Visitors to My House
One thing I love about Costa Rica is how nature comes directly to your door. I'm not in a particularly isolated area, near Parque National Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast, but I get daily visitors from nature right to my front door. That's my house there, a short little walk through the jungle and over the bridge. Back and front, upstairs and downstairs, there are wraparound balconies that face into the jungle (albeit a tamed one) so there are plenty of approaches for my friends. And Costa Rica is just so rich in biodiversity and different microclimates that I never get bored of waiting for what might come next. For example, Costa Rica has more species of birds than the U.S.A. and Canada combined.
Even the bugs are beautiful here. This beautiful shimmering green bug took a particular liking to my dictionary for some reason. Maybe he was trying to warm me. He seems to be pointing to the word cueva which is translated here as den of thieves. Hmmmm.
I'm not sure this other bug is beautiful so much as just big. More than three inches long I think. Big enough he doesn't seem to at all scared of me. Hanging out right beside my front door for hours.
Maybe that's why this frog was so damned big. All the better to eat the really big bugs. Of course, everything comes in all sizes here, each one occupying their little bio-niche in an atmosphere that can support an astonishing number of living things in a small space. I'm still waiting for a visit for the pretty little red frogs which often make an appearance on Costa Rica postcards. You're welcome anytime guys! Although I seem to recall they're poisonous so do keep out of the kitchen.
Or maybe I'll just go visit you in the park.
And then, of course, there are the monkeys. You hear their approach before you see them. And then you see leaves dropping everywhere as they swing through the trees, grabbing dead leaves and looking for bugs for lunch. These are the mono titi, or squirrel monkey. Sadly, they are endangered. They tend to come through in groups of about 50 so once you see one there will be plenty more. I haven't had a visit yet from the much more common cara blanca monkey which tends to forage a bit more calmly, sticking around for better photos. Nor from the rather daunting howler monkey which gets very big and is famed as the loudest animal on the earth.
I'm also awaiting a visit from the sloth. She, along with her baby, came to visit me at the beach, but hasn't yet accepted an invitation to dinner. But then I'm in no hurry. Neither is she. With 3 Ω months here I may just be morphing into a slothóthe Spanish word perezoso, translates as both the animal and the adjective lazy.
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Posted by Doug Dosdall on December 12th, 2004 in Articles.
