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Hugh Erle Smith Favorite Forays Costa
Rica, April 4 - 22, 2006 Costa Rica I I have found many things here and I'm currently at about 950 pictures, probably 6-8 CDs. I have seen Oysters, two kinds of Suillus, lots of Turkey Tail like fungus, including one brilliant orange one that I have seen in Hawaii and the Yucatan. There are many brown, plain shelfs and a few conchs. Here at our last location there is what appears to be a very nice Artist's Conch. It's a little too high for me to reach, and I don't wanna leave my name on it anyway. I have only found one person who is interested in mushrooms. He described to me what I say is a dyctophora, a stinkhorn. I have found him a copy of Mushrooms Demystified and I plan on sending it to him. But the most beautiful mushroom I have seen here is an apricot stalked cup. There were two of them and they are gorgeous! Oh, yeah, there were many Dead Man's Fingers in the cloud forest too, fresh ones and black ones. As for creatures, there are so many! I go on night hunts all the time. Rhinoceros Beetles, male and female. Caimans, monkeys, sloths, frogs, toads, spiders... I just hope that my pictures reflect an even balance between creatures, mushrooms and scenery. Right now we are at the end of the dry season. We are prepared for rain, but it has only rained twice, both in the middle of the night. Next time I hope to come in October. There will be a better chance of rain, and the turtles will be here. We have seen turtles, but out in the Caribbean, not on land. There have been two places where we feel really comfortable, welcome. The other places we are made to feel like tourists. Costa Rica II Well, I'm back from Costa Rica, a place that has more National Parks than anywhere else on Earth. It is an awesome place and the people are terrific. This is not Mexico. I kept thinking I was in Mexico, except there was never anyone hounding me, looking for any way to get my money. I suggest you go before America screws them up too! Next time I want to go in October. Then I can see the turtles coming onto the beach, as well as a whole different world. I burned 6.28 gigs while down there. After processing my photos, I ended up with just over 3 gigs. One quarter of my 1208 pictures are of creatures. It was the end of the dry season so there probably weren't too many mushrooms to be found. Costa Rica II Kanota, mae? Pura Vida! I have returned from a 17 day trip in Costa Rica. I was there at the end of the dry season. It was also the end of tourist season (Easter). Although we did not get rained on, as prepared as we were, there were mushrooms to be found. No amanitas, but I did find one Witches Butter in the Cloud Forest. Dead Man's Fingers were abundant when they were around at all. Lots of Ganoderma tsugae. A few Coprinus, Shelfs, Conchs, encrusting fungi, and two AWESOME Apricot Stalked Cups. I'm working the pictures now. About 6 gigs, or about 1000 photos. Many people in Costa Rica, including our guides are very interested and informed of their environment and the ecology, but I found only one person who had a real interest in mushrooms. When I asked my favorite guide, Steve, if there were many mushrooms in the jungle, he said there weren't very many. So I said, "Like that one, and those, and those?" He said, "Hmmm". So I think I sparked an interest. I'll be sending him a book soon. All The Rain Promises And More, by David Arora. He said he had a small book once that was about mushrooms, but doesn't know what happened to it. I WILL be returning to Costa Rica! Pura Vida! (Good Life) Following is only some of what I found:
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