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A Towering Experience Today!

The following 4 birds were photographed in treetops at eye level from “The Nest”
or the 92 ft tall metal tower on the lodge property. Amazing treetop experience!
Yellow-throated Toucan
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Collared Aracari (A type of Toucan)
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Keel-billed Toucan
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Red Lored Parrot
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

“The Nest” or Birding Tower 92 ft tall — A Little Scary!
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Freddy is there 8 hours a day with locked gate to the tower. 
8 max people at a time including one staff member. Lots of warnings in English & Spanish.
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica
Top of the English Warning Sign  With long list of conditions below from pregnancy to vertigo!
There are 146 steps going up and down and the tower does sway with wind & people movement.
Today was my 2nd time up. Yesterday morning my birding guide took me up and we saw 0 birds! Nada!
This afternoon Freddy used recordings of toucan sounds to attract them to the surrounding treetops!
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!

And My Photo Gallery for this Trip is being added to daily while on the trip! 
There you can see all the birds together, etc. plus photos not on the blog.

Sunset Behind the Clouds Tonight 
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

And Scary Clouds at that! But No Rain! 
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica
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Sample Photos from Today’s Adventure

Red-eyed Tree Frog 
And yes, this one is orange and I can’t explain why. Usually bright red!
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Semiplumbeous Hawk 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Gray-capped Flycatcher with insect in his mouth! 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

House Wren Singing 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Buff-rumped Warbler 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

Variable Seedeater 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

I took so many photos of so many birds and other animals that the above is just a sample from my guided bird walk this morning before breakfast. For more, see Trip Gallery Arenal Observatory

The Broader “Pre-Sunset”Look behind the Restaurant Deck (shot from my room)
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica

And the other extreme, zooming in on the sun behind the clouds tonight.
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal National Park, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!

And My Photo Gallery for this Trip is being added to daily while on the trip! 
There you can see all the birds together, etc. plus photos not on the blog.
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Waterfall & Bird Count Day

Danta Waterfall
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Crested Guan
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Great Curassow
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Montezuma Oropendola
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Green Honeycreeper female
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Mantled Howler Monkey
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Emerald Basilisk
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

One of the Lillies
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Hibiscus
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
Tonight’s Sunset Over Lake Arenal
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

And today was eBird’s “Global Big Day” of bird counting. Here is a link to my eBird List of 11 species seen here at Arenal Observatory Lodge. All of the birding guides here were out counting today which is why I could not have a guided bird hike today. I have one tomorrow.

¡Pura Vida!

And My Photo Gallery for this Trip is being added to daily while on the trip! A longer more leisurely trip makes this possible and my galleries are my main trip reports. Enjoy!
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First Half Day Hallelujah!

Yellow-throated Toucan Eating a Lizard
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Male & Female Great Curassow 
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Lineated Woodpecker 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Montezuma Oropendola 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Red-legged Honeycreeper, female & male 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Palm Tanager 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Blue-gray Tanager 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

White-nosed Coati 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Arenal Volcano from my Lodge Room 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

Sunset from my Room Deck 
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica

What can I say? The photos are worth a thousand words and this was just after getting here at noon today and eating lunch first. It is a totally amazing place and instantly one of my favorites! And with another 4 and 1/2 days yet to go!

¡Pura Vida!

And My Photo Gallery for this Trip is being added to daily while on the trip! A longer more leisurely trip makes this possible and my galleries are my main trip reports. Enjoy!
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Day of the Book

This was April 27 and I missed posting because computer was down.
See or download these and a couple of more photos at my Day of the Book Photo Gallery
Atenas, Costa Rica

 

2018 Day of the Book
Atenas, Costa Rica

 

2018 Day of the Book
Atenas, Costa Rica

 

2018 Day of the Book
Atenas, Costa Rica

 

2018 Day of the Book
Atenas, Costa Rica

 

2018 Day of the Book
Atenas, Costa Rica

Tomorrow I leave for Arenal Observatory Lodge for 5 nights and I hope a lot of bird photos!  🙂

It is the red #5 on the map below or northwest of Atenas in north central Costa Rica. I will be inside the National Park in a forest at the base of the volcano with great views of it and Lake Arenal, considered one of the best windsurfing lakes in the world. A great week expected! (But not windsurfing!)   🙂
Map of planned trips for this year through February 2019
Clicking on image will make it a little bigger for easier reading.
There is so much to see and so many birds to photograph that it is hard to work them all in!   🙂
¡Pura Vida!
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Sunrise and WiFi Problem

The sun actually rises to the far right in this photo, but sometimes affects all the sky.
Atenas, Costa Rica

WIFI PROBLEM

My absence for several days on the blog is due to no internet connection which I first blamed on my provider Cable Tica and could not get a telephone tech whose Spanish I understood or one of the few with English. After 3 days I realized the problem was not them but my local router which took another 3 days to fix because of a holiday yesterday. There is a button on top of the router I am told not to touch and it is hard to not touch it because prominently placed. When I touch it the router is wiped clean and needs to be reprogrammed for my network. Grrrr. I took it into shop to be programmed but evidently the button was pressed again on the way home in my backpack. So today I had a technician come to my house and fix it without me touching it! 

Well, anyway, it is fixed now and I can be back online. I did not realize how much I used the internet until without it several days! Lots of catch up blogs needed!  And a trip Friday!

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Atenas for the rights of children and adolescents . . .

New Sign in Central Park  (UNICEF Project)
Translation:
Atenas: In our canton we work together for the rights of children and adolescents.
Note that Canton is like a County in the states. We are both the town & county of Atenas.
We are in the Province of Alajuela which is like a state to folks in the U.S.
Atenas, Costa Rica

And today something was happening in the park with school children, but I never found out what.
Atenas, Costa Rica
ATENAS
“Mejor Clima del Mundo”
“The best weather in the world”
¡Pura Vida!
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Tour company offers trip on El Camino de Costa Rica!

Here is a map of the coast to coast hiking trail and an offer I received by email for a tour company’s two-day, 42 km hike on the west coast near Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park. There are also “Meetup” type groups offering free hikes nearly every weekend. This will someday be as well known and popular as the Appalachian Trail. I did a one full day hike earlier near the center of the trail, west of Cartago, and it nearly killed me because of the steep mountain climbs. See altitude chart on map below to realize you are nearly always on a hill. And see the simple little YouTube video on El Camino with bird photos they got from me!  🙂  My contribution!

Si no puede visualizar este correo puede Ver la versión on-line
cabecera

EL CAMINO DE COSTA RICA
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El camino de Costa Rica 
El camino de Costa Rica es una ruta promovida por la asociación Mar y Mar, la cual pretente incentivar el turismo rural a travez de una ruta que inicia en mar del Caribe en la zona de Barra de Parismina y termina en el mar del Pacífico en la zona de Quepos.

Si esta ruta se realizara de forma continua, tiene una duración aproximada de 14 días, con más de 280 kiiómetros de recorrido en donde se pasaría y dormiría en pueblos pueblos como: Canales de Barra de Parismina, Cimarrones en Siquirres, Pacayitas en Turrialba, Parque Nacional Tapanti, Cerro Alto en Cartago, Nápoles, Naranjillo y Londres de Quepos.

El pasado 23 de Febrero el gobierno del Sr. Presidente don Luis Guillermo Solís Riverapor medio de un decreto ejecutivo, declaró esta ruta como de “interés público”
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Ruta de Nápoles Naranjillo-Londres de Quepos
Nuestra aventura iniciará el próximo sábado 26 de Mayo con un delicioso desayuno en un restaurante carretera a San Marcos de Tarrazú, para posteriormente dirigirnos a la entrada del pueblo de Nápoles para iniciar en primer día de caminata, donde vamos a caminar por alrededor de 18 kilómetros por caminos vecinales de lastre, con unas hermosas vistas hacia los cerros de la zona de los santos las cuales están rodeadas de fincas cafetaleras.

Llegaremos alrededor de la 1:00 pm al pueblo de Náranjillo donde nos van a esperar con un delicioso almuerzo y un cafecito por la tarde, donde iremos a conocer el proceso del cultivo y elaboración del Achiote (esta es una pasta de color roja la cual es muy utilizada para darle color al arroz). Esa noche vamos a dormir en tiendas de campaña, las cuales están acondicionadas con colchones inflables y cobijas, suminstrados por la asociación.

Para el día domingo nos vamos a levantar muy temprano, para desayunar e iniciar el segundodía de caminata, con unas hermosas vistas hacia la costa de Quepos y Parque  Nacional Manuel Anonio,  donde caminaremos por aproximadamente 24 km pasando por los pueblos de Esquipulas y Villanueva,  hasta llegar al pueblo de Londres en Quepos, donde nos esperará la microbús.

Esta caminata es recomendada para personas que tengan una excelente condición fisica y estado de salud, ya que en dos días vamos a caminar por aproximadamente 42 km, a parte de llevar el peso de la mochila.

Para esta caminata el cupo máximo es de 12 personas.
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Nuestro paquete incluye:
  • Transporte en Microbús (recogemos en Heredia, Alajuela y San José). 
  • Desayuno, almuerzo, café en la tarde y cena del día Sábado.
  • Hospedaje en el pueblo de Naranjillo en tiendas de campaña, acondicionadas con colchones inflables y cobijas
  • Desayuno fuerte y merienda (para llevar) el día domingo.
  • Guía de Ticos A Pata capacitado en PAB y en RCP.
  • Póliza de responsabilidad civil emitida por el INS.
  • Somos un operador turísitico afiliado a:
  • MEIC (Ministerio de Economía Industria y Comercio)
  • CANATUR (Cámara Nacional de Turismo).
  • Tributación Directa, emitimos facturas timbradas.
Precio del paquete por persona es de ¢64.000, puede pagar directamente en nuestro sitio web con sus tarjetas de crédito o débito  VISA o MasterCard o bien puede reservar por medio de transferencia electrónica a alguna de nuestras cuentas bancarias del BAC San José o del Banco  Nacional cancelando el 50% y la diferencia cancelarla a más tardar el miércoles 23 de Mayo.
Acomapaña a Ticos A Pata a conocer esta hermosa ruta y a apoyar a las comunidades rurales de Costa Rica.
¡Definitivamente el Camino de Costa Rica se conocer mejor a “Pata”!
Ticos A Pata
Heredia, Santo Domingo, 8722-5100/8841-8076/2573-3434, email info@ticosapata.com
Website: www.ticosapata.com

    ¡Pura Vida!
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New Camera Lens, 150-600mm Zoom, Hand-held

Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD
On tripod on my terrace, but can be hand-held which is reason for choice.
Got on sale at B&H Photo, NY, NY, shipped here through Aeropost Miami.
Atenas, Costa Rica

The following photos were made with the new lens the day it arrived. Birds were hiding!  🙂

An Anole showing his colors on my terrace – Shot at 400mm
Atenas, Costa Rica

Red Ginger  at other end of my garden at 600mm focal length
Atenas, Costa Rica

Heliconia, shot at 600mm
Atenas, Costa Rica

Air Plant on powerline cable on road below my house, shot at 600mm
Atenas, Costa Rica

Tibouchina or Princess Flower zoomed in from behind at 600mm
Atenas, Costa Rica

Torch Ginger down the hill in my yard, shot at 552mm
Atenas, Costa Rica

I went to Alajuela this morning by bus to pick up the package with my new lens meaning it is early afternoon when I tried it out with above shots and only one bird this time of day and he was in shadows. But this will really help me in a lot of places I go birding because it is the only lens available at 600mm that can be used hand-held. I first saw one in use at Danta Corcovado that another visitor was using on a Canon camera similar to mine. I then did research online and found that it really works hand-held and has the equivalent of Canon Image Stabilizer called VC. And the cost is less than a third of Canon or other big brand 600mm telephoto lenses! It sells most places for around a thousand dollars while the others are 3 to 6 thousand dollars! The guy at Danta Corcovado paid $1,100 for his. I got mine on a sale for $779, but shipping and import taxes used up the other $300! But still a good deal and we will see if it really helps me on my coming trip to Arenal Observatory. The potential problem I am concerned about is that with more focal length you need more light and it the forest much is in the shadows. So Arenal will be a test!  If I really like it, I will get another camera body dedicated to it. That way I can easily switch back and forth with my faithful 300mm which has served me so well for so many years.

And you might remember that my Nashville friends gave me a “spotting scope” which is the birders’ name for a telescope. The box said you could use it on your camera as a lens, well, not on my camera! The scope is so old that they were talking about a specific kind of old film cameras. And it is not telephoto! (Unheard of today.) I looked it up and that model hasn’t been made in more than 25 years, is out of warranty, no parts available for it and no service. I can make it fit on my tripod to look at the single focal distance and might learn to photograph through it with my cell phone camera, though first efforts were not very good. It is something I will play with on my terrace but not take on trips. It is not the quality of spotting scopes that the guides here in Costa Rica use and I get to use theirs when on trips!  🙂  I started to kid Larry that he must have found that scope in his Grandfather’s closet.  🙂  But I will use it some around here, just not as much as I originally thought.
UPDATE ON RAIN HERE
Well, I jumped the gun when I said that the Nashville visitors had brought the rainy season early since after that we had a week or more of no rain, Now it has started again, almost every afternoon and right now we are getting a “downpour.” Of course weather everywhere is impossible to forecast accurately, but we seem to be beginning our rainy season now for sure and still early! It is not May yet, when rainy season officially begins! At Arenal the first week of May I will expect rain every afternoon, but in the cloud forest it could be other times of the day too. Another adventure! 🙂

UPDATED PHOTO GALLERIES
And by the way, I finished the photo gallery 2018 Oxcart Parade.  It was very good this year and many of my photos are different than in the previous 3 years. 
And because “haste makes waste” I left out three very important folders of photos on the mission trip from Nashville to Atenas, so check out the completed gallery:
¡Pura Vida!
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Oxcart Parade 2018 Atenas

Rural Families is always the focus of Atenas’ Annual Oxcart Parade, last Weekend of April.
 Atenas, Costa Rica
Here a teen is the “Boyero” (Oxen Master) with sis in cart and Mom & Dad Walking behind
Atenas, Costa Rica

One of the many colorful Oxcart Wheels
Oxcart Parade, Atenas, Costa Rica

A few Oxen are entered into the contest without carts, some by older children or teens
I guess it is like FFA in the States or other programs to help budding farmers.
Atenas, Costa Rica
Last year our local University provided Latin Dancers – This year a team of ropers!
Oxcart Parade, Atenas, Costa Rica

The university campus on the edge of Atenas is one of the many UTN (Universidad Técnica Nacional), this one focusing on farming with students coming from all over Latin America as possibly the best agricultural school in Latin America or at least the best in Central America. They are good about participating in major local events like this – good neighbors! Good citizens! We like our student farmers at UTN!

Though I’ve seen them before, I always enjoy! They’re good!
Oxcart Parade, Atenas, Costa Rica
PEOPLE! You will have to go to my online gallery to see my interesting people shots.
And there are always some very interesting and colorful people! 
Oxcart Parade, Atenas, Costa Rica

I know that I still post too many photos for a blog, but I have so many more interesting photos I want to share, thus it has to be on the photo gallery: 2018 Oxcart Parade.  I’m working on it now and will try to finish today or tomorrow. Takes time!

This gallery is a part of my section called PEOPLE & FIESTAS. And of course there are other sections like BIRDS and TRIPS that pretty much document my 3 1/2 years in Costa Rica thus far and you can see them all at my SmugMug Gallery titled: Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA.


Enjoy photos of my 
¡Pura Vida!