Juan Pinto, a true biologist!

Juan Pinto 1

Being a nature lover I felt right at home from the moment I walked to my cabin. It was raining! Coming from the Netherlands I am quiet used to the rain! I was given an umbrella and a torch and was told not to leave my cabin without it! Halfway towards my cabin I found out why! Whilst taking my "tiki-tour" far down into the valley I saw so many eyes looking back at me, I realised that I really was a visitor.

I love animals. All animals! Not just the beautiful kind, but also the creepy crawlies and Juan Pinto is one of the reasons why I've come to love the scary ones too! Juan is the manager at Lapa Rios and he is the real deal. A true biologist! When others are having a night out at the local bar, Juan is in the jungle looking for snakes, spiders and anything else most of us would try to avoid.

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After meeting with Juan and hearing his stories, I couldn't even compete with his adventures and his natural story telling ability. He has had enough bizarre experiences to write a book and that's exactly what he plans to do. We spent hours together, talking about his world and my world and I must admit, I was a little jealous! I never told him this but I really would have traded places with him.

When Juan invited me out for an evening trekking through the jungle I just couldn't wait. Here I was, in the densest jungles of Costa Rica with probably the most inspiring biologist I have ever met. I knew from the moment he asked me this would be a memorable adventure and I was quick to say yes. We both packed our cameras and a couple of torches and jumped into the pick up truck. We drove for 20 minutes until the road ended. Surrounded by jungle on all sides. The moon was out! It was dark! We got out of the pick-up and headed into night.

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It wasn't before long we had our cameras out and we were taking photos of the most beautiful reptile. Juan told me that this particular iguana was very unique and extremely hard to find. We were with in ten minutes of our journey and to Juan it was like we just hit the jackpot. We set up our tripods and I was amazed at how this creature remained so passive. Our torches forever changing positions, trying to get the best light! We spent the next forty minutes taking photographs as Juan turned into a talking encyclopedia telling me everything from A to Z about this particular specimen. It was going to be a great night.

We walked on through the jungle. Juan seeing things all around and me following close behind. Although I like to call myself a "jungle-boy", it must be said, at times I was a little unsure of myself when I noticed how carefully Juan was treading. We walked on for a little while and then suddenly out of the bush down by my boots I was confronted with a snake staring back at me. I let out a small yelp and Juan was quick to pull out his hook. The snake made for a get-away, which lead over my boots and towards Juan. In a flash it was gone and Juan was jumping through the bushes trying to find it once more. It was the most feared snake of Costa Rica. The Fer de Lance! I honestly thought I was in need of new underwear! To see Juan scavenging through the forest floor trying to find it again made me realise the kind of animal lover he is.

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To give you an example of how well Juan knows the jungles that surround Lapa Rios; we walked for hours in the night. There were no tracks. No markers and no, we didn't have a map or a compass! But Juan knew every tree and took me to places I wouldn't have found during the day with a map! He showed me a tarantula hiding out in a hollow log that has been there for years. We even set our tripods up in a river above a waterfall to capture glass-frogs!
It was the best night trek through a jungle I have ever made and definitely the most memorable.

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