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Alongside the Beach Road by the hotel proved to be better for butterflies than birds, though I got several of each! 🙂 Here’s 20 different species, and maybe 3 to 5 are “lifers” or first time seen butterflies – my new passion with the slow-down of birds here.
This morning I got a driver who knew “the best guide” in nearby Cahuita National Park and I spent a couple of hours photographing wildlife there with the same two guys taking me to Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge tomorrow for probably even more wildlife. Below is one shot then a gallery of only some of the wildlife I saw and photographed . . .
I photographed many butterflies today and still haven’t processed all the photos, so I decided to feature just this one colorful and ragged fellow. You can read about them on Butterflies and Moths and see a map there of where they have been seen or look at my collection in the gallery: Tropical Buckeye. Here’s three photos from today’s walk.
I arrived later that usual, in the afternoon, and was personally greeted by the manager at my taxi and he carried my luggage in himself! 🙂 I gave him his gift photo book for this year and he treated me to a steak dinner tonight. Wow! Being nice pays off in more ways than one! 🙂
Caribe Fun Tours got their photo book gift also and have arranged a driver to the new Butterfly Garden in Cahuita (their first request) where I will be their first to report back on it, plus I will also take a walk in Cahuita National Park after the butterfly house, which is nearby. They are also finding me a guide for Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge which is wilder and less visited than Cahuita with more wildlife. The only other place I may visit is a nearby organic farm and botanical gardens for the butterflies I remember seeing last time I was there. Otherwise I stay around this friendly hotel and their rainforest beach road looking for things to photograph! I’ve already seen more birds than I’ve been having at home and I’m very relaxed, having gotten the best relaxation massage in Costa Rica! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Most years in September I make a week relaxation adventure in the “Caribe South” which refers to the southern half of the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica around Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and the smaller town of Manzanillo where I explore two national parks/refuges (Cahuita & Gandoca-Manzanillo) for birds, butterflies, monkeys, sloths and other nature, visit some of the Bribri indigenous villages, botanical gardens, and maybe this year a new butterfly garden (if my tour people say it is okay). 🙂
And not to ignore the northern Caribbean side of Costa Rica or Limón Province; that’s where the provincial capital and port city of Limón is located and then above that a favorite national park, Tortuguero, which I hope to return to in 2023! It’s “The Amazon of Costa Rica” or a river and beach based jungle rainforest full of incredible wildlife and other nature! I can’t wait to get back there! 🙂 So much to see and do here!
But this trip is mostly relaxing in the beachside Hotel Banana Azul, walking a forested beachside road (for sloths, birds, butterflies) and walks or just relaxation on the beach (I don’t swim or surf in the ocean anymore) and this is the only place I’ve found that gives a “Relaxation Massage” that is actually relaxing. 🙂 So it is my only get-a-way that is not totally inside a dense rain or cloud forest (though Cahuita & Gandoca-Manzanillo are dense rainforests), yet still nature-centered and very relaxing. I missed it in 2020 due to Covid and no flights there, but here’s a couple of photos from last year’s post-cancer retreat in the “Howler Suite” or Room #1. 🙂
And just one more of the many things I look forward to each year that I’m “Retired in Costa Rica,” from rainforest and cloud forest photo trips to cultural activities and enjoying my little flower garden in Atenas! I have achieved my idea of pure life in paradise! And this December I will celebrate 8 years of living here! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
And that linked title takes you to this week’s Tico Times article about a community-wide band and dance team from Zarcero which will represent Costa Rica a second time in the Rose Parade, Pasadena, California.
Zarcero is a town (called pueblo here) that is a little smaller than Atenas and north of us. It is known for topiaries in their Central Park, cheese-making and this large and professional community band of all ages. If you are one of those Americans who always watch the Rose Parade on TV, be sure to watch for the Costa Rica band! 🙂
More photo views of “My Costa Rica” in
🙂
This was one of the butterflies in my garden this morning that I haven’t seen here for awhile. He is similar to te Broad-banded Swallowtail and a little bit like the Thoas & the Ornythion Swallowtails, so you have to examine the details in the photos for a good ID. 🙂
You can read about the Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes on either of these websites: butterfliesandmoths.org or the butterfliesofamerica.com, the first of which is where I will eventually post one or more of these photos, when I get caught up, and the second sight is another one I use for identification along with my favorite butterfly book, A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America. The gallery below includes 2 top views, 2 bottom wing views and 2 side views or folded wings views of this beautiful big butterfly.
Continue reading “Giant Swallowtail”
I do an online photo gallery (or galleries with the sub-galleries) and the gallery for my recent little two-night stay at a favorite place is now up at https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2022-Aug-31-Sept-2-Xandari-Resort-Alajuela
Or you can just click this first page image and get there!
The highlight of this little trip was the large number of butterflies seen and photographed with 29 species having useable photos for the gallery. And I am still trying to catch up with posting all my butterfly species on butterfliesandmoths.org! 🙂 Butterflies rule! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
To me everything in nature is a work of art and that includes some very tiny any unusual insects. Here’s 5 or counting the little black dot in one photo, 6 insects that I cannot identify but are a part of the colorful nature found at Xandari Costa Rica.
. . . and I think one of these 9 is actually a moth, but I can’t find an ID. The immense variety of butterflies and moths here in Costa Rica can be overwhelming at times but is also one of the joys of being here! 🙂 It depends on which website or book you read, but with more species still being discovered here, some say there are now 1,500+ known species of butterflies and over 12,000 species of moths (not all identified), so it is not surprising that I can’t find an ID for everyone I photograph. 🙂
And as is my practice, one photo here for the emailed announcement of this post, followed by a gallery of all 9 final butterflies (maybe 2 are moths) from my visit to Xandari Costa Rica last week. I may still share some other photos from that very unique hotel in Alajuela and then back to nature shots around where I live for the next two weeks before my Caribbean trip the 19th of September. Pura vida!
. . . from my brief two-night trip to Xandari Resort in Alajuela continues to show the amazing number of butterflies at this forest hotel less than an hour away from my house! I’m still not sure of the total and have four I can’t identify, but I will share 9 or 10 more tomorrow as the final batch of butterflies from Xandari before focusing on those around my house again.
As usual, one photo here for the email announcement of the blog post, then followed online with a gallery of all 10 butterflies. And again 11 photos because I want to show the big difference in the top and bottom side of the wings of one, the Starred Oxeo, even though almost all butterflies have different patterns on top and bottom, with this one just being a more drastic difference. Enjoy!
