The forest floor gave way to a small black pond which was by now almost indistinguishable from the muddy trail which led to its bank. Towering over the basin of the pond were the Ceiba trees, like obscure shadows that were closing a casket over the ground below. Every now and then an opening in the forest canopy revealed a night sky which had grown far more compelling since we first set out at dusk. La Selva was rich with sounds; there were howls and croaks from the forest's diverse denizens and this abundance was further accompanied by the voracious buzzing of the local mosquitoes who were gorging themselves at our expense.
Our mission and subsequent appendageal sacrifice (we were not using a DDT based Mosquito-Replant for reason which I will explain later) was to find one of Costa Rica's most enigmatic creatures: The Red-Eyed Green Tree Frog. A brilliant medium sized tree frog whose arboreal and nocturnal nature made finding it an exclusively night based venture. During the day, the frog sleeps high above the ground in the shade of the canopies leaves. At dusk, they begin descending towards the ground in a nightly journey to find food. With our flashlights leading the way through the thick undergrowth, we were hoping to come across one such hunter on his nightly jaunt.
We spent the next hour combing through the plants that surrounded the murky pond. Our search yielded a host of the forest's other nocturnal inhabitants. From a variety of different spiders to a lively Kinkajou feasting on fruit, the forest was bustling with activity yet our quarry remained hidden from view.
Today, I will go over some of my favorite places to photograph in Costa Rica. To find all my suggestions you can visit my article here on the Photographylife Website were I write.
You can also visit my gallery page for Costa Rica here
