How far and in what direction from San Jose is Dominical?
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Posted by madmatt on April 06, 2003 at 13:40:07:
In Reply to: Costa Rica part 1... posted by EJ on April 05, 2003 at 22:43:41:
and is that where you stayed most of your trip?
Great, great pictures. When I went I saw only one cat-eyed snake that I found myself but stopped near Arenal where a cabana guy had a sign "Snake Zoo" painted on a plywood board to show off his personal herp collection for tourists. By talking to him in Tex-Mex Spanish you could tell he is definitely one of us die-hard herpers. Brought back memories, thanks for posting!
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:(I hope you all like pictures and long tales. I’m also going to break this up into a bunch of posts for those of you who have antiques)
:A couple of weeks ago I went to visit a friend in Costa Rica. There was no purpose to the trip outside of visiting my friend, taking my 8 year old on her first international trip and wasting film. I think I’ll put this in chronological order for lack of a better venue.
:On the drive from the airport to Dominical, where my friend lives, my friend asks if I want to check out some crocodiles. I figure it’s like the everglades where you see some crocodilians that are about 3 to 4 feet long... no big deal. We stop at this bridge where we see some of the largest Ctenosaurs I’ve ever seen (didn’t think to take pictures of these for some reason) on the walk to see the crocodiles. The ctenosaurs were at least 3 feet long. We get to the part of the bridge that is over the water and I see these guys.
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:Now these guys, Crocodylus acutus, are over 10 to 12 feet long and there is this big old male in the water that has to be close to 20 feet long and 4 feet wide. It was amazing. There were at least 20 of these beasts lounging around. It is supposed to be one of the healthiest populations of this species in Costa Rica. I though for a moment to go in for a closer shot (but only for a moment). We then proceeded to Dominical on the road from hell. It is about 30 miles of washboard dirt road and the last portion of the Pan American highway that has not been paved. (we did this at 50 mph) That is a ride I will never forget.
:The next day we go to Dominical in the morning to take care of some business and I let my daughter hang out at the pool at a local bar/hotel where my friend was acquainted with the owners (it was gawd awful hot) while I go off to blow some film. The first thing I encounter are these critters which are common as dirt.
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:This is a young female Ctenosaura similis. And here was this dynamite looking male.
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:and a closer look.
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:Now from a previous trip to CR I remembered this little gecko that I really like and never got a picture of. They are actually very common but I like them.
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:The females of Gonatodes albogularis are kinda nondescript but the males are a knockout with the velvet black, pure white tail tips and yellow heads. The yellow is highly variable being sometimes banana yellow.
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:and another view.
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:At the same time I saw the most beautiful Brown Baslisk that I’ve ever seen (use your imagination). I also got a shot of this butterfly that got my attention. Talk about cryptic
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