On the bank of a clear stream, in the shade of trees, we stopped to rest. Sometimes, I feel the gaze of living creatures, and this time was no different. On the coastal soil, a mix of coarse sand, pebbles, and leaves, something alive caught my attention — large, shy eyes that seemed full of dark sadness. The corners of these eyes were bright red. Maybe I am too impressionable, but those captivating eyes simply amazed me. Immediately, a frog from the Park's nature atlas came to mind, but that one was a more uniform blue color. We had encountered an almost gray spadefoot frog, with blue inclusions, stripes, and spots, slightly dusted with earth. But it was it — Leptobrachium pullum, endemic to Vietnam!

Our new stroke of luck, and so far the only time we've encountered Leptobrachium pullum, because it's not easy to spot an adult Asian "goose frogs". During the day, they are most often buried in the ground or under leaves, and when they are on the surface, they are usually very well camouflaged — except for their eyes, which can give them away. In order to take a closer look and photograph this shy creature, we had to disturb it a little and place it somewhere nearby where it was clearly visible and wouldn’t blend into its surroundings.