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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
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Third Trip to Hospital Mexico Schedules June Angiogram

Locals most often describe CAJA (the government medical program) as a big bureacracy, and that is true, but it works! If you have patience!

My Atenas public doctor was limited in what he could do related to my heart arrhythmia, so he sent me to a cardiologist at Alajuela Hospital in Alajuela, our provice capital.

Three visits there gave me more tests including another EKG and a treadmill test, but Dr. Hernandez wanted an angiogram which Aljuela Hospital does not have the equipment to perform. He sends me to the biggest government hospital, Hospital Mexico in San Jose with his request for it. Over two months time I have had three very interesting visits, including with one lady who spoke very rapid Spanish and would not slow down, necessitating my rescue by a bilingual medical equipment salesman waiting in line.

Today was just an hour and a half wait in the crowded hospital cardiolgy waiting room where a doctor finally saw me briefly, giving me a piece of paper with a 2 June 2017 date for my angiogram and a promise that someone will call me to discuss the time and preparations. That will likely be an interesting phone conversation if I’m even able to complete it!  🙂  When you start living every day life here you realize how important learning the language is. I’m tired of not understanding or being bumfuzzled! Language-learning motivation!

And for after the procedure, which can include some anesthesia, I have scheduled my friend Walter Ramirez to pick me up at the hospital. Though getting there by bus is easy since the Atenas bus stops in front of the hospital!  🙂  Just don’t want to do that alone after anesthesia! Plan ahead!

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Atenas Easter Processional

The Altar Boys & Girls Lead from the Church
Atenas, Costa Rica

The Band is already in the street. They join parade behind Jesus statue.
Atenas, Costa Rica

Men in Biblical Costumes
Atenas, Costa Rica

Atenas, Costa Rica

Atenas, Costa Rica

Real flower petals prepare the way.
Atenas, Costa Rica

New Priest flanked by Little Angels
Atenas, Costa Rica

The Risen Christ  
Atenas, Costa Rica

Atenas, Costa Rica

Atenas, Costa Rica

Atenas, Costa Rica

Some of the congregation join in the procession
that circles Central Atenas, about 8 blocks back to church
Atenas, Costa Rica

Photo Gallery of these same above photos, Easter Processional 2017 

This year it was held at end of the 4:00 PM Mass, meaning around 5:30 as it is starting to get dark and threatened rain this time. The last time I watched it was two years ago after the 9 AM Mass. And last year I was in Nicaragua and observed two Easter Week processionals that were really different. Here are links to those posts:

Easter Week 2016 in Nicaragua: First Night (1 photo) and Second Night (1 photo)

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Other Wildlife at Tarcoles this Week

Brown Basilisk or Jesus Christ Lizard
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Brown Basilisk or Jesus Christ Lizard
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

American Crocodile
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

American Crocodile
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Green Iguana
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Spiny-tailed Iguana or Black Ctenaura Iguana
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

As always on this blog you can click a photo to see a larger version on black background.

Yeah, it is possible to sometimes see a monkey, sloth, coati, agouti, bat or other mammal, though no longer frequent on Tarcoles. People population growth reduces the animal population everywhere!

You can see all of the photos from this day trip at  2017-13-April Tarcoles Float Trip  gallery

Or see my photo collection of OTHER WILDLIFE in Costa Rica  or BIRDS separately

EASTER BUNNY?
And for Easter I have yet to see a rabbit here, though one website says there are 3 species of forest rabbits. The more common agouti twitches his nose like a rabbit, but he’s actually a rodent!  🙂

EASTER IS EITHER RELIGIOUS OR BEACH HOLIDAY FOR TICOS
Easter is purely a religious holiday here officially almost equal with Christmas in importance but purely for the focus on Jesus, not spoiling children with candy. (They spoil them other ways!) I’ll try to get some photos to share from the Easter Mass Processional tomorrow which is big deal everywhere. It used to be a “Dry Week” with no alcoholic beverages sold nation-wide, by law! Now it is up to local communities and is not enforced in the dry cantons.

Click this  One tourist guide to being here for Easter (Semana Santa or Holy Week) with a list of other major holidays included. It is important to know before visiting here because many Ticos travel for many holidays, especially this week, and especially to the beaches, meaning the highways are literally bumper to bumper. It took us twice as long as usual to get to Tarcoles Thursday because of this. I would never go to a beach during Semana Santa (Holy Week). Think Spring Break!