Menghayati!

-"Menghayati!"

has been made possible by The Safina Center, making the case for life on Earth, and Avalon Nature Preserve, connecting communities to nature since 2002, the Peter H. Warny Conservation Fund, celebrating the life of Peter H. Warny through supporting this program and conservation projects worldwide.

Additional support comes from Utalii Peer To Peer Tourism, providing personalized tour experiences to tourists worldwide, the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments, and Centre ValBio, saving wildlife and habitats through research, community, and conservation, EFG-Renascence Productions, a unique next-generation studio that broadens our minds by connecting us through films.

-"Menghayati!"

-Are you ready to follow your dreams, have fun, meet amazing animals, amazing people, and help our planet?

If that sounds like something you want to do, then we're right here in Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica.

Let's go.

- It's time to step outside It's time to follow your dreams It's time to step into nature and see things you never seen A quest to love our planet Like snakes, it's time to uncurl The bees and frogs are in danger Let's go around the world - Let's go -In our previous episode, we were in the South Caribbean of Costa Rica to meet some of the amazing wildlife and a community of citizens and scientists that were working together to create amazing projects to help save wildlife, including our secret creature.

In today's episode, we're at the Cahuita National Park to discover more amazing animals... [ Animals calling ] ...and meet some amazing guides, and the staff at the national park were going to help us discover our secret creature.

So if you're ready, let's go.

-"Menghayati!"

-Welcome to "Menghayati!"

where you get to discover creatures and cultures from around the world.

And remember, the word "menghayati" means to have a deep, loving connection to all living things.

In today's episode, we're in Cahuita National Park to discover a really cool creature that lives in the leaves, and this creature is really, really awesome.

However, before we get a chance to meet it, we're going to learn a bit more about Cahuita National Park and how you get here.

So if you're ready, let's go.

Cahuita National Park is an amazing place located in the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.

The word "cahuita" comes from the word "kawi," which is actually a tree that's within the national park.

And the word "ta" actually means "point" or "tip."

So the original Cahuita town was located in Cahuita Point.

This park is full of wildlife... [ Animals calling ] ...iguanas, snakes, sloths, monkeys, and all sorts of creatures, and is also full of amazing guides that share knowledge about the wildlife that lives there and the history of this amazing place.

The earliest people to settle in the area of Cahuita were mostly of Afro-Caribbean descent and came from Jamaica and the surrounding islands.

This community lived off the sea and some members contributed music, like Mr. Walter Ferguson.

They also worked with the indigenous Bribri people and learned about the trade of chocolate.

If you visit there, you can go through the town, meet the guides... see tons of wildlife... -[ Singing in native language ] -...and, of course, learn the most famous phrase in Costa Rica.

-Pura vida.

Welcome to Costa Rica.

-Pura vida.

-Pura vida.

-Pura vida, one love.

-Pura vida!

And now that we got a chance to learn some history about Cahuita, it's almost time to meet our secret creature.

-"Menghayati!"

-Alright, everybody, and now it's time to guess our secret animal.

Is it A, the yellow viper, B, the capuchin monkey, C, the black river turtle, or D the green basilisk?

Pura vida!

Big thanks to all our guides and friends at the Cahuita National Park for helping us find so many animals.

And now we're gonna see some out in the wild.

The emerald basilisk is one of the most colorful and prehistoric-looking lizards alive today.

Their dorsal crest gives them a look of a dinosaur.

-[ Roaring ] -And they are found in abundance throughout Costa Rica.

The males are the only ones to have the dorsal crest.

The females are a little less colorful because they need to be able to hide so they can lay their eggs.

And these lizards are also known for their ability to run across the water.

The black river turtle is a beautiful turtle found in the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.

They spend most of their time in rivers and streams, and they can be found basking in the sun during the daytime.

They love to eat small fish, crustaceans, fruits, and insects.

-Mmm!

-These turtles are also active in both daytime and nighttime and can be found hunting on land for different things to eat.

The eyelash viper is located throughout the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.

This snake is highly venomous and should never be touched.

However, the venom that it has it uses to catch birds, frogs, and lizards.

This is very important to balance the ecosystem that it lives in.

They are also one of the few snakes that have babies in different colors.

The capuchin monkey, or white-faced monkey, is truly an amazing creature.

Their natural curiosity makes it super fun to observe them with their human-like expressions.

Although it's fun to watch them, they are also territorial and live in big groups, so it's always important to enjoy them from a distance.

Which animal do you think it is?

Viper.

-[ Hisses ] -These snakes are one of the most beautiful snakes on our planet.

They can come in many different colors, including yellow, gray, white, pink, green, or a mix of all of the colors.

They're just beautiful.

And like all vipers, they have heat-sensing pits to help them detect their prey.

-[ Hissing ] -They also use their forked tongue to detect when prey's nearby.

They even sometimes use their small tail as a lure to lure prey in.

Remember, if you ever see these snakes, they're also venomous and have poisonous glands that inject poison into the prey that they eat.

These gorgeous animals are so beautiful.

And that's the reason why we chose the eyelash viper as our secret creature.

And now we're going to get a chance to see some out in the wild.

One day I was at the Cahuita National Park for my first time with my driver, James Brown.

I was deciding if I should stay at the park or if I should go somewhere else to do a special live program on Zoom for a special school in New York.

James said, "You know, Erik, they just got an Internet connection here, and you might be better off to stay here and try it out."

So we chose to try it out, met our first guide, saw many animals, including our first wild eyelash viper.

-[ Hisses ] -This was the first time I had ever seen an eyelash viper in Costa Rica, and it was absolutely amazing.

Thanks to the guides and staff at the Cahuita National Park and the parks along the South Caribbean, thousands of tourists each week have an opportunity to see much of the wildlife... [ Animals calling ] ...and the amazing eyelash viper.

We were so fortunate to have an opportunity to go out with the guides to see these beautiful snakes, and we even got another superduper surprise!

-"Menghayati!"

-Now it's time for "Creature Craft."

-[ Hisses ] Hello, everybody.

It's the Art Nanny here.

I have a fun idea for you to make your own yellow eyelash viper from home.

You're going to need a paper plate, something yellow to color in with, and a pair of scissors.

You're going to want to color both sides of your paper plate.

Make sure, because he's going to go from 2-D to 3-D. Then we want to draw a circle in the middle of our paper plate as best as you can and then swirl all the way around.

I used pencil first and then went over it once I had it perfect with my black marker.

Remember not to enclose your swirl, because later we're going to leave that piece to attach its head.

With your black marker, we can draw in his scales.

It's like making little tiny M's.

The trick is to swirl your paper so that the M's face the same way.

So just keep making M's.

After a while, it's going to be a little tiresome, but you can do it.

Once you're finished, you want to grab a pair of scissors and cut on your swirl line all the way around to the middle.

Once I was finished, I grabbed an extra sheet of paper and I drew a giant N. I outlined it in black and drew in his nostrils and his eyes.

I colored it yellow so he would match, and then I attached it to his head.

And we're going to put a little bit of glue on here so that we can fold it together.

And if we hold it -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 -- it should be stuck.

Well, I hope you had lots of fun making your yellow eyelash viper.

And remember, you can hang him wherever you like.

Have so much fun, and never stop being creative.

Love, the Art Nanny.

-Big thanks to the Art Nanny for that cool, slithery paper plate artwork.

And now we're going to meet a local artist from Costa Rica.

Alright, you guys, so we're here with Azan from the Caribeans chocolate tour that we just took around, and he actually created this amazing shirt with this yellow viper holding a cacao fruit.

And so, Azan, can you tell everybody what was your inspiration to create this amazing, awesome shirt?

-So my inspiration was my dad.

-Uh-huh.

-He actually had asked me, "Hey, Azan, go do a T-shirt design for Caribeans.

-Yeah.

-So I -- Look at that -- Caribeans there.

So I actually wanted to make the snake really scary.

-Uh-huh.

-Uh, but my dad said, "No, it's better if it's nice and friendly."

[ Alarm buzzing ] So I did this design here with a nice little smile.

-Yes.

-Nice cacao.

-And it says, "Sssssssso good."

-"Sssssssso good."

-Stay tuned.

In just a few moments, we're going to meet more eyelash vipers, go on our species adventure, and meet our specialist.

-Pura vida.

-"Menghayati!"

-Hey, everybody, so now it's time for our brief intermission.

In today's intermission, I'd like to share with you about being respectful.

[ Animals calling ] It is so important to respect nature and to respect the culture of the places that you visit.

And right here in the national park, it's really important to respect the animals and never touch them.

[ Alarm buzzing ] -[ Hisses ] -So that's what I've learned from being here, but also to respect the guides and to respect the knowledge that they have from so many years by utilizing them, and asking them questions and going through the park with them is so amazing.

And you learn so much, just like we did about the creatures that we saw today, about our yellow Viper.

And now we're going to learn more about our viper and respect for creatures during our species adventure.

So if you're ready, let's go.

After spending many days at the Cahuita National Park, we met lots more guides... ...got to see lots more animals... and see lots more yellow vipers and go on more adventures.

- It's time to step outside It's time to follow your dreams It's time to step into nature and see things you never seen A quest to love our planet Like snakes, it's time to uncurl The bees and frogs are in danger Let's go around the world -Let's go!

-In just a few moments, we're going to meet more guides and more vipers on our species adventure.

-Some nice red markings.

-Ah!

-"Menghayati!"

-During this species adventure, we were with Ronold the snake man, Timothy, Carlos, and got to meet Jungle Man and Abel along the way.

Hey, everybody.

So, this right here is the exact place where we saw our first yellow viper... [ Snakes hiss ] ...right here in Cahuita National Park, and it was literally right here.

Now, you can see all these woods right here.

We can't walk in there, but we got a chance to see it thanks to our guides using a special zoom lens.

So, let's go!

Going out with these guides was amazing.

They had knowledge about all the animals, about the history of Cahuita, and of course our yellow viper.

-So, this is my friend Erik.

We're gonna look for the yellow viper, you know?

-Yes.

-It's very difficult to find it, but I am -- I am the snake man.

[ Snakes hiss ] -I find everything, you know?

-Yes.

Yes, yes.

-I'm the snake finder.

-Yes.

Alright, let's go find it.

Hey, everybody, it's time for a special message.

Remember when you visit the national park to always use a guide, always stay on the trail, and never touch the animals.

And now it's time to get back to the trail.

During our first trip into the Cahuita National Park with the snake man, we ran into Abel and Jungle Man looking at an amazing snake.

However, this snake was so well hidden, we decided to wait for another day.

And, boy, was it worth it.

Thanks to the snake man's expert eyes, we were able to see another gorgeous female yellow viper just above our heads.

Because of the dedication of the guides at Cahuita National Park, many more people got an opportunity to see these amazing creatures out in the wild.

And that was the end of our species adventure.

Wait a minute, everybody.

[ Animals calling ] We have a bonus animal.

Thanks to Timothy, we were able to go on another species adventure and see two amazing baby eyelash vipers out in the wild, thanks to his spotting scope that allowed us to see them right up close.

Although these babies look big up close, they were about the size of a pencil.

[ Snakes hiss ] -"Menghayati!"

-Now it's time for a "Creature Quiz."

-What does the yellow viper eat for lunch?

-That's a great question, Joseph.

First, it's important to remember that the yellow viper and all eyelash vipers are venomous, so they should never, ever be touched.

-[ Hisses ] -And they can eat all sorts of things for lunch, including birds, lizards, and frogs.

-Why don't snakes have eyelids?

-That's a great question, Inga.

There are other animals in the animal kingdom that don't have eyelids, too, including insects and some geckos.

The reason snakes don't have eyelids is because they have a clear scale, called a brille, that protects their eye from being damaged.

Alright, everybody, now it's time for our viper "Creature Quiz," and the first question is... Is it A, two feet, B, one foot C, ten feet, or D, twenty feet?

If you guessed two feet, then you're absolutely right.

The yellow viper can grow at least two feet long and has a powerful bite.

Even though it doesn't grow really, really big, it has a really, really strong bite, so you always want to make sure you never touch a snake that you see in the wild, especially vipers.

Question number two... Is it A, humming birds, B, lizards, C, frogs, or D, other snakes?

If you guessed A, B, and C, then you're absolutely right.

The yellow viper likes to eat birds, frogs, and lizards.

However, they don't really like to eat other snakes.

Question number three... Is it A, with their tongue, B, with their heat-sensing pits, C, by vibrations, or is it D, by using their eyes?

If you guessed all four, then you're absolutely right.

If you remember correctly, eyelash vipers and all vipers have heat-sensing pits that they use to help them locate food.

They also use their tongue and the special Jacobson's organ in the roof of their mouth to help locate food and vibrations and their eyes.

That's pretty cool.

Question number four... Is it A, Cahuita National Park, B, Talamanca, C, Limon, or D, Cocles?

If you guessed A, Cahuita, then you're absolutely right.

If you remember correctly, the first yellow viper we ever saw was actually in Cahuita National Park with our guides and friends that worked there.

So, Timothy and Carlos -- they actually helped us find the snakes, but they reminded us how important it is to never touch the animals and to always stay on the trail.

-"Menghayati!"

-And now it's time to meet the specialists.

Today's specialists are Carlos, Timothy, Michael, and the Snake Man.

And just a bit earlier, you got to meet them right here in Cahuita National Park and see the amazing job they do to share knowledge of animals with all the people that come here.

And they also have a very special message just for you right now.

So, if you're ready, let's go!

-I'm a local guide, you know, professional.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I walk -- Every day, rain or shine, I'm here... -Uh-huh.

-...to show the people the monkeys, the snakes, you know?

I know all the people.

-If you love it, keep following the right road.

And when you love something you don't feel you're working.

And that's something very good, guys.

So, a lot of guides, when they're adults, they are like, "Ohh, I gotta go to work."

But if you love your work, you'll be like, "Yes, let's go to work."

-Being a guide is wonderful.

One, you can see all the beautiful stuff, okay?

And also you can meet wonderful people.

-[ Laughs ] Yes.

-We're always making friends.

-Being a guide is very interesting for me.

It's very special because every day you meet different people.

So your brains always be open.

-Yeah.

-Different people from different parts of the world and things like that, so it's something really nice for me.

-Yeah, it's really nice.

-I love it.

-Bye for now!

-Okay, my friend.

-What an amazing adventure.

We got a chance to hike through the Cahuita National Park... ...meet amazing animals, including our yellow viper, and, of course, meet our amazing guides.

And they all have one last thing to say.

[ All shouting "Pura vida!"

] -[ Hisses ] Pura vida.

-And remember to always follow your dreams, do what you love, always use a guide, and enjoy nature.

Bye for now!

It's time to step outside It's time to follow your dreams It's time to step into nature and see things you never seen A quest to love our planet Like snakes, it's time to uncurl The bees and frogs are in danger Let's go around the world - Let's go -"Menghayati!"

has been made possible by The Safina Center -- making the case for life on Earth... and Avalon Nature Preserve -- connecting communities to nature since 2002... the Peter H. Warny Conservation Fund -- celebrating the life of Peter H.

Warny through supporting this program and conservation projects worldwide.

Additional support comes from Utalii Peer to Peer Tourism -- providing personalized tour experiences to tourists worldwide...

The Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments... and Centre Valbio -- saving wildlife and habitats through research, community, and conservation... EFG-Renascence Productions -- a unique next-generation studio that broadens our minds by connecting us through films.