was a small pond, with some Caiman crocodilus...


...and some snapping turtles Chelydra serpentina.


Amblypygi


Ctenidae


And we also caught a little snake to take some pictures the next day...
a juvenile Dryadophis melanolomus


Dendrophidion percarinatum




Some snakes found in the leaf litter...
Nothopsis rugosus


Enulius sclateri


vinegaroons


And at La Gamba we finally saw Dendrobates aurates


In the surrounding of the tropical station, near a small river we found another eyelash viper.


The "christmas tree"- coloration is quite typical for individuals from this area, but this one was amazingly colorful...






We also spent some time on the osa peninsula, too little in my opinion, because osa is such a beautiful place!
beach


crab


but not only for relaxing, we got a nice snake too
Pseustes poecilonotus





Back in La Gamba we saw another Agalychnis callidryas, not as colorful as individuals at Rara Avis...


... and another Oxibelis aeneus.


Cane toad, Bufo marinus


The next days we went out at night more often, it was worth it!
aecilian (Dermorphis gracilior ?)




Oedipina alleni


Bolitoglossa lignicolor






And one really interesting noctournal snake, Oxyrohpus petola


Last day, on our way to the airport, we stopped at the Rio Tarcoles...


Crocodylus acutus




It was an outstanding trip, we had lots of fun, found quite cool species and met some new friends (I even met another venomland-member at La Gamba )...
Definitely a place to visit again someday

regards
Markus

great, great pictures!

Great post and a great trip. I remember trying to get to under the bridge at Rio Tarcoles at night. Too many biting plants and insects!

Great pictures and great animals!

Some additional pictures from the area around the Rara Avis Lodge...
Bothrops asper


juvenile Norops capito


Centrolene ilex, i love their eyes



and the sting of a bullet ant



regards
Markus

Stunning photos.
What a great trip!

Great. Wonderfull pictures. Thanks for sharing

It makes me dream. Very sharp photos and some really interesting subjects. The Pseustes is stunnig! Those in French Guyana were very dull and patternless near this one.
Thanks for sharing!

And some additional pictures of the south-west...
The Pseustes we caught had the typical coloration for animals of the osa peninsular. Unfortunately we didn't find another one on the mainland to compair, but we've been told that they are less reddish...


Bothriechis schlegelii


Oxybelis aeneus




Enjoy

regards
Markus

Very nice photos.

Great post!

The photos are amazing!

Thank you very much for sharing! Great!

Those pictures are incredible and you met a lot of fantastyic species ! Any other pictures of Bothrops ? Any Lachesis maybe ?

Johannes Marchand wrote:

Those pictures are incredible and you met a lot of fantastyic species ! Any other pictures of Bothrops ? Any Lachesis maybe ?

Thank you!
Unfortunatly the only Lachesis we've seen were at Robert Meidinger's "World of Snakes"...
We can not complain, but the 2 juvenile B. asper and 3 B. schlegelii were the "only" venomous snakes we found...

But I have a few more B. asper pictures







quite defensive (biting into venom-defenders)



And the second, a little bigger one...






regards
Markus

fantastic man, looks like you did have a great trip, and very nice pictures too,
thanks for sharing

fantastic man, looks like you did have a great trip, and very nice pictures too,
thanks for sharing

Thanks for the Bothrops pictures ! You are really talented man, and I mean it. Congratulations for such perfect pictures. It

Awesome pictures!! Must have been a really nice trip!!

Some more pictures, all from the area around the Rara Avis Lodge...

Bothriechis schlegelii




Imantodes cenchoa



Sibon longifrenis



Norops capito




Oxybelis aeneus




regards
Markus