Costa Rica snakes

You will likely be encountering snakes of all sorts during your Costa Rica experience. The question is, do you know that you do?

About half of my time I spend outside, in the bush, rivers, mountains and canyons. Once in a while I do see a snake, but not as many as you might think. So I thought to myself, perhaps there are more surrounding me, but I just don't see them. When I'm out there, I'm out there for a reason other than looking for snakes. When I do see a snake it's more of a coincidence. Perhaps it moves quickly, or I almost step on it.

One day I took my bike, climbed some hills, crossed some rivers and cut a trail through the jungle. All with the intention of spotting snakes. I was on a snake hunt. Not that I would catch, kill and eat them- I brought my own sandwiches. I was just curious of how many snakes I would be able to find. It was an amazing experience.

Four hours and a refreshing waterfall shower later, I sat down on a rock and air dried my body. “Seven snakes!!” I yelled. I spotted seven snakes in about three hours of hiking through dense vegetation. I’m not a snake expert and I didn’t Google them when I got home, but I’m sure among the seven were at least three mean looking devils. I was as cautious as one could be when in the jungle by himself, with just a machete and one pair of eyes protecting me. I did tell my girlfriend about my plan and brought my cell phone, just in case.

When I’m not ‘hunting’ for snakes, I spot about one a month, so in three ‘hunting’ hours, I saw more than in the previous six months. So there you go. If you are on a nature and adventure combo vacation in beautiful Costa Rica, keep in mind that more snakes will be watching you than you might think. Lots more!

Bites are rare, because snakes will be gone way before you get close to them. At least, the majority…

Questions about snakes in Costa Rica? I know just the guy!