INBio Parque

Im so glad that I work in the communications department! There are so many fun projects going on and I want be involved.... The two jobs that really fascinate me are Diana's (the graphic designer) and Marco's (the videographer). So if they every need help (or even if they don't) I am always volunteering....that is why I am here after all! Thursday we left in the morning for INBio Parque. A natural reserve just 20 minutes outside of San Jose. Marco is shooting a PSA (public service announcement) and the goal was to get good footage of animals in their habitat.....and then in the video relate that back to people around the world...everyone deserves a decent habitat. A brilliant idea, I think! Right up my alley with the animals too!

My title on this type of trip is officially "camera assistant"...I love that!

Here is the team!

This was taken in the kids petting farm, and I had to lay down on my stomach (a little too close to some goat shit) and Marco and Diana were on their knees.

Ok but seriously...we walked all over the park and Marco got some really good footage....like these 2 tortugas about to get busy. Did you know that the underside of the female turtle is flat, but the male's is curved (concave)....so he can hop on top of her.....as shown in the action shot below. Just a little Discovery channel tidbit for you.

I am really starting to respect ants. Ernesto's dad has always called them "hard workers" and so he would never kill them when they are in his house?? Whaa? Now, I don't want them in my house, but they are really fascinating to watch. Here are my favorite "workers" which I have shown you before....but there were just so many.....and the trail goes all the way up a tree where they are collecting the leaves that are 5x there size.
I won;'t bother showing you the picture, but another group of ants were digging a hole (or habitat?) and carrying up big balls of dirt. They know to walk back to a certain point and drop it so it doesn't fall back in the whole...and there is no resting, they turn right back around and go down for the next piece. Diana and I studied them for a while.

I think this was the biggest iguana I have ever seen.....and I've never seen an orange one either.
Diana took this great close up and notice the orange "beard" hanging down...they shake that when they want to mark their territory.
There were also a ton of gorgeous plants & flowers.

and bugs....i love this shot of the praying mantis

and there was a Mariposa farm too......They had this maze of shrubs.....like The Shining. We each ran through it to see if we would get lost.Im getting closer and closer to my Discovery/Travel Channel job everyday. We didn't get all the animal shots we needed so next week we are going to Liberia!! Did I ever tell you that I am really happy here?