Category: Atenas

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More Flame Vine Pix

Close-up of an open bloom, Flamevine or TriquiTraque in Costa Rica
In my garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
My favorite shot so far.

At first the blooms are “capsules” or little tubes before opening up.
My TriquiTraque in Atenas, Costa Rica

TriquiTraque looks best when massed on a wall like I have in my garden.
Atenas, Costa Rica

There is not much online about this flower in the way of information. As “Flamevine” the best I could find was at the University of Florida website. When I Google triquitraque it is my blog that comes up in addition to a lot of photos by different people. So I can’t tell you much about them. I did find this page article in a botanical gardens book which is kind of scientific. And I think I have already noted that in Spanish dictionaries triquitraque means “clattering noise” or a “string of firecrackers.”

🙂
See also my Costa Rica photo gallery called Flora & Forests
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Triquitraque or Flame Vine Blooming for This Year

The brilliant orange flowers of Triquitraque or Flame Vine is a great contrast to the blue Plumbago flowers.
I saturated the color so they’re not really this red, but are a deeper orange than next untouched photos.

If I remember correctly they will bloom 2 to maybe 3 months, February-April. I had hoped for year around blooms like some of my other plants, but this gives me something special for this time of year. And this year they cover more of my stark concrete wall, which is what I wanted! 🙂  ¡Me gusta!

AND PHOTOS FROM LAST YEAR: 

See also my photo gallery Flora & Forests
And read about Flamevine which Costa Ricans call Triquitraque, Spanish for “a string of firecrackers” or sometimes can mean “creaking” or “rattling” in colorful conversations.  🙂
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Atenas Clinic Murals-Graffiti

In the alley/back street to the back entrance of the public clinic of Atenas is this graffiti + the next photos

To the right of the above 3-pix panorama is this painting.

And around the corner on the cross alley seen when you walk out the door. 

There is a lot of this kind of graffiti or “public art” in Atenas. I don’t know the origin or if someone is helping to keep kids out of trouble, or art class projects, “professional artists,” or what? But it is interesting for a small rural town and does add a lot of color to the community. If you go to the front door of the clinic you might not see these, but this door is more convenient for most of us walkers which is most of the patients! 

I personally like “Public Art” for all cities and towns even when the style or images are not appealing to me. It seems prudent to me for a community to have a local committee or Art Commission as my former hometown of Nashville had to manage it, the locations, and even the nature of the art. I do not know if Atenas has such a group. 
See my photo gallery of MORE PUBLIC ART IN ATENAS

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Flowers Up Close and Personal

 

Heliconia & Blue Plumbago
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Red Ginger among the Maraca Plants
My Home Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica
“Parrot Flower” or a type of Heliconia

Fern
My Home Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

See also my photo gallery of Flora & Forests

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New Looks in Garden

My photo gallery Flora & Forests      or directly to the sub-gallery My Home Gardens
Note that in these and all of my photo galleries at Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA I have added the new gallery header that is available at Smugmug which features one of the photos in that gallery. An improvement by Smugmug I think. 

Politics
Yesterday I told you that there were versions of the Women’s March on Washington in more than one town in Costa Rica. Well, today I learned that some of my rich Republican friends in Atenas had an Inauguration Celebration Party at one of their large houses on Friday night. Unfortunately it is not just poor Democrats migrating to Costa Rica. But I think I can safely say that most Costa Ricans are horrified at the prospects of the Trump presidency. 
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Banded Skipper

Banded Skipper
My Home Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
The gardener found it and came got me for the photo.
I have other shots of one inside my house.

 

Women’s March in Washington is also happening in Costa Rica Saturday in multiple locations. Respect for women is very important here and the new U.S. President’s attitude toward women is shocking to Costa Ricans! People still ask me “How can your country elect a man like that as president?” I have no good answer beyond my embarrassment and to say that I did not vote for him, nor did the majority of the voting citizens. But I’m glad I live in Costa Rica now! With a Republican congress and president the states will soon be in multiple wars and huge debt. I have a different idea of greatness.
See also my photo gallery for Butterflies & Moths 
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Chachalacas at My Breakfast Table

Immature Gray-headed Chachalaca
Flying out of a Yellow-bell Tree in my gardens, Atenas, Costa Rica
Two Immature Gray-headed Chachalacas
Sitting in a Yellow-bell Tree in my gardens, Atenas, Costa Rica

Identification Explanations for the Birders Who Read This

When I first saw them I thought “Black Guan” which can be in this part of the country, but on closer examination, they do not have the red eyes and legs that all black guans have, nor the blue facial skin. I knew we had Chachalacas in Roca Verde, so I resigned myself to darker than usual Chachalacas and thought maybe Plain rather than Gray-headed, BUT, the book says Plain don’t live in this part of the country, only in Guanacaste. And my earlier photo of one in my garden (note how much lighter) fit the Gray-headed description and they live in the Central Valley. Plus some online investigation shows some juvenile Gray-headed Chachalacas to be very dark or black. Also the white tips on the tail feathers are only seen in the Gray-headed Chachalaca. Here’s another one at Rancho Naturalista  which is darker but not black. 
Whew! Identification can be a challenge sometimes and every species seem to have some exceptions!
See my photo gallery of BIRDS

Read about Gray-headed Chachalacas on NeotropicalBirds by Cornell University
Or a different kind of article on Wikipedia

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A Visitor to My Terrace

Spiny-tailed Iguana
On My Terrace, Roca Verde Home, Atenas Costa Rica

This variety seems to be less common than the Green Iguana in most of Costa Rica, but I have seen this guy or his family members around the house, in neighbor’s tree, and going to and from the stream on the other side of our cow pasture. He was first heading in my backdoor, but turned and ran to the terrace when he saw me. They are basically harmless and never hurt people. Our little miniature dinosaurs!  See also my photo gallery with this and other Reptiles. 

And for travelers here the next 2 months:
  Bridge between Airport & San Jose Closed 6 Weeks for repairs and Widening says this article in Tico Times. That means if you fly here it will take you longer to get into San Jose during February+ but should not affect coming west toward Atenas very much beyond the usual airport traffic congestion. The closure begins 21 January.

And FYI:
Costa Rica Ranks 4th in English Proficiency in Latin America says article in the Costa Rica Star.

That is convenient for lazy Americans who are mono-lingual, but note that it would not hold true in little farm towns like Atenas or other non-tourist, non-city locations. So my advice to those considering retiring or living here is to learn Spanish! After all, don’t you expect immigrants to the U.S. to learn English?  🙂    Que necesitas para aprender español.