My “Wake Up TV” Interview

Mauro Protti, the producer and videographer of a 30 minute weekly TV show for a Costa Rica TV station and it’s own YouTube channel lives across the street from me right now. And the episode that was on local TV yesterday titled: “Wake Up TV Atenas, Costa Rica” includes about 10+ minutes of an interview he did of me Monday on my terrace in English with both Spanish and English subtitles that have a lot of computer misspelled words from a funny-talking old man, but the footage he made of Atenas shown after my interview is really good with shots of Central Park, parades, the central church, etc.

The first 5 minutes are a presentation about The Retreat, a very upscale resort in Atenas, then the interview of me, the videos of many activities and parts of Atenas followed by a video of the more affordable Hotel Colinas del Sol just three blocks from my house and they are the ones that suggested he interview me when he filmed there. 🙂 Finally an interview of someone here who plays music to plants that I did not understand, but you might find interesting. Of course everything is in Spanish except me. And what I say is answering his questions. He kind of focused on Butterflies because of my two new books of butterfly photos that he has a few quick camera scans of. I think I sound kind of strange, but it is what it is. Many people here are amazed that I spend my time photographing nature rather than watching TV or sitting in my rocking chair, so maybe I’m an oddity they are showing to locals. 🙂 Pura vida for me! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Charlie Doggett being interviewed by Mauro Protti for TV video. This is a still from the video and I evidently just said “was for” which is translation of “fue para.” 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

My Arrival Yesterday on Flooded River

I did not do a post last night because I’m way behind on processing photos. I photographed 15 bird species just while eating lunch in partial rain yesterday and more yesterday afternoon and even more this morning on a pre-breakfast birding walk with guide Ronald! We were fortunate to have no rain for that hour and a half! 🙂 It is raining off and on just a little so far today, but so far nothing like yesterday!

So Walter would have a companion for talking with on his 4 hour return trip to Atenas yesterday, he brought his cousin who has a digital radio station in Atenas and here is the video he posted on the station or its Facebook or WhatsApp page (not sure how it works). It is of them leaving me at the boat dock on the flooded Rio San Carlos with Maquenque across the river. The first speaker in black is Walter’s cousin (forgot his name) and then Walter in the bright green cap speaks. My brief appearance is just waving at the camera from the boat. 🙂 I’m hoping that a WhatsApp Video works on this blog/website. I’m not a tech kind of guy! 🙂

Nope!

Well, it did not work, saying I’ve already used my one free video and must enroll in “VideoPress,” which I’m not doing, so I will just share two of Walter’s cellphone photos of their difficult return trip in a hard rain yesterday.

A tree blocked the highway for a while and then . . .
. . . they had a flat tire!

All that trouble just to get me to a favorite nature place! I’ll soon start sharing photos of the immense amount of nature here! 🙂

¡PuraVida!

Remembering Diane Parish

Yesterday Diane died peacefully in her sleep after a long battle with cancer and all of its ugly side-effects, but also with the most exemplary support from Aubrey that I have ever seen. There are so many good things to say about Diane who was always happy, smiling and energetically ready to take on another project. But I will let others speak of her many attributes and just say that a mission trip is one of the best ways to get to know someone and I had the privilege of being with Diane on 3 mission trips. I pulled the photos of Diane from my galleries of those trips and created a photo gallery of “Mission Trip Diane” below.

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Bitter Melon?

The question mark is because this strange, edible, vine-growing vegetable has a long list of “Common Names” around the world with “Pepino Cimarrón” the most used one here in Costa Rica says iNaturalist, though they refer people to Wikipedia for more information on the scientific name of Momordica charantia (linked to Wikipedia article). And somewhere you will hear about “Balsam Apple as similar (that’s what Google-Lens called it), but that is a different species in the same family, which by the way, includes cucumbers! 🙂

I photographed this less than a half-block from the front gate of Residencial Roca Verde on my Sunday morning walk to El Fogon for breakfast. It was on a vine growing on a barbed wire fence of a vacant lot in Barrio Boquerón. They originate from Asia and Africa and were brought here in the 1800’s where they grew well in the tropical climate. Some are farmed, but this one was growing wild. They are eaten as a vegetable and used as natural medicines, especially the leaves of the vine. And only God could design a bright orange vegetable with bright red seeds! 🙂 Read more on Wikipedia.

Bitter Melon, Pepino Cimarrón, Momordica charantia,
growing wild on a fence in Barrio Boquerón, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

And the next morning I saw something a little different at the same location . . .

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The Charlie Doggett Photo Library

Xandari has more of my photo books in their lobby than maybe any other hotel/lodge in Costa Rica. And they were on a bookshelf in a back corner of the lobby for quite a while, but when that corner was made into an office, they moved my books to just inside the front door, nicely displayed on top of a miniature oxcart, one of the historical symbols of Costa Rica. And my friends in Reception tell me that a lot more people are using the books now! 🙂

All of the lodges that I regularly visit have some of my books in their lobbies and I know that people use them as I have received letters of thanks from tourists by way of my website Contact Page. 🙂 It is kind of fun to gift people I don’t know from around the world with a tiny expression of my Costa Rica Pura Vida in my nature photos here! 🙂

Charlie Doggett Photo Books displayed on a small Ox Cart in the lobby of Xandari Resort.
Charlie Doggett Photo Books displayed on a small Ox Cart in the lobby of Xandari Resort.

¡Pura Vida!

Lunch Art Show in the Rain

As I sat in Xandari dining balcony overlooking the grounds and a fogged out Central Alajuela, waiting for my Nachos & Lemonade, I experienced a Wet Art Show of my own category of “Leaves & Nature Things.” After the introductory photo for the emailed blog post there are 2 short galleries of horizontals and verticals of the beautiful Nature Art I enjoyed before my nachos! 🙂 Enjoy!

Nature as Art, Xandari Costa Rica
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Photography & Mindfulness 8 Report

You can go directly to the report at: https://www.charliedoggett.net/about-me/photographer/photography-mindfulness/pause-8-looking-inward-may-29-2026/

My 1st year in Costa Rica this terrace vista gave me lots of self introspection.

I continue to find small amounts of inspiration from this class, but overall, I’m not impressed with most of it. Just not exactly what I expected or the way I would present “Mindfulness,” but an excuse, in today’s case, to use some old photos! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Sunrise at Banana Azul watching a man & boy canoeing in the ocean during my morning meditation.

Photography & Mindfulness #7

I finished the 7th class out of the total of 10 yesterday (a day after receiving) with #8 coming Saturday. I’m beginning to like a few more things about this and maybe learning something, though it is just a motivator for me to be more creative in my photography and more “mindful” of my surroundings and record that in the camera. Go to my class notes page at: PAUSE 7. RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT for more about this class. Every class has a YouTube video song and 2 other links that I share. 🙂

One of the assignments was to photograph 3 things twice each with different looks each time. One of mine was this leaf, seen from a distance in the feature photo above and up close in the photo below.

To see my other 4 photos and the interesting class links, go to my notes at:

PAUSE 7. RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT. (linked)

¡Pura Vida!

Silence in Photography

See my notes on yesterday’s class on SILENCE for Photography & Mindfulness at:

Pause 6: Silence including a link to YouTube recording of song “The Sound of Silence” or find links to my collection of notes on Photography & Mindfulness. 🙂

Dina Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Pre-rain cloudiness this morning, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Light & Shadow + Pause 5 Class Notes

The theme of today’s online class was “Light & Shadow” and you can see my class notes and comments at Pause 5: Light & Shadow. (linked to my notes) Still not excited about the class, but this was a good photo-activity! 🙂

So I went outside at about 3pm yesterday (not the best time for long shadows, but okay). Here are a few of my shots in a gallery that won’t work in the email, so one pix for the email and then go to the online post for the gallery . . .

Every forest is light & shadow! This one across the cow pasture by the stream.
Continue reading “Light & Shadow + Pause 5 Class Notes”