Wednesday, June 15, 2011

In Search of the Elusive, Indigenous Oophaga Pumilio


It rained most of Monday – something we hadn't seen much of lately. So we collected water, did some laundry and washed the decks. That also meant that the famous Bastimentos Red Frog might also make an appearance.

On Tuesday, we decided to take a hike into the area rainforest to hunt for the little red poison dart frogs. Covered in bug spray we headed out. We trudged through the grasses (hoping not to find the dreaded “fer de lance”) looking for the tiny bright red frog that is indigenous to this island. We went up a several paths and into some clearings to look. We understood you could see them in the undergrowth. Finally, we spotted one little guy. They are relatively territorial (especially the males), so chances are we wouldn't see a bunch in one spot.

There bright red color does help in spotting them. We hiked around looking for one particular area (which we never found – it was off the only road we didn't go down) where another boater said he spotted several. We did manage to get all the way to the top of the hill and got a nice view amongst the construction of some high end homes and spa.

We had a good hike and ended up with at least one sighting. Of this guy.

We also heard all kinds of wonderful bird and insect and frog calls on the walk. It was good to get out and enjoy a good hike It does get hot here and when we got back to the boat we were ready for showers. Just in time, a big rain and wind squall came and we got more water and fresh water rain showers. Had some old friends Damon and David over for sundowners and it was good to reconnect with them – we saw them last in the Bay of Chilon in Colombia,

Today, we'll probably move Astarte and get a look at another area of Bocas. Its a big place and lots of explore.

Full moon tonight!

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