One of the things you can do when it gets dark in Monteverde is go on a night walk in search of the wildlife which are more active in the evenings. There are many options available and we choose Santamaria’s night walk.
We turned up dressed for rain and were given torches by the guide who began by briefing us on the task ahead. To be honest we did not have great hopes of seeing anything after the lack of animals in the Monteverde Nature Reserve.
For a while we didnt find anything. Then the guide pointed out a tree which grows from the top of another tree downwards eventually strangling the host tree. Impressive, but not exactly the wildlife we were hoping for.
We walked a bit more and still didn’t see anything but it was still fun hunting around the forest with a flashlight in the dark. A bit further into the walk we see lots off insects, giant beetles, stick insects, leaf insects, grasshoppers and other tropical creepy crawlies.
We were then told to stop and turn off the torches to see fireflies and illuminous fungi. This was remarkable to see glowing in the dark forest. Just as we were beginning to think fungus and insects were the only thing we would be seeing we found a poisonous snake hanging from a tree waiting to attack passing prey.
After we spotted the snake more and more animals began to appear. Next up were some raccoons which were spotted in a tree eating fruit. Their eyes glowing when the torch was shone on them. The two Americans we were with weren’t so impressed with the racoons so the guide quickly led us through the forest in search of a sloth which had been spotted in a tree holding its baby. This was the pinnacle of the tour.
On the way back we found two different species of Tarantula at the edge of their holes waiting for prey.
Luckily tarantulas are not dangerous. When I got to close it ran for its life.
Looking for wild animals meant that there was no guarantee of seeing anything on the walk so we were more than happy with what we had manage to spot in two hours. Although we could have seen nothing, having the opportunity to see animals in the wild is so much better than seeing them locked in a cage.
