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| How the Heliconia looks today! |
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| The same one posted on July 27 – Just a bud! |
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| And one of the first flowers I see when I walk out my garden door. |
Exotic Flowers Hiding in My Garden
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| In the back corner of my garden beyond the big Heliconias and behind these Red Gingers are some tall green, leafy plants, not flower-like. |
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| If you get close, you see they kind of look like tall, leafy stalks, similar to corn, but that is not a corn cob in the back! It is the flower! |
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| If I stand on the hill above my garden and look down 1 of 4 is peaking out. |
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| This is one full-grown Maraca or Shampoo Ginger Flower |
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| Another Maraca or Shampoo Ginger |
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| And a Baby Maraca or Shampoo Ginger |
In my pre-move travels all over Central America I saw these unique tropical flower and always thought they were the most unique. Thanks to my gardeners and especially Alfredo, I now have a plant that has grown well and spread in my garden. I can now walk out my back door and see them, well, with a little searching! 🙂 They are somewhat rare and not available in all the Veveros (plant nurseries), but my good gardener Alfredo found one in his uncle’s yard for me! Be nice to your gardener and he will be nice to you! 🙂
I’m just starting my garden photo gallery but it has quite a few photos already!
Old Man’s Joy: Having Gardeners!
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| A team of 6 young men come every two weeks to cut grass, edge beds, weed, and trim shrubs, flowers or trees as needed. That’s Cristian above. 6 guys swooping over my yard in an hour. Neat! And at just $50! |
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| They save my back and other potential aches and pains as well as time, and they do it fast and very well. I am fortunate! And they are my friends! This is Alfredo above. |
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| My back garden is still the centerpiece, but the whole yard is a garden! I love living here among the tropical plants with doors/windows always open! |
I’m just starting my garden photo gallery but it has quite a few photos already!
Grasshopper Dinner Plate?
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| This Grasshopper, like the Leaf-cutter Ants finds my garden to be a cafeteria or at least a dinner plate! |
See my “Other Insects” Photo Gallery
More Beaches & Another Sunset
I’ve already shown the main beach at Flamingo Beach. (Click to see again.) It ties with Hermosa as the two best or prettiest beaches seen. I was not excited about our Tiny Hotel Paradise Beach we walked down the cliff on steps to get to which is down the road from the real Flamingo Beach above. Here’s THREE OTHER BEACHES WE SAW:
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| Tamarindo Beach was my least favorite, yet it had the most people and was the biggest and busiest beach town with most housing, shops, restaurants. There were a lot of surfers here who I guess go out beyond those rocks or at a different spot. This is where we saw possible rent houses, but the last I heard from John, he is probably not going to buy one. |
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| Playa Hermosa or “Beautiful Beach” The one in Guanacaste – there are 3 or 4 in Costa Rica with this name! I think it is prettier than the bigger one in Flamingo, just not as long. |
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| Coco Beach (As sun is setting) North of Flamingo and Hermosa with brown sand but more recreational. It is the “Central Park” of the local community with big Catholic Church across from it and the big soccer field. There is a long boardwalk (sidewalk) along the whole beach with children’s playgrounds, skateboard ramp, volleyball, basketball, and many restaurants and bars right on the beach, plus statues, showers, water fountains, flower gardens, etc. The best beach for local people and children! |
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| Coco Beach Restaurant/Bar We sat in this restaurant for a drink and watched Tico families walk by with little children on tricycles or running and playing beyond those flowers. Further down teens were skateboarding or playing volley ball and a few were on the beach. Sorry I didn’t make more photos! A people place! Then back to Flamingo Beach . . . |
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| Another Flamingo Beach Sunset We went back to our favorite restaurant for dinner, Coco Loco & sunset! |
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| Flamingo Beach Sunset Changes Color! Watching the sun set while eating a great seafood meal is the perfect way to end another day of adventure in Costa Rica! And I found another A+ restaurant! I would even consider living on the beach just for these scenes if it were not SO VERY HOT, VERY HUMID, VERY EXPENSIVE! So I am sticking with my mountain sunsets, perfect weather, and lower costs. 🙂 |
I am thankful that John invited me to go with him to the beaches and the jungle boat ride! I got to see a whole new part of Costa Rica this week and it is as cool as all the other parts I’ve seen. Plus seeing several condos and how people live there compared to Atenas was fun and educational. Of course my favorite part was the boat trip on Rio Tempisque in Palo Verde Park! My next trip is the end of September to Manzanilla on the southern Caribbean coast where I will stay in a luxury safari tent hotel on the beach adjacent to a wildlife reserve. Hoping for more new birds and experiences. I got two new birds photographed this trip! (Crested Caracara & Crane Hawk) Now here’s one last photo from this trip, shot through the glaring windshield on our way to Palo Verde:
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| A Tamandua Anteater ran across this road as did an Agouti, but sorry, no photos! 🙂 |
For more beaches and other scenery, see my VISTAS Photo Gallery.
Or go directly to my total Costa Rica Photo Gallery called Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA
The Birds of Palo Verde Park
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| Groove-billed Ani
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
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| Crane Hawk
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
This is my first sighting of this bird.
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| Black-crowned Night Heron
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
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| Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
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| Crested Caracara Juvenile (or young adult)
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
This was a “first sighting” of this guy. It’s usually Yellow-headed Caracara.
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| Spotted Sandpiper
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
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| Little Blue Heron
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
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| Boat-billed Heron
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
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| Mangrove Swallow
Tempisque River, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica
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My computer is working properly again! And I haven’t even taken it to the shop yet! Maybe it is the weather here it likes better! 🙂 So I was able to upload these photos! Of course I have many more and we did not see as many birds as might have been possible because it was windy the whole time we were on the river. (Birds don’t fly much when it is windy! They hide in the bushes!) We also saw some other animals which I will show tomorrow. Below is a photo of the kind of boat we floated on, though only the two of us plus our guide and boat captain.
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| There are several tour boat companies here like at Rio Tarcoles & Rio Frio. Tomorrow I will show the above boat passengers acting like tourists. 🙂 |
Had it not been windy, we would have seen more smaller birds including hummingbirds, but weather is just part of life! Pura Vida!
See my photo gallery of BIRDS OF COSTA RICA
Or all my BIRDS OF CENTRAL AMERICA for even more!
Tempisque River Today
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| Little Blue Heron Tempisque River, The Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica |
I’m having trouble with my computer shutting off every few minutes, so only one photo for now and more later from our boat trip on Rio Tempisque and a drive through Playa Hermosa and Playa Coco. I of course made lots of photos! 🙂 It was windy and thus not as many birds as we would normally have and I only got maybe one new or first time bird. But a good trip and I learned about some more Guanacaste beaches. Hope to get photos up soon!
Flamingo Beach, Sunset & Tamarindo Visit
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| We finally find the good beach in Flamingo Beach! It is public, 4 times this long, and with very few people! And no hotels along here! 🙂 |
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| The occasional person even has the choice of a tree for shade, but alas, most are sun worshipers! |
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| And tonight at the end of this same beach we watch the Sunset! While eating our best meal yet at Coco Loco Seafood Restaurant on the beach in Flamingo Beach. |
And our midday and early afternoon was spent exploring Tamarindo Beach and being taken around by a Realtor to see several possible rental condos for John to consider purchasing. We ended up not looking in Flamingo Beach this time because of the lesser demand and higher prices. He is waiting on some promised data before making a decision. But soon you may be able to rent a vacation condo within walking distance of the beach and lots of restaurants in Tamarindo.
Tomorrow we go to Palo Verde National Park looking for birds! My day! 🙂
At Flamingo Beach Tonight
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| On Flamingo Beach down the steps behind our Hotel Paradise Flamingo |
Tomorrow we look at possible rental houses for John and explore some more. It is hotter here but we have air conditioning. The above shot was made after an hour-long rain. This area of Guanacaste is about a 4.5 hour drive from Atenas. John has a rent car. Pura Vida!
Dina Yellow Butterfly +
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| Dina Yellow butterfly My garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica On my “Once de Abril” flower |
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| Dina Yellow butterfly My garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica On my “Once de Abril” flower |
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| Unknown Insect, similar to a Green Orchid Bee except for red tail Caught accidentally while photographing the above Dina Yellow My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Here’s a Dina Yellow seen in my garden last year:
http://costaricadecisionprocess.blogspot.com/2015/05/leuce-yellow-butterfly.html
I know, I’m starting to repeat butterflies and even some birds, but hopefully the next few days will be fresh photos as I travel again. John Rasbury is here from TN and just bought a house here in Atenas to rent out as part of his income when he comes back later to retire somewhere in Costa Rica. The next four days we will be in Guanacaste (northwest corner of Costa Rica) where he will look at possible other rent houses in Tamarindo and Flamingo Beach. I’m tagging along and then we will be tourists and do a birding float trip in Palo Verde National Park on a river. Hoping for some new birds in a part of the country I have not been yet.