Costa Rica hosts a fascinating variety of frogs, salamanders, caecilians, lizards, snakes and turtles. The high herpetological diversity is based on the region´s exceptional geographic situation. Several scientists and students have undertaken studies in Piedras Blancas National Park, using La Gamba Field Station as a base for their investigative trips. They have produced a booklet with descriptions of 37 amphibian and 42 reptile species of the Esquinas rainforest.  You are likely to encounter spectacularly colored frogs such as the red-eyed leaf frog or poison-arrow frogs, tree frogs, glass frogs, rain frogs and cane toads. The nocturnal concert of frog calls at Esquinas Lodge is unforgettable. Basilisks and iguanas frequent the streams, anole lizards can be seen in the garden, and geckos can be seen chasing insects in the main lodge building at nighttime.  The most common and most dangerous snake is the fer-de-lance, but coral snakes, vine snakes, boa constrictors and pit vipers are seen occasionally. Spectacled caimans live in the ponds on our property, and American crocodiles can be seen in larger rivers and mangrove swamps.