Week 12 - Costa Rica

This week started out with photographing an adult male Basilisk lizard, which Alan had caught the night before and kept overnight so he could photograph it during daylight. So with me being the animal wrangler, Alan was able to take a few photos of the basilisk……before it decided to wriggle out of my grasp, turn around and bite me on the thumb knuckle! It was very painful, and I screamed, the girls bust into tears, and Alan was trying not to laugh – until he saw that my face had drained of blood and I was about to pass out! Needless to say, Alan was late for work Monday morning, and I was fine after a few minutes!

Alan and the Basilisk

Some animal wrangler I am!

The fresh bite

All cleaned up

The cheeky Basilisk stayed around our house after I let him go!

I went out bug hunting on Monday night with Tristan and Armelle. We went up a trail on Steve’s brother’s property, which goes right up the mountain behind our house and into primary Rainforest. Most of the trails that we have been out on every night are not well used, and this one in particular is very rough. The track is barely there, and dense rainforest is close on both sides. The trail is steep, and in some places you need to climb up muddy banks that are 60 degree inclines. The first time I went up here with Carlos I was so lost, and thankful that he was with me, otherwise I would have been lost for sure! This time with three of us watching the track, I was a little more confident! We were particularly after Candy cane katydids, a spectacular little katydid that looks like a roll of lifesaver lollies. We also needed some Bug-eyed katydids, small green guys with large bulging yellow eyes.

Back when gold was a big thing in Dos Brazos around 15 years ago, a Canadian mining company came in and bulldozed most of the primary rainforest that was to become the village of Dos Brazos. Lush rainforest became a desert moonscape, and only the forest high in the mountains survived. Since then of course there as been a lot of regrowth of the rainforest, but the animals are most diverse and abundant in the primary rainforest.

On Tuesday Armelle took the girls and I to see a small waterfall that was just up the river from where we live. This involved walking upstream through the river for a few hundred metres to find it, and there were also a few little waterholes for swimming in. It is only possible to access the waterfall if the river isn’t too high, otherwise the current is too strong and we could all get swept away. The girls loved walking through the river in their gum boots, and throwing river rocks into the water.

The waterfall

The girls with Armelle in the Rio Tigre

Tuesday night Alan heads out bug collecting down a road just out of Jimenez as it leads into primary rainforest. He is astounded by the invertebrate diversity he finds in just one night, and in fact the Bug-eyed katydid that we tried so desperately to find on Monday night flew in through the car window and landed on his face! In that first night out collecting there, he finds nearly all of the animals we have used so far in the shoot! This collecting spot is christened “The Road”.

Thursday is Independence Day in Costa Rica. On September 15, 1821, after the final Spanish defeat in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821), the authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America. That date is still celebrated as Independence Day in Costa Rica, and so to celebrate, there was a street parade in Puerto Jimenez, which we all stopped to watch once it eventually got under way!

Enjoying a local delicacy - home made ice creams in plastic bags.

Watching the parade - it was a bit noisy!

Some parade floats

The locals dressed up for the occasion 

Traditional dress

On Friday Tristan and Armelle came into the studio to have a look around, and we all went out to lunch at Carolina’s. Afterwards, Tristan and Armelle took the girls and I out to a beach called Playa Preciosa. The waves were a little bit big for the kids (and for Armelle and I) but we had a nice walk along the beach collecting shells and rocks. We also found a turtle nest that unfortunately had been raided, so there were broken egg shells everywhere.

Playa Preciosa

The waves are too big for Saige

We have been very excited for Saturday to arrive, as this is the day that Caitlin and Adam arrive! (Yes, Caitlin, you are reading about your arrival in Osa after you have arrived back in Australia!). They are due to arrive in Puerto Jimenez on the last ferry across from Golfito, so we go to meet them at 3:30pm. It is a very happy reunion! Caitlin and Adam have been in Costa Rica for a week already, but spent the first part of their trip in Tortuquero.

Happy reunion

Adam carries the groceries

On Sunday we take Adam and Caitlin down to the river for a swim, and on the way (in our own driveway in fact) Tayen spots army ants en masse. We have been on the look out for them for the last few weeks to finish a story started back in the second week of filming, and now here they were, ready to attack! Alan called Malcolm and Mylene to come over to film them, and as they take half an hour to arrive, Alan still had time for a quick dip in the river. They spend the rest of the afternoon filming the ants, and that night we head into Puerto Jimenez for dinner, before we all head out bug collecting with Carlos and Steve up The Road.

Filming Army ants with Mal and Mylene