It took me 7 and a half months to find my very first tapir and I searched every day. That includes a 10km hike in the middle of the night (tapirs are nocturnal)! Once I found one, I cried like a baby. Since then I've seen a handful, but that is still very few given I've spent nearly 14 months in Santa Rosa, Guanacaste. Until...Corcovado. Apparently tapirs are running around like water in Corcovado, we saw three in 24 hours! Tapirs are endangered in each region of the world that they are found, including Indonesia and other parts of Asia. They are like hippos on stilts. They are truly fascinating giants of the forest!In this picture you will notice a bird picking at the tapir's side -a yellow-headed caracara. This symbiotic relationship is mutual, the caracara supplements its diet with "garrapatas" or ticks, which rids the tapir of the blood-stealing ectoparasites (I am not a fan, the irritation lasts for weeks and I seem to be a magnet for them. I need a pet caracara). If you zoom-in you'll see that the tick is quite large and situated itself in a den of open flesh...yum.
Up next: wild feline and volcano...soon.
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