The sunset this evening was made particularly spectacular by a strange display of clouds that came right over Sabalo Eco Lodge. Holly had noticed them when she came back from a walk and called for me to observe this strange phenomena. The peculiar thing about the way the clouds formed was that they went from East to West directly over our property and home. If you were to look to the far left and far right of the property there was nothing but blue skies. It was like someone took a giant paint brush and streaked the sky above our home.
The clouds to the east were more of the rounded nature and as they streaked across the sky to the west they thinned out losing their rounded shape to just straight streaks across the sky.
According to some quick research I did on the Internet these clouds are called Mammatus clouds and are extremely rare. According to one post to an article “They’re Spielberg’s cloud of choice when he depicts ‘dangerous storm clouds gathering’ over a supernatural scene (think Raiders, Poltergeist)”. Well we have not had any strange supernatural occurrences happen after the appearance of the clouds but we were still strangely fascinated with them.
The clouds ended at the horizon over the ocean in an unusual straight line as pictured above. We’ll let you know if we run into any strange Poltergeists this evening
Here are two links that give additional information about these strange clouds.
The community of Sabalo and Sabalo Eco Lodge are located in the only valley that cuts into the Osa Peninsula between Sierpe and Drake Bay along the Sierpe River. This unique location allows for unlimited access into mountainous rainforest where you will not find other groups of tourists exploring the same waterfall or other attractions. You have access to miles of isolated trails that go in all different directions into undiscovered territory.
Sabalo Eco Lodge prides itself on being a small operation allowing us to give our guests personalized service. The other advantage to this is your activities are customized for you as well. Many of your choices for activities do not have sign in charts with specific times you must be ready to leave and a group of 10 – 20 other people that will be accompanying you all trying to crowd for the same shot of wildlife you may encounter. You are the boss for your adventures here and we will do our best to accommodate your interests and skill level for each activity.
We have yet to explore this vast region around the lodge ourselves and in an effort to find as many interesting things and places to explore I asked some of my local friends to take me out into the rainforest for my own adventure. I was surprised to learn that there are all sorts of horse trails that snake around the mountains and you can go on hikes from two hours to six hours and still not see the same thing. Our trail started up into the mountains where the trail would open up for some spectacular views of the forest and then back into the thick of things where sunlight was being screened out by the dense foliage as in the picture below.
There are a number of streams and creeks that can be found in the mountains that make for great hiking paths as well. You can fish the streams for the Sabalo fish (our namesake) and there are also wonderful secluded swimming holes at almost every turn. The isolation and beauty can be overwhelming especially when you are with a small group of people or just you and your guide.
Early into our trip we came across this gentleman who lives way off the grid. He is in his 70’s, lives alone with his dog and grows some vegetables, catches fish and seems to have everything that he needs to survive. He graciously showed us around and let us pass through his property onto the next leg of our journey.
We continued to go upstream looking for a good fishing hole and quickly lost anything resembling a path. Along the way we encountered a wild boar but he was faster than my camera.
I was able to get a shot of a much slower critter – the yellow-striped dart frog pictured below.
After several hours of hiking and going deep into the rainforest we never found that fishing hole but we did end up at a nice little waterfall. There is no other sign of a living person or man-made sounds out here. This is about as deep into the rainforest as you can safely get to for enjoying the heart of nature from this side of the Osa Peninsula. There is something freeing about escaping into the forest like this and I highly recommend it for those that love to hike and explore nature at its best, isolated and undiscovered.
The water from the waterfall above cut through the rock in the picture below creating a natural water slide. A friend of mine, Trevor, actually jumped in and rode it down into a deep pool at the end. Being that my adventure was customized to my skill level I chose not to try the natural water slide this time
There are so many things to see and do here in the community of Sabalo given our unique location in the Osa Peninsula and best of all you get to customize your adventures to your liking without having to follow a group. When you are ready to explore this undiscovered territory just let us know, we’ll be here waiting for you and look forward to sharing this very special place with all who make the journey here.
We were cleaning some weeds on a remote part of our property that is not available to tourists. One of our workers encountered a five-foot Fer-de-lance snake while he was cutting the weeds. The snake fled and our worker pursued the snake giving chase, killing it with a slash of his machete.
Being Eco Lodge owners we never like the idea of killing any living thing if it can be avoided. We are no strangers to relocating things like very creepy insects from the house as well as relocating other snakes that get too close to structures where people may encounter them.
The locals here who have the most experience living in this remote area have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to Fer-de-lances. Although we do not like this we understand it and bow to their experience in this case.
We’ve included this article and pictures of the dead Fer-de-lance snake so travelers to the more remote regions of this country understand the dynamic between this most feared snake and the people that live here. We also hope that if you visit areas where this Venomous Viper can be found that this article helps you to be more cautious and aware during your forest hikes. We hope you enjoy our article on the Fer-de-lance.
This Fer-de-lance measured five feet in length!
This infamous Fer-de-lance also know as the Terciopelo is a venomous viper snake who’s large size, long fangs, and high venom production and toxicity are paired with an active and edgy disposition, making it one of the most dangerous creatures one can encounter in Costa Rica.
The fer-de-lance is also the most dangerous snake of Central and South America, and causes more human deaths than any other American reptile. On average, a Fer-de-lance injects 105mg of venom in one bite, although a venom yield of up to 310mg has been recorded while milking them. The fatal dose for a human is 50mg. The venom causes internal bleeding in the victim.
Bite symptoms include pain, oozing from the puncture wounds, local swelling that may increase for up to 36 hours, bruising that spreads from the bite site, blisters, numbness, mild fever, headache, bleeding from the nose and gums, gastrointestinal bleeding, nausea, vomiting, impaired consciousness and tenderness of the spleen. In untreated cases, local necrosis (rotting of skin and muscle tissue) frequently occurs and may require amputation.
When it is about to strike, it rears up, with its head and upper body forming an ‘S’ shape. It is able to strike so fast that it is nearly impossible to see it move from the ‘S’ position. It swiftly injects a lethal dose of poison, then retreats to wait for the venom to work.
Its large size and habit of raising its head high off the ground can result in bites above the knee. It has also been observed to eject venom over a distance of at least 6 feet (1.8 m) in fine jets from the tips of its fangs.
It passes the day coiled up and hidden in vegetation; at dusk it will hunt along roads or trails through dense grass and forest.
”Fer-de-lance can be a very abundant snake. Unlike a lot of species they also don’t seem to mind human activity too much,” says Dennis Wasko, a researcher at the University of Miami, who has studied the snake extensively in Costa Rica.
But don’t get paranoid, Wasko says. “Most bites happen to agricultural and field workers in rural areas, not places where travelers are likely to be.”
The fer-de-lance is a ground-living snake, though it is able to climb and swim. Its natural habitat is forest, but it is often found on plantations and in run-down houses, as it can find a ready supply of rats and mice there. This unfortunately brings it into contact with humans. It will usually flee if disturbed, but can also defend itself vigorously, striking as soon as an enemy is within reach.
It is considered the most dangerous snake in Costa Rica, responsible for 46% of all bites and 30% of all hospitalized cases; before 1947 the fatality rate was 7%, but this has since declined to almost 0% with the availability of anti-venom in most rural areas.
The fer-de-lance is a member of the group of snakes known as pit vipers. Like other pit vipers it has two indentations or ‘pits’ behind and above the nostrils, which can detect a rise or drop in temperature of just 0.001degrees C, allowing it to detect warm-blooded mammals. These ‘pits’, coupled with its tongue to ‘taste’ the air, allow the fer-de-lance to strike with great accuracy even in total darkness.
The name, fer-de-lance, is French for “lance head.” The average size of this snake is between six to eight feet, the female being longer of the two. Fer-de-lances have large, speckled eyes with vertically elliptical pupils. They have brilles instead of eyelids that are transparent coverings over the eyes. The broad triangular head and the body are covered with gray or brown velvety scales.
A close-up of the markings of the Fer-de-lance
Mating year round, female fer-de-lances are viviparous, giving birth to live young (as opposed to laying eggs like most snakes). The gestation period is between 3 and 4 months, and they can give birth to up to 60 young. The babies can be up to one foot in length and have fully formed fangs with a poisonous bite. Young fer-de-lances may climb trees and survive on a diet of frogs and lizards by luring small mammals and birds with their yellow tipped tail.
The fer-de-lance is preyed upon by armadillos and hog-nosed skunks.
Jose Angel of the Fruit Farm Tour holding a Guanabana fruit.
The Guanabana fruit (pronounced gwa-na-ba-na) was one of those interesting tropical fruits we had never seen before we came to Costa Rica. The fruit gets to be the size of a football and is best prepared as a drink that tastes amazing. The tree, leaves, fruit and seeds all have medicinal properties as well. Please enjoy our informative article about this curious looking fruit.
Guanabana or Soursop is a broad leaf flowering evergreen tree called the Graviola tree (Annona muricata) native to the Caribbean, Central and South America, from Brazil north to the West Indies. It is in the same genus as the cherimoya and the same family as the pawpaw.
The Soursop is adapted to areas of high humidity and relatively warm winters; temperatures below 5 °C will cause damage to leaves and small branches, and temperatures below 3 °C can be fatal.
The Guanabana fruit grows right off the side of the tree.
Comparisons of its flavor range from strawberry and pineapple mixed together to sour citrus flavor notes contrasting with an underlying creamy roundness of flavor reminiscent of coconut or banana. The fruit is somewhat difficult to eat, as the white interior pulp is studded with many large seeds, and pockets of soft flesh are bounded by fibrous membranes. The soursop is therefore usually juiced rather than eaten directly. The sweet pulp is used to make juice as well as candies, sorbets and ice cream flavorings.
Nutritionally, the fruit is high in carbohydrates, particularly fructose. The fruit also contains significant amounts of vitamin C, vitamin B1, and vitamin B2. The fruit, seeds, and leaves have a number of herbal medicinal uses among indigenous peoples of regions where the plant is common.
Guanabana also has some medicinal properties. Every region uses it differently. It’s: antibacterial, antiparasitic, antispasmodic, astringent, hypotensive, insecticide, sedative, and cytotoxic.
Below are a series of pictures explaining the process of preparing the guanabana fruit into a drink.
The Guanabana is sliced in half and the pockets of soft flesh are pulled from the fruit by hand.
The juice is squeezed from the fruit through a strainer.
Once the juice is squeezed from the fruit just the fibrous membrane and seeds are left.
There is also information that extracts from the Graviola tree are effective in combating certain types of cancer. Although the information I found on the web cannot be substantiated it makes for an interesting read.
Research shows that with extracts from this miraculous tree it now may be possible to: attack cancer safely and effectively with an all-natural therapy that does not cause extreme nausea, weight loss and hair loss; protect your immune system and avoid deadly infections; feel stronger and healthier throughout the course of the treatment; boost your energy and improve your outlook on life. The source of this information is just as stunning: it comes from one of America’s largest drug manufacturers; the fruit of over 20 laboratory tests conducted since the 1970’s! What those tests revealed was nothing short of mind numbing. Extracts from the tree were shown to: effectively target and kill malignant cells in twelve types of cancer including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreatic cancer. The tree compounds proved to be up to 10,000 times stronger in slowing the growth of cancer cells than Adriamycin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug. What’s more, unlike chemotherapy, the compound extracted from the Graviola tree selectively hunts down and kills only cancer cells. It does not harm healthy cells!
One of America’s biggest billion-dollar drug makers began a search for a cancer cure and their research centered on Graviola, a legendary healing tree from the Amazon Rainforest. Various parts of the Graviola tree including the bark, leaves, roots, fruit and fruit-seeds have been used for centuries by medicine men and native Indians in South America to treat heart disease, asthma, liver problems and arthritis. Going on very little documented scientific evidence, the company poured money and resources into testing the tree’s anti-cancerous properties and were shocked by the results. Graviola proved itself to be a cancer-killing dynamo. But that’s where the Graviola story nearly ended.
The company had one huge problem with the Graviola tree: it’s completely natural, and so under federal law, not patentable. There’s no way to make serious profits from it. It turns out the drug company invested nearly seven years trying to synthesize two of the Graviola tree’s most powerful anti-cancer ingredients. If they could isolate and produce man-made clones of what makes the Graviola so potent, they’d be able to patent it and make their money back. Alas, they hit a brick wall. The original simply could not be replicated. There was no way the company could protect its profits or even make back the millions it poured into research.
As the dream of huge profits evaporated, their testing on Graviola came to a screeching halt. Even worse, the company shelved the entire project and chose not to publish the findings of its research! Luckily, however, there was one scientist from the Graviola research team whose conscience wouldn’t let him see such atrocity committed. Risking his career, he contacted a company that’s dedicated to harvesting medical plants from the Amazon Rainforest and blew the whistle.
Evidence of the astounding effectiveness of Graviola and its shocking cover-up came in fast and furious…The National Cancer Institute performed the first scientific research in 1976. The results showed that Graviola’s “leaves and stems were found effective in attacking and destroying malignant cells.” Inexplicably, the results were published in an internal report and never released to the public.
Since 1976, Graviola has proven to be an immensely potent cancer killer in twenty independent laboratory tests, yet no double-blind clinical trials – the typical benchmark mainstream doctors and journals use to judge a treatment’s value – were ever initiated.
A study published in the Journal of Natural Products, following a recent study conducted at Catholic University of South Korea stated that one chemical in Graviola was found to selectively kill colon cancer cells at “10,000 times the potency of (the commonly used chemotherapy drug) Adriamycin…”
The most significant part of the Catholic University of South Korea report is that Graviola was shown to selectively target the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched. Unlike chemotherapy, which indiscriminately targets all actively reproducing cells (such as stomach and hair cells), causing the often-devastating side effects of nausea and hair loss in cancer patients.
A study at Purdue University recently found that leaves from the Graviola tree killed cancer cells among six human cell lines and were especially effective against prostate, pancreatic and lung cancers.
Thank you for reading our post,
Dan & Holly Pesta
Owners Sabalo Eco Lodge – Costa Rica
