Mario Lopez, the actor best known as A.C. Slater on the 1990s sitcom “Saved by the Bell,” is in Costa Rica filming a campaign in the mountains of Pérez Zeledón. The actor and TV host shared the trip Tuesday in an Instagram video shot on a grassy ridge with mountains rising behind him. “Jaguars, bird-eating spiders and some serious Jurassic Park vibes. Just another day at the office,” he wrote in the caption, tagging the post #PerezZeledon.
In the video, Lopez said he was high in the mountains surrounded by jungle and that the views made the job feel less like work. He did not say what the campaign is for or who hired him, and the post does not tag a brand or production company. He also passed along what sounded like a safety briefing, saying he had been told to watch out for jaguars and for giant spiders that catch small birds in their webs. Lopez called it all part of the Costa Rica adventure and said he expected to be largely offline until Friday.
Costa Rican fans quickly filled the comments, welcoming him to Costa Rica and in several cases, to their hometown. The warnings are less far-fetched than they sound. Pérez Zeledón sits at the foot of Chirripó National Park and the Talamanca range, where jaguars still roam.
The cats are shy and mostly nocturnal, however, and attacks on people in Costa Rica are extremely rare. Most residents never see one, which is why a single camera-trap sighting still makes news, as when a jaguar reappeared on the Osa Peninsula earlier this month.
The spider is most likely the golden silk orb-weaver, a large species common in Costa Rican forests that is not considered dangerous to people. Its unusually strong webs have occasionally been documented trapping small birds. This is not Lopez’s first visit. He vacationed in Costa Rica with his family in March 2019, when immigration officials confirmed he had entered the country on March 26 and left four days later.
During that trip he posted a video from a jungle hike in which a guide taught him local expressions including “mae,” “tuanis” and “pura vida.” Pérez Zeledón, in southern San José province, is the main gateway to Cerro Chirripó, our country’s highest peak at 3,821 meters (12,536 feet) and to the rivers and cloud forests of the El General valley.
