Creepy Crawly Critters of Costa Rica

Our several day stay in Monteverde, in Costa Rica’s cloud forest, were busy ones filled with lots of activities such that we couldn’t fit in all that really interested me. Nature walks, butterfly gardens, frog ponds, ziplining, hanging bridges — so many things to consider.

One place that kept drawing my attention every time we walked past it on our way into town was this rather unusual structure — the Herpetarium Adventures. I was curious at what was inside.

The building itself was unusual in that it had this massive boa figuratively hanging from it…..

By no stretch of the imagination am I a fan of things reptilian. In fact, reptiles (and especially snakes) generally repulse me and make the skin at the back of my neck crawl. At the same time they fascinate me — sort of like watching an accident unfold in front of your eyes. Unpleasant but interesting.

So I decided to venture into the building with one of my traveling companions and take a tour of what Costa Rica has to offer. I didn’t photograph everything in the place, as there were a lot of exhibits. But I think this blog gives you some of the highlights of what we saw. Lots and lots of snakes, a few lizards, turtles and amphibians. Each in their individualized compartment. Our guide was a young man probably just finishing high school who was enthusiastic and provided us with information about the individual species. The tour took about an hour.

In the lobby as we entered, where we paid a modest admission fee, was a display of boa constrictors in a large terrarium.

There were an impressive number of venomous snakes on display. Each of them looked like they’d wouldn’t be at all bothered to bite and inject toxic venom into you.

Beautifully camouflaged Side Striped Palm Pit viper. Note the lifeless eyes.

Eyelash pit vipers — one yellow and one brown.

Another brilliantly colored eyelash pit viper. We actually came across one of these while hiking in the jungle

The dreaded “fer de lance”, greatly feared by those working in sugar cane and pineapple plantations.

Poison dart frog commonly called “blue jeans”. These are tiny frogs but their skin has a highly toxic venom in it.

Finally, a few ponds with turtles, before we headed back out into daylight.

I survived the experience and as there was always a wall of glass or plexiglass between me and things that might want to harm me, it was a fairly stress free event. I think families would especially enjoy visiting a Herpetarium. One of my earliest memories as a child (I was barely 2 years old) was visiting the reptile house in the Buffalo NY zoo. This place, if anything, was more interesting.