What Foolish Travelers We Once Were

Remember when Jason and I used to get freaked out over cockroaches and tiny little lizards? Looking back now I realize we must’ve sounded like silly city people.

The truth is that before our recent travels we both had lived in Denver for quite some time. In Denver you don’t have roaches, mosquitoes, or reptiles. In fact, there is barely any wildlife there at all.

But now that we’ve spent some time in tropical areas of the world we’ve seen our fair share of fish, bugs, and reptiles. In fact, we’ve seen so much wildlife that we don’t have the same reactions like we once did.

This tarantula climbed up the side of our house the other night. Jason got up to get the camera, but otherwise it was business as usual.

You’ve probably noticed that we talk a bit about lizards. You may even think we’re obsessed with them, and maybe we are, but it’s hard not to notice the lizards when they are everywhere (including the plastic lizard decoy on our front porch).

While we once were freaked out by little geckos in our house, we now ignore them. However, if I ever saw this guy in my house I might think twice.

This is a black ctenosaur and it is fairly common in Costa Rica. We saw this particular ctenosaur right out our front door, and we have seen many others in piles of dirt, along the highway, and falling off of cliffs and roofs (Now that’s good for a laugh … especially since they seem to land just fine).