charliedoggett.net
My profession is to always find God in nature.
– Henry David Thoreau
Back home from the latest trip and not all is without color! 🙂
My Triquitraque or Flame Vine is possibly at its peak of blooming now and will soon begin to become a green vine again, most commonly blooming here in just January & February, and possibly the brightest or most color of all my flowers . . .
¡Pura Vida!
For more flowers, my Flora & Forest Gallery.
🙂
The “Trip Gallery” for last week’s 4 nights at El Silencio Lodge & Reserve in Bajos del Toro, Alajuela, Costa Rica is now completed and ready to visit by clicking the image below or this web address with many photos not yet shared on the blog:
https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2021-02-15-20-El-Silencio-Lodge
And because I was there just 6 months ago, last September, and was not having a knee problem, I have even more photos in THAT FIRST TRIP GALLERY, especially more waterfalls! 🙂 Just click the gallery title below to see it . . .
2020 September 14-19 — El Silencio Lodge & Reserve
The joy of being “Retired in Costa Rica!”
¡Pura Vida!
This past week at El Silencio Lodge & Reserve I photographed 23 species of birds, 2 of which were “Lifers” for me or the first time seen/photographed. (3 unidentified) Because it was cloudy, windy and sometimes raining, many of my photos are not of good quality, but if interested they can be seen in this week’s “Trip Gallery” – Birds. And they are also listed below.
I chose to eat my final morning’s breakfast outside on the restaurant deck overlooking a stream. What a peaceful, tranquil way to conclude a visit to cloud forest mountains!
See 2 other views of this stream that attracts American Dippers and Black Phoebe birds . . .
Continue reading “Breakfast by a Mountain Stream”
And the interesting thing is that I got both birds on my last full day here and the Parula in front of my cabin! 🙂 Tomorrow, Friday, I leave El Silencio Lodge & Reserve – my newest “Favorite Places” in Costa Rica! 🙂 I highly recommend this lodge!
Read on for more about my new passion of planting trees from the “One Tree Planted” organization . . .
Continue reading “Two “Lifer Birds” This Week!”
Sometimes a beautiful hill or mountain hides the sunrise as it did yesterday for my early morning bird walk, making photos of birds in the shadows difficult – but patience! The sun eventually comes over the hill! 🙂
And today I slowed down my activities by necessity.
Continue reading “Sunrise Behind the Mountain”
Yes, that is one English translation of today’s Spanish named waterfall, Catarata Rio Agrio. With agrio meaning bitter, tart or sour which is how the water tastes because of minerals.
And my first afternoon walk was cut short because the clouds literally moved in as shown in earlier post with a sort of mist, not exactly rain, but my camera was getting wet and time to go in! 🙂 See all 8 photos from the walk . . .
Continue reading “Afternoon Walk”
El Silencio Lodge and the nearby pueblo of Bajos del Toro are in the Cloud Forest in mountains much higher than where I live in Atenas though not as high as my January visit to San Gerardo de Dota – but still the clouds move in sometime as they did this afternoon after my arrival and during my first walk around the property.
Continue reading “In the Clouds”
You’ve heard me brag about the forests of Arenal Volcano National Park several times and now it is not just me! 🙂 TripAdvisor just released their list of the “Top 10 National Parks in the World” (Tico Times article) with Costa Rica’s Arenal Park #6 on the list, right there with Maisa Mara of Kenya and the Grand Canyon of the United States as most popular by their volunteer reviewers. And I’m glad I’ve been able to see all three of those! 🙂 And especially to explore the forests that surround this beautiful volcano . . .
The best way to see the Arenal Volcano National Park is in the only lodge that’s inside the park, Arenal Observatory Lodge, which you may remember is where I was Christmas Week and it just so happens, because of pandemic airline changes, I’m going again this year in May! Yay! And to see why I like it so much, see my photo galleries from three past trips there:
This short 4-night trip starting today is because the owner of El Silencio Lodge & Reserve liked my photo book about his hotel so much he gave me two nights gratis. And of course for me two nights is not enough anywhere, so I’m adding 2 more! 🙂 Makes it half price! 🙂 And I’m using my gift now! 🙂
There are two more waterfalls outside the lodge property I want to photograph and as always more birds! Hoping for more lifers. I got 4 lifers when there last September! And I get excited with just one! So it is obviously a good place for birding! Meaning that the rest of this week and probably longer will be more photos from El Silencio! 🙂 I’m so fortunate!
¡Pura Vida!