Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.
~William Wordsworth
Emerald Toucanet Monteverde 2016
In planning for my trip to Monteverde, I scheduled a different cloud forest reserve for each of the 5 full days I have there, believing the variety will give me more bird photos and I am expecting some “lifers” (1st time seen birds) on this trip.
My biggest discovery in the planning was learning about the reserve I’m visiting on my last day there – Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Wow! What a place with a great history from the Quakers setting aside virgin forest for a reserve, to the children of Sweden rallying financial support and to the reserve being a place where Montessori schools all over the globe bring their children to experience and learn from rainforest nature. From them I got the above Wordsworth quote. See some of the videos on their website linked to their name and you will know that I have a treat coming along with each of the reserves for which I have private tours scheduled:
And for the whole week I’m staying at Monteverde Lodge and Gardens, a step up from the local cabins I stayed in on my last trip there (2016). I’m really looking forward to this week! This hotel uses Costa Rica Expeditions (a tour company connected to select hotels over CR) to plan their excursions and they are handling the first three days plus the night hike Thursday. I made my own arrangements for Selvatura and Children’s Eternal Rainforest, both of which will pick me up at my hotel and return me there.
Brown Jay, Monteverde, 2016
For people visiting here from out of country, a tour company like CR Expeditions is the best way to go because they connect all your needs like transportation, hotels, and the kinds of activities you want. You will notice in the right column I also recommend “My Costa Rica”because they were a big help in a tack-on trip I added in 2014 to my relocation tour. Both companies are excellent! And when I go to the Caribbean side of CR I use the services of the very helpful crew at Caribe Fun Tours who have an office in Hotel Banana Azul where I always stay. I use these companies and I live here! So I definitely recommend them to foreign visitors!
Costa Rica is such a wonderful and diverse place to visit with something for everyone! I will never finish exploring it! But for next week, I’m in nature’s classroom of the cloud forests of Monteverde – photographing birds and much more! Stay tuned for nightly reports beginning Sunday.
“Nature as Art” is what I called my little retirement hobby photo business from around 2004 to 2008, selling art photos out of 3 galleries in Nashville and in Arts & Crafts Fairs all over Tennessee and thrice out-of-state. It was fun at first but soon became hard work with back aches from lifting boxes and tent set-up, etc. and bottom line was my “hobby” was costing me more money than I was making! +Back aches! So I quit in 2008 and had no more back aches! Here’s a slideshow of some of my shows in 2006-2007, my peak year:
Nature as Art: Charlie Doggett Photography 2007
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One of my current efforts is to get all my old favored photos preserved in my online gallery as my only backup in the “cloud.” I have added the old sales photos from my computer organized by the sizes I printed them for sale back then. You can look at them and/or order prints from the SmugMug connected quality vendors, just like you can with any of my Costa Rica photos. 🙂
When you click “BUY” at the bottom right of an opened photo you choose first “Paper Prints” or “Wall Art.” The latter menu includes metal images, my new favorite and they have my old favorite of canvas. Check it out on an image you like from these old Tennessee photos with the most options appearing on the popular sizes back then of 8×10, 8.5×11, and 11×14:
I’m not reviving this memory for money with only a $1 markup on an order credited to me. But as a service for anyone who likes to decorate with photo art, especially Nature as Art! 🙂 Their print options are high-quality and cheaper than I could sell them in my business back then! 🙂
“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.”
― Jo Walton
I haven’t been sharing as many of my terrace sunsets lately, which of course are different every night. The featured one above is from over my roof, which I often like better than from terrace below. Both last night. And I imagine that many of you saw the same beautiful sunset in your own world! 🙂 A beauty we all can behold!
Sunset Last Night from My Terrace Looking North – Top photo looks West over my roof
Rich industrialists are literally destroying the world while we ignore climate change and the destruction of trees, our source of oxygen, wildlife and beauty. And did you read that a Deadly frog fungus has wiped out 90 species and threatens hundreds more.How much time do you think we have left before the human species is wiped out?
Yes, this blog and my connected Gallery are both much about my travel photos, mostly in my retirement home of Costa Rica with an occasional foray into neighboring countries. But hey! I lived a life before Costa Rica and the “static pages” (non-blog) of this website and gallery continue to grow as I tell that past story, slowly, one page at a time. And the feature photo is of Sayaxche, Guatemala.
You might remember that in this fairly new Photo Gallery a few months back I added galleries for the photos I have from trips to Africa, Canada & Mexico and the TRAVEL web pages that tie the photos together are on the Africa,Canada & Mexico pages, with a narrative of some of my earliest international travel adventures – not far from home, but international nonetheless! And as I soon add pages on my U.S. travels it will complete my NORTH AMERICA section of travel pages, though there are really a lot of travel galleries to make for that!
In the last two weeks I have basically finished this travel page with links to all of my Central America travel galleries included, most in Costa Rica of course! 🙂 That will continue to be the biggest part of my photo gallery.
There are sub-pages for the four countries within which I have traveled in Central America with narrative and links to the photo galleries:
1st day in Guatemala enroute to and at Ceibal Ruins and Chiminos Island, December 11, 2006Monkey in Nicaragua
The 2006 11-day trip to Guatemala was one of my biggest adventure yet at the time and it just continues as I travel more here in Costa Rica and Latin America. Then since moving here the side trips to Nicaragua and Panama were both spectacular experiences! As the quotation above says, “To Travel is to Live.” The linked pages above take you to the various trip photo galleries ORif you prefer to just browse galleries, go to Pre-Costa Rica Travels where I intend to continue adding galleries of older trips when not traveling here! 🙂 Next up is South America and the Caribbean Islands trips, then I work on the good ol’ USA! 🙂
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science
— Albert Einstein
I felt the wind move across my face and arm, knowing nature’s way of showing its power and sensitivity would soon end – then a Yigüirro (Clay-colored Thrush) sang its beautiful song that Costa Rica custom says calls in April and May rains that will replace the wind and dryness of our summer. I look forward to the “Green Season” and the freshness my explorations will bring – experiencing the mysterious in Costa Rica.
Read below abouta new “Great Big Story” coming March 25 – The Brave – I received as a subscriber to The Great Big Story.
It is time to do something about man’s destruction of earth!
So in 2019, we’re making a concerted effort to drive change, fusing the storytelling you’ve come to expect from us with action-oriented programs focused on the environment, diversity and inclusion, community, and audacity. We believe in leaving a gentle footprint on the planet and making a big imprint on our communities. We believe in the resiliency of people and in our power to achieve the seemingly impossible. But above of all, we believe this world—the one we all call home—is worth fighting for.
Introducing: “The Brave”
We’re excited to kick off a month-long celebration of our Great Big Planet with a new series, “The Brave,” on Monday, March 25, where you’ll meet the extraordinary people taking incredible action on Mother Earth’s behalf.
The city has a Facebook Page presenting the remodeling with architect drawings of what they expect it to look like – The New Central Park Atenas. Click on one of their pictures to enlarge it and begin a manual slideshow of the new park.
Costa Rica Is First – the prettiest video is on my facebook page as a share.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall
A few days ago I posted a link to a great birding video made in the nearby South American country of Columbia which claims to have more birds than Costa Rica (maybe).
Also a year or two ago I told about a neighbor who moved her retirement home from Atenas, Costa Rica to Medellin, Columbia. Because of the lower cost of living there, many Americans and Canadians are considering it as an excellent tropical retirement home. Thus I did a similar post in Jan. 2018. If still considering your retirement plans, Columbia is worth looking into.
I’ve discussed earlier here that I seriously considered retiring in Panama before choosing Costa Rica and after a blip of enthusiasm from other retirees and organizations over Ecuador and Columbia and even Nicaragua, I am still happy with my choice of Costa Rica and anticipate staying with it for the long haul! 🙂 And it is easy for me to travel to these other nearby countries when I think it worth the trip.
On a birding trip in Cartagena, Columbia, 2011
Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. —Fred Rogers
Tiny little Costa Rica is leading the way by banning disposable plastic. See these 
