Are you my dinner?

Not a great photo, more of a memento, like "Holy shit, did I really get that close to a live puma?!"

This is from our 24 km hike into the Corcovado National Park. One of the most exhausting things I've ever done. We suffered blistering heat (in some places you have to walk on the beach, without any cover from the sun), pretty rough terrain and extremely high humidity.

Carlos, our guide was great at spotting animals. We joked around with him about getting to see a puma, knowing full well it's one of the most elusive creatures of the jungle. Carlos, however, was all like "I have a good feeling in my heart! Today, you will get to see the puma!"

Well, he delivered! One and a half kilometer from the Ranger station that was our goal for the day, we met another guide creeping low to the ground and making shushing gestures. They whispered excitedly to one another. Carlos turned to us and said "Puma! Wait here!" Then he and the other guide went off the path, sneaking around until they spotted the big cat. They motioned us over and pointed into the brushes... No more than 15 meters from the path –but very well hidden – lay a big puma resting in the breeze coming in from the ocean!

I was soaking in sweat for the entire day, which you actually can see in this picture. My lens happened to rub against my sweaty t-shirt as we were hiking, which played all kinds of hell on the clarity and sharpness of the shot and even caused some kind of weird "double vision" effect in the out of focus ares. I've tried to rescue it in post. Not great, but it will have to do!

#night #tuesday #cat #animal #wild #january #wildlife #hiking #hike #national-park #costa-rica #predator #swine #big-cat #puma #cougar #wildcat #osa #corcovado #wombat #wild-boar