Night shift

When traveling to countries with tropical rainforests, a night hike in the jungle is a must, say experienced guides.

Now I have to admit that I have a very mixed relationship with hiking at night over hill and dale. You hike into an area teeming with predators, armed only with a flashlight.

But since the rest of our group really wants to play Indiana Jones, I reluctantly join in.

Berny our guide, who looks like Christiano Ronaldo's little brother, picks us up from our villa and off we go towards the black hell.

Berny asks about our expectations for the tour. Since I don't want to admit that I'm expecting to be choked by a snake and bitten by a tarantula tonight, I'll just say I'm a little scared.

Don't worry, is our Sunnyboy's answer.

If you only knew, I'm still thinking as the party starts. To protect myself from the first attacks of poisonous beetles, worms and spiders, I put on my knee-length rain cape. It's 28 degrees with humidity near 90 percent and very soon I could fill a swimming pool with my sweat. But safety comes first.

I quickly check the flashlight that the guide brought us. She seems fine. But true to the motto, never trust a flashlight that a guide gives you, I replace it with my own lamp.

The first animals we see are beautiful frogs. It's incredible what colors nature creates.

Of course, everyone wants the perfect picture and so we stop at each frog for what feels like an eternity before moving on. Unnoticed by the others, I check the surroundings with my flashlight-sized headlight to see whether a spider or a caiman is preparing to attack me. I still seem to be safe.

The real attackers are my fellow warriors who besiege the frogs in an attempt to get the perfect picture. I don't really care about the perfect picture. My motto is, look at the animal, check the surroundings, move on to get back to the light as quickly as possible.

What else will we see this night? A few small spiders, a few butterflies and yes, just trees and bushes.

We also see an opossum chilling in a tree. When we pass the same tree again a little later, the opossum no longer looks so relaxed; a snake has obviously attacked him. Great, a snake that is keen on mammals, very close to me.

The next stop, the guide tells us, are the crocodiles and caimans.

Seriously? We've been in the jungle for what feels like 24 hours, I curse to myself. But since I know that the animals are kept here in a rescue station, I think the danger is rather low.

Bombero, the 80-year-old crocodile man, lies lazily in his tank and Eleonora the crocodile lady doesn't seem to be interested in eating a tourist either. So this part of the hike is rather unspectacular.

At the exit there are still a few smaller crocodiles scurrying around, which was the result of a spectacular escape from his enclosure by Bombero, who was looking for some fun from the crocodile lady Eleonora. Actually, reproduction is not allowed in a rescue center. But Bombero must have thought, why do I care about the chatter of people who I could easily eat for breakfast?

Now that we have seen the predators of the swamps, I decide that it is finally time to go.

The guide has other plans. The Butterfly Garden is very interesting because you can see spiders and snakes eating butterflies here. What kind of freak show is this? And what if the snake thinks that butterfly was yesterday and tourist is today.

My colleagues are extremely enthusiastic about this plan. I'm extremely annoyed. What do I get out of watching one animal eat another? Well then, close your eyes and get through it. We see a few butterflies that have obviously escaped their attackers so far, examine butterfly pupae in incubators and then finally Christiano Ronaldo's brother thanks us for our attention and leads us into the light. Finally free and still alive, I think.

When we arrived at our villa, everyone raved about how great the tour was. I sit next to it, smile kindly and think to myself, next time I'll go on a night hike without me.