Snake encounter

It I had decided a quiet day was in order, so this morning I walked to Monteverde centro, not the centre of the universe it's name conjures up!

Here I visited the organic shop CASEM, and then found a new little walk where I found an amphitheatre which unfortunately was not open.

So I had a relaxing coffee in the coffee centre and returned home for lunch.

After lunch I took a leisurely walk to Santa Elena and had a wander round, doing final visits, then took the less steep but windy road home. I was just going round a bend when my feet left the ground and I did an instant reversal, for there in the middle of the road was a large snake! A couple had stopped in their car and wound down the window and called out, ' No es venenoso', it's not poisonous, but they didn't get out of their car I noticed!

I was about to retrace my steps and go back another way, when a young man on a moped came along. He stopped and repeated the same reassurances. He decided to get a branch and hurry it across the road so it wouldn't get squashed, stopping the traffic as he did so. 

At this point I decided that whilst it was occupied with him, I could make a wide detour around its tail end and head home, keeping well away from the verges and tracks.

I have done a search but can't see anything that looks quite like it. Most of the web pages seem intent on scare stories of the very worst snakes. I imagine the locals have to learn to identify them when they are young, as with some snakes it is a matter of a couple of hours to get serum.

http://travel.mongabay.com/costa_rica/indexes/snakes1.html
http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/snake_costa_rica.html