In a personal account, Smithsonian photographer Laurie Minor-Penland describes her trip to photograph nesting endangered Green Sea Turtles and the nearby tropical rainforest.
Arachnophobics should not go to places like this, unless they want to face their fears. I am arachnophobic (there, I said it). Even so, the Golden-orb weaver spider Nephila clauvipes is just amazing. 
I have never seen anything like it! That spider is everywhere! Web after web after web, in layers, each with it's own huge spider. All these webs piled together look like nests of spiders. Huge ones, just loaded with gigantic spiders!!!!!! On the porch, in between trees, on the trail, in your doorway, etc...The locals just pick up one corner of the web and move it out of their way. They know the spider will run to the other side to get away from us scary humans. (It still gives me the creeps). Actually I did see one spider that I thought was beautiful...the Argiope sp. The lace like structure of this web caught me by surprise. At a glance it appeared as a snowflake in the tropical rainforest. 
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12/9/94