Rainforest Archives - Page 49 of 51 - Retired in Costa Rica

October 10, 2018October 10, 2018

Today at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

No rain today – so far at 3pm! I had a wonderful 6am birding hike with birding guide Kevin and returned for breakfast and the morning photographing wildlife from my cabin terrace – amazing!

Below is a slideshow of a few of today’s photos – mostly birds but some other animals. Tomorrow Kevin and I go on a boat trip through the mangroves which always yields a lot of birds rain or shine. Then over the weekend I plan to just enjoy walking the forests that surround me here and the really good food someone else is preparing! 🙂 And oh yeah, a night hike one of those nights which is always interesting!

And I’m hearing thunder now, so rain tonight which is always the best time and well, it just started at 3:42! 🙂

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Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind, none exceed in sublimity the primeval [tropical] forests, … temples filled with the varied productions of the God of Nature. No one can stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is more in man than the mere breath of his body.

— Charles Darwin

¡Pura Vida!

October 8, 2018

Tomorrow in Piedras Blancas NP

Tomorrow I leave early for a short flight to Golfito in the south of Costa Rica for a week at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge in the Piedras Blancas National Park, one of Costa Rica‘s birding hot-spots. And note that they only have Wifi in their main building, so my posts could be limited or certainly my correspondence will be. Part of being in the jungle! 🙂

I live to the left of San Jose. Nothing is terribly far within Costa Rica! It will be a 30 minute flight and a 25 minute drive from Golfito Airport. Costa Rica is the same square miles as West Virginia in size as a comparison for Americans.

AND ZOOMING IN ON THE AREA:

Notice it is across the big Gulf of Dulce from my favorite Corcovado NP. And my last visit there was to Danta Corcovado Lodge about where the capital P is located in the park name, Corcovado NP. I flew to Puerto Jimenez for that.

Above photos all copied from Esquinas Lodge website.

Check it out!

¡Pura Vida!

October 2, 2018October 2, 2018

Will Costa Rica Become the only Chocolate Grower?

Will Costa Rica become the only source of chocolate by 2050?

The above link is a really interesting article in one of our online English newspapers. Chocolate comes from the cacao tree which will only grow 20 ° north or south of the equator and in the correct amount of humidity. Central America and particularly Costa Rica are perfect for that. West Africa has been good for cocoa, but global warming, higher temperatures and the desertification of West Africa along with some plant diseases there may someday, possibly by 2050, eliminate all cocoa farming in West Africa. They are experimenting with hybrid plants there says this month’s National Geographic magazine, but already people are saying the resulting chocolate is not as good.

Cacao is grown all over Costa Rica as small family farm businesses and by some of the indigenous peoples as I described in my recent visit to the Bribri Watsi village and earlier from my visit to Bribri Yorkin as we watched their children suck the sweet white stuff from around the cacao beans and we tried it ourselves.

If you ever visit Costa Rica there are many chocolate tours you can take to learn the complicated process for making one of the world’s favorite sweets.

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
― Charles M. Schulz

¡Pura Vida!

March 15, 2018

Best Night Hike Ever!

All photos made on my cell phone camera during a light rain. Amazing!

Red-eyed Tree Frog
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Long-billed Hermit Hummingbird Sleeping
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Baby Basilisk
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Tropical Rainforest Frog
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Katydid
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Fleur-de-lis Spider
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Fleur-de-lis Spider hiding in curled dead leaf
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Blue Morpho Butterfly Sleeping
They are bright blue on top with underside like an owl butterfly
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Red-eyed Tree Frog
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

I got a new guide for this hike who specializes in night hikes, a more mature man than the 18 year-old David. He was really good and helped make some of the photos. His name is Jairo, but the way everyone pronounced it, sounded something like “Hydel,” I almost backed out of the hike because of the light rain and sure glad I did not. Today’s hike in the park was postponed until tomorrow (Friday) because I was the only one going today and they need a minimum of two to afford it. There’s 5 of us for tomorrow. But they do the night hike solo and I was glad as the only one because I got more attention and probably saw/photographed more creatures!

May 28, 2017

Where There Is a Lot of Water!

Flying over Corcovado National Park near Drake Bay
Probably one winding river but whatever, a lot of water for one forest!
The Richness of a Rainforest!
Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

Sometimes I go back and look through photos from a trip and see something new to share. 🙂

My “Trip Gallery” for Drake Bay – Corcovado – Aguila Lodge

May 12, 2017March 22, 2020

Photos of Hotel Aguia de Osa, Drake Bay

My Front Porch Hammock & Bay View
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

My Front Door & Outside Chairs
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

My Room, All those windows have only screens. High ceiling with Fan!
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

One of 3 Flights of Stairs UP to Rooms on Top of Hill
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

One of 3 Flights of Stairs DOWN from Rooms on Top of Hill
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Exit Sign from Drake Bay Community Trail to Hotel
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

3 Meals a Day Overlooking the Bay
Though some trips included a box lunch on the day trip
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Gourmet Meals Served Three Times a Day!
Plus Happy Hour with Appetizers!
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Hotel’s Fleet of Boats is Important to Guest Transportation!
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

As Are the Boat Captains!
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

A Familiar Scene Coming and Going from the Hotel
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

And the Hotel Pier is Really the “Front Door” to Hotel
You get here by boat or by walking a trail. No road for cars.
Aguila de Osa Lodge, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

I loved it here! Being gone the bulk of the daytime on adventures kept me from missing air-conditioning, which in the hot and humid coastal rainforest would have been better for resting inside during the day. But who does that with all the things to do during the day? At night the ceiling fan was more than adequate and I actually turned it off two nights and used the blanket.

The tour possibilities, guides and all other staff were simply great in every way! One family went deep-sea fishing and the kitchen cooked one of their fish for their dinner that night and the rest of us got a little as part of the appetizers! The food was excellent as was the food service. I highly recommend Hotel Aguila de Osa for anyone considering Drake Bay. Of course I have not tried any of the other hotels here to compare. This was not my best birding location, but was very good and a big variety of total animals to see both in and out of the park. I was disappointed I did not see a wild Tapir, though people on other tours did. Wildlife is always unpredictable and sightings cannot be scheduled!

It is not easy to compare this to my visit to the southern end of Corcovado Park at Carate Village and the two inns of Luna Lodge and Lookout Inn. That was on a 2009 Birding Tour from the states and the link is to my old PBase Photo Gallery of the total trip that included San Gerado de Dota in the mountains, so more than Corcovado. It was my first trip to Costa Rica and I fell in love with the country immediately! I may have seen and photographed more birds on that trip, but this was a better and more relaxed trip with more variety. And though Luna Lodge is very nice with gourmet food, Aguila might have even better food and my room was better. But glad I’ve seen both ends of this great rainforest park! Next time I may try one of those lodges on the east side of park.

Though not made yet, I will soon have a “Trip Gallery” on this trip in a new area of my Costa Rica galleries simply called TRIPS. And of course as always I use every trip to increase my collection of bird photos and other categories of photos in my big gallery called Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA. If interested in Costa Rica you might enjoy exploring my galleries.

And this concludes the Blog reports on my recent Corcovado-Drake Bay trip, though more photos may pop up here in the future. A 6-day trip is the longest I have made since my move here and I like longer visits in the same location! A friend has scheduled a week-long trip here soon for birding and will be in a different hotel every night. He may see more birds but will be physically exhausted by the end of the week! I’m too old for that now! 🙂 Pura Vida!

My TRIPS Photo Gallery on this Drake Bay Trip

And my Lodges & Hotels of Costa Rica photo gallery

Costa Rica to soon unveil its first hydrogen-powered bus!

May 10, 2017

Flowers & Other Plants at Corcovado-Drake Bay

A little sample of the beauty of the rainforest:

A short street in the village of Drake Bay called “Hibiscus Way”
Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Red Hibiscus
Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Sorry, but I do not know the name of most of these flowers and other plants.

See also my Photo Gallery called Flora & Forests

My TRIPS Photo Gallery on this Drake Bay Trip

About Corcovado National Park (Wikipedia) and About Drake Bay (Wikipedia)

And Aguila de Osa Inn

May 10, 2017July 22, 2018

Trees & Forests of Corcovado-Drake Bay

Just a tiny sample of the lush forests around Drake Bay & in the Park:

This massive root structure is on property of Hotel Aguila de Osa
Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

Hotel Aguila de Osa
Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Mangoes on the ground for animals to eat or to rot
Common all over Costa Rica this time of year – We can’t eat them all!
Here on public trail through Aguila de Osa Hotel, Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Mango Tree
Along public trail
Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Public Trail Near Hotel Aguila de Osa
Drake Bay, Costa Rica

Park Trail, near Pedrillo Ranger Station
Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

Bamboo at Aguila de Osa Lodge
Drake Bay, Costa Rica

See also my Photo Gallery called Flora & Forests

My TRIPS Photo Gallery on this Drake Bay Trip

About Corcovado National Park (Wikipedia) and About Drake Bay (Wikipedia)

And Aguila de Osa Inn

May 2, 2017

Hiking Corcovado Rainforest Today

Rainforest Meets Pacific Ocean
Corcovdo National Park, Costa Rica

A big gourmet breakfast and off by 6:30 by boat to San Pedrillo Ranger Station by boat in the rain through some pretty big swells along the Pacific coast – about 30 minutes and another wet landing in the surf and knee-deep wading to shore. We hiked three trails including part of the beach above seeing an unbelievable number of tree species and other cool plants, many animals and two new birds for me. We also saw a beautiful waterfall that I will show later. Then another rough boat ride back after our sandwich lunch, but no more rain! But it is cloudy and I do expect rain tonight.

I’m already worn out and have another boat trip tomorrow to the little island nearby where we will snorkle the coral reef and maybe see some wildlife on the island. Bumped my head on a low hanging tree limb today that brought a little blood, but I have Neosporin and the salt water tormorrow might help it heal even faster.

About Corcovado National Park (Wikipedia) and About Drake Bay (Wikipedia)

And Aguila de Osa Inn

My TRIPS Photo Gallery on this Drake Bay Trip

See also my Pacific Coast Flora & Forests photo gallery

March 27, 2017

Celeste Mountain Lodge Rainforest Trail

I neither saw nor photographed a single bird, though I heard many. But it was a beautiful walk in the rainforest across the road from the lodge on a trail they created for about 2-3 km. It is a similar cloud forest to what I walked through in Tenorio Park, just fewer people! Here are a dozen photos without much comment: