Costa Rica - Bugs Galore

Driving to Quepos, the first sign of a good omen was when a giant katydid landed on the windscreen and travelled several kilometres with us through the town and round the forested road to Manuel Antonio. A highlight of staying at the Si Como No hotel here was access to the wonderful rainforest garden across the road. The guides were as enthusiastic about insects as we were and we arranged to meet up for a night walk. Insect life did us proud, and proud too was the guide who picked a large grasshopper off a leaf and explained its gastric defence.

Grabbing the poor thing in a pincer movement, he showed us the vents behind the head and enthused that if you pressed as he was doing, the insect would empty its stomach contents...which it proceeded to do in a huge belch of liquid. Not wanting to prolong the loss of its hard-earned dinner, we urged the guide to place it back out of harm's way on a leafy branch.

Maintaining our interest in creepy-crawlies, we continued to the Osa Peninsula where we signed up to a night walk with Tracie, the famous Bug Lady. What a treat for insectophiles! Tracie led us up a forested path, warmed up with amazing trapdoor spiders, then plucked a  tailless whipscorpion onto her hand.

Whilst some brave members of the group owned up to, and faced down, their fears of bugs, we gingerly took turns to perch this delicate, friendly bug on our faces. Although the insect is harmless, expressions of  squeaky fright rippled round the group, and Gen took a picture of me with eyes wide in anticipation of a bug encounter.