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In some cases the berries are the buds for the flower and in other cases they seem to be separate from the flower. So I snapped these two flower plants in my garden with berries right now.
¡Pura Vida!
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And then there is my Photo Gallery Flora & Forest CR
I’m not positive that this is a Leafcutter Ant, though they are usually the ones carrying leaves like this or pieces of leaves. But they are usually a group of hundreds marching in a line like a well trained army! This guy was solo and when he go to my doormat at entrance to my terrace, he did not go around but marched right over it, moving to the left, holding the leaf in his mouth! The ant house is underground next to my terrace.
The little things in nature can keep you occupied for hours if you wanted! 🙂
“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo
¡Pura Vida!
See my Leafcutter Ants gallery.
I have not always made trees a priority when capturing nature photos, but I must in the future! They are the giants of nature! Along with being beauties, like the fern trees and some flowering trees! I didn’t do the best job this time, since around some of the waterfalls are some of the biggest and most beautiful trees and I was just focusing on the falls. A new goal for the future! 🙂 Most of these were around the lodge. —CLICK an image to enlarge . . .
I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.
—Henry David Thoreau
¡Pura Vida!
I need to add a Trees Gallery. For now my FLORA & FOREST Gallery will have to do (with a few trees in it). And several of my “Trip Galleries” have tree photos.
And my “Trip Gallery” 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve is now published.
BY JOYCE KILMER
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
¡Pura Vida!
Some wonder what I do with a whole week at one of these very remote nature lodges I visit all over Costa Rica – well, a week is almost never enough time for me to see, experience and photograph all there is in these natural wonders! First priority at El Silencio Lodge & Reserve was waterfalls, then birds, butterflies, and on it goes through nature! Today’s collection is some of those little things like an ear-shaped lichen or a fiddlehead – the furled fronds of a young fern that were the inspiration of some of the colorful Oxcart designs used in this lodge and on the famous Oxcarts of Costa Rica. Enjoy a slide show of those and 23 other designs from nature . . .
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. —John Lubbock
¡Pura Vida!
All of my Photo Galleries are Nature-related in Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA.
and I’m finished with the new Trip Gallery: El Silencio Lodge & Reserve or perhaps you would prefer to zero in on my Costa Rica FLORA & FOREST Gallery. ¡Buenas Dias!
¡Pura Vida!
It was raining every night at El Silencio Lodge, so waiting would not have helped! 🙂 But I enjoy night hikes that are provided in most Costa Rica wilderness lodges and you do see thing not normally seen in the day time. We saw less on this one because of the rain and that also made photography with only a cell phone not super good, but here’s 6 shots that are samples of even more we would have seen if not raining. Daniel was my guide on this hike and he included two miradors (vistas) which were interesting at night and sorry I did not try to photograph the views, though again the rain made it more difficult with less moonlight and no stars. CLICK image to enlarge . . .
“Between every two pines there is a doorway to a new world.” ~John Muir
¡Pura Vida!
You might also like my Amphibians Gallery, most of which were photographed on Night Hikes all over Costa Rica! 🙂
Or see THIS TRIP GALLERY: 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve.
Okay, for you Spanish readers, yes, that says “The Twins” Waterfall and thus you may ask, “Where is the second one?” Well . . . sometimes my better judgement overrules my sense of adventure. We had already hiked about 4 km and waded across the ice cold, rock-strewn river with Bryan, my personal guide, helping me wade across the slippery rocks just to get this photo of the biggest of the twins. To see the other one we would have had to wade up a separate stream of slippery rocks to the left of the bottom of this falls maybe 50 meters. Bryan had already said “I can’t believe I’m helping an 80 year old do this hike!” He was doubting the wisdom of going further and after nearly slipping down more than once. I did too! But I was thankful that I could make the hike solo with my excellent young masked guide who was perfect for me in every way! Most of the holiday weekend crowd have gone. We have a max of 9 guests the rest of the week, so very tranquilo! Which I prefer! 🙂 And yes, I love this place! Already another favorite and I have so many favorites in Costa Rica. Here’s just a few shots of the Las Gemelas Falls Hike and notice that weird V-shaped bridge over one of the streams, like none I’ve seen before:
See my Waterfalls Gallery for more Costa Rica Waterfalls.
Or see THIS TRIP GALLERY: 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve.
¡Pura Vida!
The “4” can mean my 4th trip to Xandari or the 4th Gallery on Xandari or the fact that I was there for 4 days this time! 🙂 The featured photo is on my walk to the restaurant from my villa.
It is a magical getaway every visit and I tend to photograph many new things or the same things in different ways each time, like this time I didn’t even hike to the waterfalls but spent more time with flowers & butterflies and a feature on the bamboo forest. So if considering a visit to Xandari, check out each of my photo galleries from 4 different trips there with 4 different perspectives:
¡Pura Vida!
It’s not the corn in the musical “Oklahoma!” but the grass in the cow pasture across from me is as high as my eyes now, thanks to the regular rains! That’s why some call this time of year “The Green Season.” And the cows are mostly eating around the edges of the pasture. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
After the birds and vistas I photographed only a few of the many flowers along my Sunday morning walk. I do enjoy the immense variety of plant life here in Costa Rica! And remember to CLICK to enlarge an image:
“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in–what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” – Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
And for more, there’s my Flora & Forest Photo Gallery!
¡Pura Vida!
“Nature as Art” was the name of my little photo business for a few years in Nashville and I was reminded of that theme during my week at Maquenque with lots of “little things” I photographed and enjoyed just seeing! 🙂
As much as I love most art, no artist can compete with the creative handiwork of God in Nature!
All art is but imitation of nature.
~Seneca the Younger
For more of Maquenque “Nature as Art” see these galleries:
or
¡Pura Vida!
