Searching for Wildlife: Costa Rica
To be 100% honest, upon arriving to Matapalo on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, I felt a tiny bit disappointed. Shaun and his dad had come here many times together and have really hyped up the wildlife - “monkeys everywhere!” - but the first day here was grey, gloomy, and no monkeys in sight… well, after settling in for a day or two, the jungle started to come to life for us and that bit of disappointment was long gone!
After visiting places like Bali, where the monkeys literally are EVERYWHERE, I suppose I had that same idea for Matapalo. But the jungle here is more wild, more subdued. The monkeys in Bali, for example, are so used to humans feeding them that they literally jump out and steal things out of your hands. But here in Matapalo, you usually have to open your ears and eyes and look above to find the local creatures. Sometimes, you’ll find a “monkey highway” as we called them, where dozens of monkeys are all bouncing across branches on the same exact route. We watched dozens of monkeys all take the exact same hop and jump step by step. When you come across a monkey highway, they’re easy to spot because of all the branches bouncing and leaves falling.
Four Monkeys
Howler Monkey
You’ll hear the monkeys before you see them if it’s a howler monkey. The black howler monkeys woke us up every morning and we’d hear them throughout the day, all through the jungle. If you weren’t warned what they were, you would think they sound like gorillas - or even zombies. Their howl can turn into a moan and become indecipherable from a dog barking or a human yelling. The howlers are the biggest of the four monkeys species in Matapalo.
Spider Monkey
The spider monkeys seemed like the most common to spot- an auburn color with lanky legs and arms. They’re the busiest snacking in the branches above and will jump like 10 feet from tree to tree!
Squirrel Monkeys
We only found these on our last couple days in Matapalo, but then found more in Manuel Antonio! They are the tiniest monkeys here, a light grey with an orange tiny, and a cute little face. They seem to run in big packs – once we spotted one, we saw at least 20 more. They were hanging out in a huge tree along with the spider monkeys and howler monkeys- three species one tree!
White Face Capuchin
I only saw one white face capuchin in Matapalo, but once we got to Manuel Antonio was saw plenty! In fact, our very first time walking about Manuel Antonio, we saw a pack of white face capuchins rummaging through the trash cans and one scored a bag half full of chips! These monkeys were way different than the monkeys down in Matapalo- I called them “street monkeys”. They were not bothered by us humans at all. In fact, they would even charge after you and allegedly try to steal your backpacks (similar to Bali monkeys!). We got so many up close photos of them, their little faces look like gremlins.
Other Mammals
Coatis
We also saw a handful of coutis, which I can’t decide if I think they're cute or icky. It kind of resembles a monkey or a lemur, but also like an opossum (which is where the icky comes from). We saw several coatis cruising around, for the most part very unbothered by our presence, but never managed to get a great photo!
Agouti
Agoutis are rodents, and similar looking to guinea pigs but on the bigger side, like the size of a rabbit. We only saw a few around the trails.
Anteater
We also saw one anteater while out a hike. Anteaters are definitely similar to an opossum, but with a super long nose. Our local friend Lance said anteaters can be a bit aggressive, and with their super long claws, are known to kill dogs with one attack. I thought anteaters mostly stuck to the ground, but the one we saw was actually climbing a tree as high up as the monkeys go!
Birds
Scarlett Macaw
My favorite bird, of course, is the rainbow colored macaw. At first, they were hard to spot from afar because when they fly overhead and you can only see their underside, it looks dark (especially with the sun backlit). Looked like any other bird… until you spotted them in the trees or flying low. Their colors are so vivid and beautiful! Much like the howler monkeys, macaws are noisy. We hear them scream at each other all morning and all day. Shaun said macaws mate for life, and I believe him because we’d always see them in pairs of two – always!
...Other Birds
There are literally thousands more species of birds in Costa Rica, but the names and distinctions are over my head. We did see quite a few raptors and lots of different tiny colorful birds, though.
The More Elusive Creatures
Sloth
I was on the hunt for a sloth since day one! Shaun had seen sloths on previous trips, but he also warned me that they can be hard to find. The locals would further the mystery with comments about how elusive they are and difficult to spot. Everyday we would go on a “nature walk” along the road and hone our vision up above as we tried to spot the secret sloth.
On our 2nd to last day in Matapalo, Shaun met up with his local friend named Lance. We told Lance we’re looking for a sloth, and he too said how tough they are to find,but pointed us in the direction he thinks we might be able to find one. Lo and behold, 10 minutes later, I spotted a grey blob in the trees. It was pretty high up, so it was really hard to tell, but you could tell it looked furry at least. We pulled out our super zoom lens to get a better look and it was indeed a three-toed sloth!!
We watched it for a while in hopes the sloth would wiggle out of its tiny snuggle ball position so we could get a better look, but it barely budged. It did finally move its arms up and sway its head right to left, and we got these blurry but memorable photos.
Toucan
Next to the sloth, the next exciting animal I was hunting for was the colorful toucan. Upon leaving Matapalo, I was disappointed that we never found the beautiful bird… but, our first night in Manuel Antonio, we saw a fiery-billed toucan right from the pool! We were literally in the pool, swimming, and the toucan landed on the palms directly above us. Obviously we weren’t able to snap a photo, but I was so excited to spot one!!
Driving back to San Jose the day before our flight home, we also caught a glimpse of the yellow-throated toucan. It flew right over us on the main freeway!
Jaguars & Pumas
These I would NOT necessarily want to run into in the wild due to absolute fear, but these big cats do roam the jungle of Matapalo. Shaun’s friend Lance said he’s seen both before!
Crocodiles
There's crocodiles all over the place in Matapalo at river mouths, but we never saw any. However, there's a bridge over the main freeway that has so many crocodiles underneath it, it's even turned into a mini tourist pitstop with crocodile themed souvenirs! We pulled over and saw at least 7 crocodiles right there!
Snakes
We saw one snake in Matapalo – boa constrictor! I only know what type it is because our Airbnb host had identified it, but it was about four feet long and just out front in our yard! I didn’t snap a picture of it, but did grab a quick video of it slithering away.
We saw another unidentified snake in Manuel Antonio. It was slithering around in a tree, right among the outdoor tables at our hotel’s restaurant! Even the staff was circling around snapping photos.
Poison Dart Frog
Walking in the Manuel Antonio National Park, we found a bright black and green striped frog. It was too close to capture on the zoom lens, so Shaun got a photo on his phone. He took this photo with his hand about 3 inches away from it... little did we know, later when we googled what kind of frog it is, it's poisonous. According to Wikipedia, it will release poison that is toxic enough to "stop a human heart" within drops. Wow.
The Critters
Fruit Bats
I have a strange fear of bats, I think they’re so so creepy and spooky. Our Airbnb in Matapalo had no walls and five tiny fruit bats lived upstairs outside of (thankfully screened off) bedroom. They would cling to the mesh divider and we could see them up close and personal, just inches away, from the other side of the mesh screen. Their tiny faces are a little cute and resemble mice, but something about them makes me run away in fear. A bat is blindly flying around above me as I write this now, and I’m crouching down in fear it’s going to blindly run into my face.
Crabs and Toads
At night our open-air Airbnb would be overtaken by crabs and frogs. Literally the floors are covered in dozens of crabs. They shimmy in from their underground hiding spots, and I have no clue what they’re after. They just meander around the house freely, accompanied by a few toads and frogs.
Lizards, Geckos, Iguanas
There’s also lizards and geckos everywhere. All sizes and shades of green, even some neon. Larger iguanas are also commonly spotted, sometimes climbing high up in the trees.
A Surprise
If you know me and Shaun well, you know we're obsessed with pugs... one day, we were taking a walk in Matapalo and Shaun was about 15 feet ahead of me. I heard him yell "oh my god!" as he looked around the corner of a driveway. I thought it was going to be a sloth (we hadn't found one yet), but as I jogged ahead to see what it could be, I saw this sweet unexpected jungle surprise...
