The snake winds itself beautifully around the tree trunk. Another poses on a lush green leaf, with the Arenal Volcano in the background. Simply incredible, the perfect coincidence – or is it?

We have often wondered how it is that animals in photos always pose so beautifully – mind you, wild animals.

The answer? It’s sobering: the animals are placed exactly where people want them.

The methods behind the photo

With cold-blooded animals, there are particularly questionable methods: when they are chilled, they hardly move. There are even reports of limbs being suspended by threads. A famous photo of a frog riding a beetle was likely staged this way, as the two species are not active at the same time of day.

Bringing a jaguar into the right position in the wild is difficult – if not impossible. To give tourists a guaranteed sighting, providers resort to aids. Feeding stations are far more common than one might think.

We have also been offered a guaranteed sighting of a “wild” ocelot, or taken to a feeding site for tapirs; even the Orinoco crocodile is fed regularly so that it remains within the national reserve and isn’t killed outside its borders.

Feeding stations for birds are found almost everywhere: Bananas and sugar water are popular choices.

As long as tour operators can guarantee sightings, their income is secure. This leads to a dangerous set of expectations. Tourists want “wildlife photos”. In Costa Rica, the practice went so far that sloths, for example, were taken down from trees just for a “wildlife selfie”. The government launched an awareness campaign in 2019. Perhaps it helped. We didn’t experience anything of this sort ourselves, but we read about it.

With snakes, however, we witnessed a different side of the story.

The business of “perfect” nature

In Costa Rica, we came across a particularly negative practice: a photographer told us about providers who carry snakes around in boxes to position them in the perfect spot. We also came across a post on Facebook denouncing this exact practice.

And why? Simply to offer tourists the perfect picture. It would quite frankly be too exhausting to spend the night in the jungle without a guaranteed find – plus, you can’t see the volcano at night.

Unfortunately, this practice is quite widespread – even in countries like Costa Rica, where animal welfare is supposedly a high priority. What can then be expected from other countries that hardly care about it at all?

Looking back on 2025: a year full of adventures.

In 2025, we were on the road for the entire year. There were no quick flights back to Europe and no visits to see family – although that’s not entirely true, we visited Michael’s sister living in Costa Rica and his other sister came to visit us.

We experienced a great deal, mostly good. Nevertheless, there are moments when homesickness creeps in.

Looking back, it’s hard to believe we had the time to live all these things. The year went by so quickly. Here is a brief look back to remind ourselves of all the wonderful things we saw and experienced.

Peru

Things got off to a great start in Colombia with the world’s smallest monkeys, the pygmy marmosets. Then the itinerary included a drive through guerrilla territory for Cora’s birthday, followed by a few weeks helping out on a cocoa farm and searching for anacondas in the Llanos. During the search, we were surprised by an Orinoco crocodile coming our way.

We also went on a hippo safari on the Magdalena River – we couldn’t stop marvelling at it all. Afterwards, Michi did his dive instructor training. For once, we stayed in one place for an entire month and were able to do some repairs on the car, such as fixing our window. Only the Airbnb host was peculiar; we definitely don’t want to go back there.

Venezuela

Venezuela – our favourite! Finally, a real adventure! Right at the start, we were met by the secret service and asked into a white container for a three-hour interview. That wasn’t exactly great. But once we were allowed in the country, everything went like clockwork.

Maracaibo was like a journey back to the 1970s. The food and service were good—a blessing after Colombia. And the people were exceptionally kind – everyone. They invited us into their homes for barbecues and rum. They organised diesel whenever things didn’t go smoothly.

Only the amount of driving was exhausting. Unfortunately, our container ship to Panama departed from Colombia, so we had to do a round trip through the vastness of Venezuela. We sat in the car for hours and had the occasional row. However, prospecting for gold in the Wild South of Venezuela put everything right again.

The food was mediocre. The last day was lovely, though: we visited local weavers, walked through a colonial town, and bought cowboy boots for Michael. Finally, we went to the thermal baths to relax. One week was enough.

Encounters with Costa Rica’s primates

We see “big monkeys” all the time – after all, we’re all guilty of making a monkey out of ourselves every now and then. But those that actually still swing through the treetops are, sadly, becoming fewer and farther between.

By now, we’ve reached the north of Central America, and here they have become a rare sight. Since crossing the border from Costa Rica, we haven’t spotted a single monkey – we haven’t even heard one. Reason enough to look back wistfully at our time in Costa Rica, where we were lucky enough to observe all four native monkey species, some of them on multiple occasions.

Capuchin: grumpy and intelligent

They usually look a bit grumpy, but curiosity almost always wins the day: Capuchin monkeys (cebinae). Their habitat stretches from Central America down to Northern Argentina. They owe their name to Portuguese explorers, who felt the monkeys’ colouring resembled the cowls worn by Capuchin friars.

It’s fascinating to note that Capuchins have quite a large brain relative to their body size. Scientists attribute this to their complex foraging techniques. They are extremely adaptable and skilled tool users – we watched them feeding time and again, even seeing them tuck into coconuts.

Howler monkeys: loud and leisurely

You often hear them long before you see them: the loud Howler monkeys (alouatta) frequently served as our natural jungle alarm clock at four in the morning. After the Woolly Spider monkeys (brachyteles), they are the largest monkeys in the New World.

A fascinating detail: They are the only New World primates to have developed trichromatic colour vision (similar to us humans). Their namesake roar, which can be heard for several kilometres, is used for communication between different groups. This makes them officially the loudest land animals on Earth! Despite their leisurely pace, they are expert climbers and often use their prehensile tail as a “fifth hand” – strong enough to support their entire body weight during a leap.

For me, monkeys are definitely animals I could watch for hours on end – no matter how many times we’ve seen them before. And honestly? Even that loud roaring at 4 am has become something quite beautiful and comforting to me. It’s the sound of the wild, and I truly hope we get to hear it for many years to come.

When conservation becomes a business

Costa Rica boasts pristine jungles, long beaches, two warm seas and hundreds of refreshing waterfalls. It enjoys a very positive reputation abroad as a pioneer in sustainability and the protection of its fauna and flora. In 2024, 25.5 % of the country’s land and 31% of its sea were under some form of protection.

It sounds like an advertisement from a travel magazine.

Some aspects of Costa Rica’s image are certainly true: there is barely any litter, and we repeatedly see animals as we drive through beautiful forests. Yet it is not entirely consistent.

This creates a habitat for wild animals. And the animals are not fearful, but rather curious. They come close, but they do not attack. Costa Rica has managed to ensure that monkeys and raccoons are not fed indiscriminately; so the animals let you get close, but do not attack. We were able to observe Capuchin monkeys eating up close for a while. In many national parks, it is prohibited to bring food and it is strictly controlled at the entrance.

Not all that glitters is gold. Here, too, nature conservation and the economy compete for dominance. Some examples:

Although sharks are protected, they are often caught as bycatch and subsequently sold. Between 2015 and 2020, 14 tonnes of shark fins were unloaded in Punta Arenas, most of which were exported to China. In 2017, the species was reclassified as a commercial animal rather than a wild animal, meaning it fell under fishery law. Although the Supreme Court declared this illegal, nothing has really changed (Mongabay).

There is also a risk that captured animals will be declared as re-exported, meaning the sharks will supposedly come from Nicaragua and only pass through Costa Rica en route to third countries. However, conservationists assume that the majority originate from Costa Rican fisheries.

In September 2025, fishermen took to the streets in San José to protest against a provisional export ban. A month later, the Administrative Court overturned it. Nature conservation, particularly marine conservation, remains a permanent contradiction in Costa Rica – the situation is not as positive as it is perceived abroad.

Are they a delicacy or a protected species? The paradox of turtle eggs

When travelling to Costa Rica, one of the first things you will see are images of freshly hatched turtles making their way to the sea. Turtle season occurs at some point each year almost everywhere in the country. There are hundreds of protection projects as sea turtles are a protected species.

However, turtle eggs are readily sold on the market, albeit not necessarily in tourist areas. The reasoning is simple: in some places, so many turtles arrive that subsequent arrivals destroy the nests. Since these eggs would otherwise be lost, it is better to collect and sell them.

This, however, leads to the eggs being considered a delicacy and being plundered at many other locations. To counter this, countless protection projects rely on volunteers. This creates another problem.

From our perspective, the American continent is bordered by two oceans: the Atlantic and the Pacific. For most travellers, the sea accompanies them along the entire route from north to south, or vice versa. For us, however, it was slightly different. For long periods, we travelled almost exclusively inland through South America.

But now, in Central America, there is no escape. The sea is never far away and provides us with wonderful places to stay time and time again. The sea creatures are fascinating too, especially in the middle of whale season.

Visiting humpback whales

We hadn’t seen any for a long time because we hadn’t been near the coast. In Ecuador, we arrived either too early or too late for the season, as there was no sign of the whales.

But in Panama, we arrived at just the right time. This meant that we absolutely had to get out on the water to see them!

Whale watching has become big business in this region. Prices are often correspondingly high. In Panama, specifically in Santa Catalina, they wanted to charge between 80 and 100 US dollars. To be fair, this includes not only whale watching but also snorkelling and the park entrance fee.

However, we received a tip from other travellers about a cheaper option with fewer tourists. Since we had already been fortunate enough to see a humpback whale calf practising its jumps and observe other whales from a distance during our diving trip, we thought long and hard about it. But at 30 US$ per person for six hours on the water, we couldn’t complain.

We drove to Boca Brava. Despite it being the rainy season, our guide was waiting for us there on a beautiful sunny day. Five American expats joined us on the boat. The eight of us set off in the small boat for Chiriquí National Park. Right in the middle was a mother swimming with her calf. They kept coming very close to the boat! It took an hour for another tourist boat to arrive. So we were almost alone the entire time.

Seeing these little calves swimming, and then seeing the mothers appear right next to them, was deeply impressive. This is especially impressive given how much bigger they are than our little boat. These giants can grow up to 15 metres long, which is rather small for the rorqual family, and weigh between 25 and 30 tonnes. We saw whales repeatedly that day, both from the beach and from the boat.

Can you do whale watching from bed?

In Costa Rica, we tried again. This time, from our bed looking through the tent window, parking on a beach near Puerto Jiménez where whales are often seen. We didn’t see the whales, but we did see dolphins, rays and turtles.

The second time we went whale watching, it was in Uvita, with a colleague of Michi’s brother who organises whale-watching tours. He took us on a fishing trip with his friends. I still find fishing boring, but there were whales in the bay. We saw them jumping in the distance repeatedly, and then a mother and calf came very close.

It was different here, though. Despite it being the off-season, five other boats carrying up to 15 people surrounded the animals. So much for whale watching alone! It’s a completely different experience to have the animals almost exclusively to yourself. We are looking forward to new encounters on our way north. After all, we will continue to encounter the coast and its fascinating inhabitants all along the way.