2018/02 Costa Rica - Nature walk |
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We were the only people to show up for Esteban’s nature tour. He was very knowledgeable, and was happy to answer our questions. He thought the 
swelling in my hands might be due to bites from no see ums.
He picked the southern trail system for our walk; good as we hadn’t been there. The trail we took was chained off so we’d have it to ourselves. We found a pair of coati on the trail; one of them seemed interested in us so we got a good look and a few photos.
We went down into old-growth forest, a treasure for biologists. Massive trees were draped in vines, which grow from the ground up, and lianas which send down roots from a branch and then grow into the canopy. Some of the vines are composed of a single leaf, 50 feet long.
We saw many parades of ants, particularly leafcutter ants which carry leaf fragments back to their nests. The leaf –carrying ants were 
accompanied by others twice their size, bodyguards perhaps.
There were also tree trunks which sounded hollow, acacias I think, and Esteban showed the hole where the queen had burrowed in and established the colony. The colony would hollow out the trunk and occupy it for a decade or more.
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Nature walk (1.15) |
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I forget the names of all the plants we saw, but several had leaves that were green above and purple underneath to capture the wavelengths of the dim light reflected from the jungle floor. There are stinging trees too, but they only deliver a sting to our hairy parts; they can be touched by the palm safely. We didn’t test this!
Esteban warned us to be cautious when grabbing trees and vines for balance. He had once pulled on a vine to show it to his clients only to realize at the last minute that there was a viper wrapped around the vine. Luckily he let go in time and vine and viper snapped back out of striking range.
The gigantic leaf held by Esteban is a kind of philodendron.
The chains across the trail were also intended to keep cows from invading from the adjacent farms, but cow pats on the trail were evidence that it wasn’t working. We had travelled a long way down the hill so it was a stiff climb out and my back was objecting. It was our third hike of the day.
We had a lighter dinner. I tried a Costa Rican curry but it was rather bland; the Costa Ricans generally avoid strong spices.