Slip Sliding Away

I always liked that song by Paul Simon. Kind of fun. I don’t think he had this guy in mind when he sang it though..

This is one of those “other” creatures I mentioned before. You know the ones that are awesomely beautiful and rare to just randomly run into, but that you certainly aren’t inclined to want to snuggle up with. I know, I know, all you snake lovers out there would disagree. I leave you to your cold blooded pets. I have a healthy respect and appreciation for snakes as well as a true love of other reptilian life. This is why, on a sunny day in Manuel Antonio, while heading back from one of our beach roaming days, we played like Steve Irwin for several harrowing minutes trying to make sure our slithering friend made it safely across the road.

We were driving back from a morning at our favorite playitas, near Biesanz beach. After many months of living in a jungle surrounding, shooting photos of the wildlife there, and never tiring of the new and unusual, we were very quick to spot things which appeared in our path. As we neared the Manuel Antonio Road, I saw something to my right just ahead, somewhere near Hotel Mariposa. I grabbed my husband’s arm and had him slow down.

I’m not sure what he thought when I yelled, “Boa!” and dove for my camera from the floor of the truck. But he knows to stop when I go for the camera.  My first concern was getting the shot before he slithered away, for this snake was on a mission to cross the road. Who could blame him, what with the often Kamikaze drivers that fly up and down all day long. Good thing we stopped and made ourselves conspicuous, for when we pulled behind this lovely fellow, we spotted a family of tourists on foot just on the other side of the road, unwittingly approaching him.  Even though we knew they wouldn’t likely be accosted by him as he went along his merry way, we also weren’t sure exactly how they felt about-well, you know-snakes. So we gave them a shout, just to alert them. They were very excited of course and I believe I saw a camera or two pop out, but I couldn’t be certain. It actually all happened so fast.

There we were, stopped dead in the road with an enthusiastic tour van coming up the road behind us. We didn’t want to move until our friend was safely on the other side, nor did we wish to be rear-ended. So it came to be that in a manic moment of snapping photos, excited shouting and playing crossing guard, we felt we did our good deed for the day. The Boa made it safely to the other side, I got some nice shots, as did the tourist family, and a van driver did not have to live with killing one of Manuel Antonio’s most native residents. Not a bad morning, all in all. You remember the phrase, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” I think it was to get away from the boa! Have fun in paradise!

A beautiful specimen, and quite large, actually