Explorer Shares a Glimpse of What the Insides of a 1,000-Year-Old Tree Look Like in Wild Footage
There’s a place on this planet, engulfed by hursts, tangled branches, and clumps of shrubbery. In the winter of 2024, an explorer named David Diez (@daviddiez) shared footage recording himself as he walked through this place and stumbled upon a fascinating world inside a 1000-year-old tree. While the man didn’t confirm the exact location in his post, some Reddit users said that this is Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica, and the structure this man is walking through is a hollowed tree.
The innards of this ancient tree stirred up so many fears inside the viewers that they were forced to think that even the bugs had left the chat. “Would you crawl your way inside a tree like this one?” Diez wrote in the caption of the footage as it played a haunting backdrop melody named “Green to Blue.” The footage starts with the back shot of Diez walking in the jungle, clad in an orange t-shirt and a pair of charcoal-colored trousers.
Upon reaching this giant tree's mouth, he jumps inside to explore. The camera zoomed into the tree’s mouth, which seemed to be dripping with slushy wet moss and clinging dead leaves. Diez flattened his body to fit inside the gaping hole and then started crawling through the woody tunnel. Illuminated by the torch’s light, the darkened corridor appeared to be rugged with hursts and mounds of wood. Here and there were clumps of bushes and grassy outcrops.
As light shone upon the ceiling, it burst into view in glaring deep orange that resembled a volcano’s insides, simmering with fresh hot magma. The ceiling featured a jagged texture with scales and burrows jutting downwards. A little more crawling, and Diez was finally able to straighten his body and stand upright. The ceiling had opened up to reveal a spacious chamber circumscribed by a rounded wooden wall. Some people called it the “big intestine of the tree.”
When Diez flashed his torch upon this wall, it lit up like the iris of a human eye, elongated strands and fibrous pigments exploding in a starburst design. The camera panned to reveal a side shot, and then the iris shapeshifted into a watercolor painting, splattered with undulating brushstrokes of marigold orange, chocolate brown, golden mustards, and an undecodable palette of autumn colors. The camera panned again. This time, Diez punched his torch up in the air to illuminate the top portion of this chamber.
Although the footage didn’t show any signs of tree-dwelling creatures, it spooked people in their imagination. Viewers started spinning tales of mystery and fantasy, calling Diez a “titan” who dared to step inside this unfathomable hollow. “Where is the ancient creature that turns you into a titan?” asked u/WujekAdi2003 on Reddit. u/Bassik0 was wondering about the creepy crawlies, “Thought there would be a lot more insects.” Codifying the tree’s description, u/ansefhimself wrote, “The Rent on that Spider Mansion must be insane!”
One user reflected on the hollow tree from a scientist’s perspective. “This isn't technically a tree; these are fused liana vines that grew around and eventually killed the original tree, which then rotted away to leave the hollow 'trunk' of liana stems,” said u/GraphicDesignMonkey. On Instagram, @leslie.shaw.author commented, “Neat, it feels like it could be the entrance to the fairy world.” @lu1z_day said, “So that's where Alice entered Wonderland!”
You can follow David Diez (@daviddiez) on Instagram to watch more videos of nature's wonders.
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