Crocodile Hunter

Okay, obviously I can't finish this trip with us getting a better room at the Best Western.  That would be the most anti-climactic and whiny ending to a trip ever.  The new room served to put us in a good mood and helped us to have one of my favorite days of the trip.  First, we went to Manuel Antonio Park.  Being a trip advisor-aholic, I learned that this park gets swamped with visitors and it is best to go early, so we did.  Turns out, that was great advice:

People coming into the park as we left

The beaches were SO beautiful!  

Even though I hadn't intended to swim (why?) I jumped in anyway because sometimes a woman just cannot help herself.  Yes, this made for an interesting walk back, but it was worth it.  I bought a coconut on the way which made me feel extremely happy and tropical:

Spontaneous jumping in the ocean doesn't do a lot for your hair

After drying me off, we went to Cafe Milagro where some lovely people roast their own coffee beans and make wonderful lunches.  

I had this incredible wrap with lime chicken, cabbage and a cilantro avocado dressing.  I'll let you know when I perfect the recipe.  We had so much fun at this place we went two days in a row.  

Even though this in itself would be a wonderful day, the best was yet to come: a night tour through the mangrove forest!  This was so cool!  It started off with a traditional Costa Rican dinner which I photographed very poorly so it will not be pictured here.  Then we drove to the boat where we met a "reformed crocodile poacher turned naturalist" (Sam and I have doubts about the level of reform) named Macha:

Macha holding a fish he caught with his bare hands

Macha was not our guide.  We had a very smart young entrepreneur named Mario who told us all about the animals we saw.  But it turns out, Macha was definitely the entertainer.  His wife Rosa was driving the boat and even though I don't speak Spanish, the back and forth between them as she ran Macha into bushes and laughed at his antics was priceless.  Macha is pretty much scared of nothing.  His goal for the night was to catch a small crocodile for us to take our picture with.  This meant that any time he saw crocodile eyes shining in the water he jumped out of the boat into water teaming with crocodiles large and small, armed only with his flashlight to wrestle the beast.  

At first we were floating in sandy water for a long time on the hunt.  This picture captures the mood better than any I took with a flash.

Macha at the front of the boat, shining the light to look for crocodiles

Macha was not successful.  He jumped out many times and came back empty handed, so we headed into the mangrove forest where we started to spot amazing creatures, which will probably remain nameless for the most part.

How cool is this!?!

This frog did not look quite this possessed in person

One of my favorite creatures that Macha found was this Jesus Christ Lizard (so named because it walks on water):

Soon after being caught, he played dead:

When Macha threw him out of the boat he lived up to his name and walked right across the water, which Mario said no one ever gets to see on a night tour.  It was awesome!

We also got to see a cayman, which belongs to the crocodile family.

Macha was not content.  As we left the mangrove forest he was determined to give crocodile hunting another try.  He once again jumped out of the boat and wandered further and further away, his little light shining out in the distance.  The boat was really quiet.  Far off you could hear the sound of the waves pounding against the beach.  Every now and then unidentified animals screamed from the mangrove forest.  Then we could hear Macha singing.  Mario sent out another light as Macha marched victorious toward the boat:

Sam got to hold him first, and did an admirable job.

However, I'm the natural crocodile hunter in the family:

Step aside Discovery Channel, there's a new kid in town