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This Morning in the Garden

White-winged Dove
In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Blue-gray Tanager 
 In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

One of my favorite things to do is to sleep until I wake up, shower, eat a liesurely breakfast on my terrace admiring flowers and the visiting birds. So, after a busy, early, hard day hiking yesterday, I had one of my relaxed mornings today (23rd) and recorded part of it in the above photos. There were other birds and more flowers, but this is a good sample for today.

Enjoying Retirement in Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!
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El Camino de Costa Rica HIKE

Earth Day 2017

Today I joined a group of supporters of the new coast to coast trail called
El Camino de Costa Rica
Hiking an 11 km section, with 8 km uphill! Very difficult.

One of many vistas along the trail
El Camino de Costa Rica

It was all on roads, mostly gravel
El Camino de Costa Rica

One of the many very steep uphill climbs (2 dropped out early)
El Camino de Costa Rica

We cossed and followed several streams
El Camino de Costa Rica

Passed a continous flow of small, poor farm houses
El Camino de Costa Rica

Had breakfast in a little rural Soda
El Camino de Costa Rica

And our after-hike lunch at a rural trout farm restaurant
El Camino de Costa Rica

Enough participated to fill a tourist bus!
El Camino de Costa Rica

One more vista, this near end of the hike
El Camino de Costa Rica

We did just one small section of a 263 or so km trail coast to coast and as the project proposes, walked through small farms in rural Costa Rica, this one in the Talamanca Mountains west of Cartago, but going through no town. See the video introducing the trail which uses some of my bird photos:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7euE5oQPC8


And if you would like to donate to the development of this trail through “crowd sourcing,” go to the website: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/el-camino-de-costa-rica–3#/
BACK IT!
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Coffee at the Cathedral

When in Alajuela I often start at McDonald’s for the restroom
and then coffee and sometimes pancakes, eating upstairs
overlooking the Cathedral of Alajuela – all cellphone photos
Alajuela, Costa Rica

And Central Park Alajuela 
 Alajuela, Costa Rica

Pigeons & Grackles often join me on the balcony
Alajuela, Costa Rica

And as I board my bus back to Atenas
A guitar-pickin’ & singing preacher.
Alajuela is interesting!

My Photo Gallery of Alajuela

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Egret Haiku

Great Egret on the Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
I am now playing around with Haiku, the ancient Japanese poetry method that only describes nature. I’m a novice and your advice or opinions are welcome. I will not stick to rigid rules and prefer the more modern English approach of 2-3-2 syllables as opposed to Japanese 5-7-5, but even that will be flexible. And of course my goal is to combine Haiku creations with my nature photos. It will be fun and may or may not develop into something meaningful or continuing. Pura Vida!  🙂
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Seeing Costa Rica from Atenas

If you are going to stay in Atenas awhile or live here and want to see the sights of Costa Rica from this central location, I personally recommend Walter’s Day Tours and hope you will give him a consideration if living or visiting here. And if you want to stay several nights in a particular location, he can get you there and back again and you avoid the scary option of driving in Costa Rica!  🙂  He is not the cheapest transportation, but you really don’t want that! He is the best! And he is even a licensed pilot if you want to fly somewhere, though local commercial flights are good here. Click his name above for his website and contact him if interested. And pardon a little advertising for a friend.

Shot of his brochure.

For more info go to:
Walter’s Tours Website

And Coming in 2020: Discovery Costa Rica,  a billion dollar “discovery park” that a chain of international parks is bringing to the Guanecaste or northwest area of Costa Rica near the airport town of Liberia. Their last one just opened in China. I am not excited, since it sounds like a big amusement park trying to take advantage of the nature and adventure of Costa Rica. What next? A Disneyland Costa Rica? This kind of commercialization is what I don’t like about some of Guanecaste I’ve seen, like Tamarindo and unfortuately it is also taking over the wonderful national park Manuel Antonio on the central Pacific, like Gatlinburg and Cherokee ruined the Great Smoky Mountains Park in the states. Oh well . . . progress! It was bound to happen! And I should reserve my judgement, they might really make it ecological, though I doubt it.  🙂

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Poas Volcano Erupting

Official photo

For some of my visitors whom I took to see the closest volcano to Atenas, Poas, you might like to know that it is now erupting and no visitors allowed. It is still not giving us the dust that Turrialba still gives occasionally, but it is an hour+ drive away and is closed as a park and for 5 km around it.

Read more in this Tico Times Article  and see rocks, etc. thrown around the area. We have had no visible effects in Atenas but best to keep our distance for now. A few people living on the northern slopes claim they could see the eruption from their houses.

Video of Eruption 5 days ago on YouTube  (close up view)

Facts About Costa Rica Volcanoes, with some 200 vestiges of volcanoes, only 100 have any kind of activity and today only 2 or 3, Poas, Turrialba, and Arenal significantly, but others could.

MY PHOTOS of:

this crater at Poas on a safe, clear morning that tourist often see when no clouds cover it:

My photo made in 2015

         . . . and the other Poas crater that is inactive as a Crater Lake:

My photo made in 2015 of the non-active cone or “Crater Lake”
Me in front of Arenal Volcano in 2010 on the Caravan.com Tour

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My House Location

My House Location  (Red arrow)
The big orange roof above & to left is my landlord from Montreal.
Little orange to right & down is Anthony of Indiana. Big gray house is Richard from England.
Towards mountains is downtown Atenas, white church steeple seen, top center-right.
I walk this whole valley almost daily, one great advantage of not owning a car!
Life in a rural small town. Pura vida!

Note that it is the end of dry season which is therefore the wildfire season, But we are starting to get some rain. Had a shower early this evening. Happy days are here again! (Rainy Season! May-Nov.)
Note to my relatives in Warren, Arkansas (Where I was born): Atenas is the same size town as Warren with about the same population (6,000 +/-), farming community, county seat, 4 supermarkets, 2 or 3 hardware stores, and only small shops for other needs with a 45 minute drive to Alajuela or hour drive to San Jose for big shopping and hospitals. Small towns are a lot alike around the world! Though we have a different kind of immigrants here than does Warren. Never thought I would be an immigrant in a small farm town! Life is full of surprises! And I did not consciously have this in mine when I chose Atenas. 
Check out the “official” video on Atenas, just 2 1/2 min.
See my photo gallery of Public Art & Graffiti in Atenas

Or the general gallery on Atenas,     or    Walking in Atenas (flowers/trees),

Or the People & Fiestas of Atenas