jake and cathy and i approached the beach by dinghy. we were
on a mission to get some fresh water from a stream we had
crossed on a hike the day before. as we got closer we saw a
nice sandy spot amongst the rocky beach of low tide. we
thought it to be the mouth of the stream we were looking for
so we turned left and landed there, thinking it would save
us some bush whacking if we waded up stream. jake and i headed
up stream while cathy stayed with the dinghy. as we rounded
the first bend the mangroves thickened and the mud started
to swallow us, we turned for higher ground. we were now
officially lost, or on a little adventure as i like to think
about it.
we battled our way through some dense brush, jerry can in hand,
until we came to a clearing. the ground was muddy and we
continued, jake ahead and i followed.
"what the heck is that" jake asks pointing at the ground.
i bent down to take a look at a track 6 inches wide and
seven inches long, with three toes, or is it five, as the
tracks over lapped!
"i have no idea but it's big"
" oh boy"
"yeah"
the tracks sank deep into the mud. i looked to see our
tracks and they didn't even sink half as far. and we each
weigh in at over 200 lbs.
" wow this critter must be huge, is it possible it's el
tigre'" i thought out loud
"who's el tigre'?"
we were now in santa rosa national park on the northern coast
of costa rica, just south of the nicaragua border. there was
only one other boat here and no town or any kind of
facilities, just pristine forest and some of the most rare
and endangered species in central america. one "el tigre" is
the third largest cat in the world and some say the
strongest. reaching 400lbs and 8 feet in length, it's a
really big cat. and 2 the tapir, it's closest relatives are
the horse and the rhino, but it looks more like a pig, kind
of. not really a threat, as they are herbavores, but they do
weigh 600+ lbs!
the tracks spread out in both directions as the mud and
clearing allowed us to see. we looked a bit and kept moving
as cathy was waitng. we soon came to the "road". the
overgrown mud track is an access road in the park that
apparently hadn't been accessed for some time. thinking
that we entered the forest to the left of where the road
crossed the stream we turned right. we were wrong and now
heading away from our intended destination and Cathy. we
found a stream and not recognizing it we crossed and
continued on. could there be another road we thought now
realizing some manner of disorientation in a forest that
afforded no vista and plenty of streams.
as we walked on Jake now out distancing me 2 steps to 1 as i
constantly stopped to look at something. more huge tracks
and
three in the muddy clay, perfectly clear, four toes, heel
pad, no claws, 3 1/4 inches by 3 1/2 inches, rear foot
landing
exactly in the front track, 18 inch stride, mountain lion!
Jake looked back at me and i hurried along.
definitely lost now we headed back to our stream and turned
down stream. we finally saw the bay, filled our jerry cans
and walked out on the beach now 500+ yds from where we had
started an hour earlier. Jake walked down the beach and got
the dinghy and Cathy and came and picked up me and the water.
i returned the next day by kayak and studied the tracks for
most of the day. relieved and dissappionted that the huge
tracks were in fact tapir and not el tigre', but thrilled to
have shared the woods with such amazing animals.
we are now in playa del coco costa rica dealing with
immigration and such. we will reprovision here for a couple
more weeks of exploring the "rich coast" as we head south.
oh yeah, the hurricanes Wilma and Beta caused some weather in
san juan del sur but nothing to be worried about. it was
amazing to see the clouds literally being sucked into the
storms like a black hole. more so with Wilma but also with Beta.
hope this finds you well,
chow, Dave, reply to: dave@wanderingnaturalist.com
