Birds & a Tapir – Perfect Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, yesterday, my 5 year anniversary of living in Costa Rica I had a birding guide and got one “Lifer” (first time seen) bird, the rare White-tipped Sicklebill, plus a lifer mammal if you please! A Wild Tapir came right up to the restaurant building eating from the flower beds!   🙂   Though not new for me, I also got some more photos of a very rare Sunbittern! And all of the below photos from yesterday were made in the rain. It has not stopped raining for two days and nights now in this RAINforest.   🙂

Birds

 

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Tapir on entrance walkway for Gift Shop & Restaurant

Forest Walk

 

 

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The mother Tapir eating various kinds of leaves. She seldom brings her baby.

I also got some interesting photos on the canopy tram ride which I will share in another post the next two days or whenever I return to the entrance for Wifi.

¡Pura Vida!

 

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A White-nosed Coati – Quite common raccoon-sized animal all over Costa Rica.

Rainforest Adventure

That is also the name of the company that operates this little lodge of only 10 rooms — RAINFOREST ADVENTURE. And that is what I am having! I’m almost at the bottom of the mountains of Braulio Carrillo National Park, though we are on the side of a hill or mountain, on the “Caribbean Slope” just barely across the province line into Limon Province, about a 25 minute drive to Guapiles for those who know the area. And in a real rainforest. It rained part of yesterday afternoon and has rained all day today so far. I skipped the morning nature walk that comes with the room because of rain (my camera doesn’t like) but made the night hike last night for lots of frogs and snakes!  🙂

There is no wifi in the lodge-restaurant area and so I took the shuttle bus up to the front gate on the highway (4 km) which is the only place with wifi. Thus I will not be doing a post every day. Today is my personal explore day, tomorrow an all day birding tour on my 5 year anniversary of living in Costa Rica, and Christmas Day I do the “Canopy Tour” or zip-lining. The birding tour includes a round trip ride on the tram through the tree tops. The 26th I tour the National Park and 27th rest before returning to Atenas the 28th.

That is it and I may or may not have another post from here – a little bit of trouble. The place is geared more to young adult adventures, but is a great rainforest to stay in. The room is small but okay though I must drink only bottled water here. Food is okay, not great. One of the guides here is Moises who was one of my guides at Turtle Beach Lodge in Tortuguero (the younger ones move around some). So, in spite of a lot of rain here I’m having a great time! Here’s the first afternoon/evening photos in three categories:

Frogs

Snakes

Insects

Forest-Lodge Area

One Bird

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Yellow-throated Toucan

 

Tapirus Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

 

 

Christmas Time

“And we are better throughout the year for having in spirit, become a child again at Christmas time.”     ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

And that is what I am doing again for this Christmas! Tonight (Friday) I watch the Christmas Lights Parade in Atenas which is always beautiful and colorful.  (Feature Photo is 2017 Atenas Parade)   I missed the parade last year while on a trip. That means that tomorrow, Saturday, I hope to report on the parade with photos, though it could be mid-day before I can get that many photos processed!   🙂

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Then Sunday morning I leave for the mountains where I will be spending the week at Braulio Carrillo, our second largest national park in Costa Rica at the Tapirus Lodge which I’m hoping was a good choice since my first choice (Arenal Observatory) had no vacancies a year ahead of this Christmas Week! (I now have them scheduled for Christmas 2020! Tapirus is operated  by Rainforest Adventures which seems to emphasize the young with zip-lining and white-water rafting much more than bird-watching (but I am becoming a child again!) – so we will see! But at least I will be in the forest – me gusta mucho!    🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

More Volcano Birds

The morning was dry with my first view of an unclouded volcano (above) since I’ve been here! And from my room at that!   🙂   And no rain for a before-breakfast guided walk nor the after-breakfast solo trip to the tower for the honeycreepers!   🙂  Two birding hikes today and the one from yesterday together gives this colorful collection with one new “lifer” bird, the Rufous-winged Tanager! And I worked on the photos after the rain started about 1:15 pm.

More Arenal Birds

CLICK an image to enlarge or pass cursor over for name.

Click for manual slide show – best way to see the photos!

 

Arenal Observatory

¡Pura Vida!

Rain in Paradise

I think I forgot that they are on the Caribbean Slope – east of continental divide  (their rivers flow into the Atlantic) meaning November is maybe the rainiest month!   🙂   As soon as the plane got out of Central Valley over the mountains it was raining and hasn’t stopped since. But I love the rainy season in general and have had some great experiences in the rain, like at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, so I scheduled all my birding hikes and will do the best I can even if under an umbrella!   🙂   Funny thing is I tried to book this trip for Christmas week and they were already full nearly a year ago. I’m thinking about booking for Christmas 2121.   🙂

The best photos in this post (I think) are the “Plane Shots.” Enjoy and expect some wet reports this week!

Plane Shots

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Corner Room

Click image to enlarge.

 

Two Birds

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¡Pura Vida!

The Craziness of My Passion

Yesterday I hired Walter to drive me to the three hotels within an hour and a half from my house to deliver the photo books I made about the three hotels:  Jaco-Carara Birding Hotels.  (Click to preview the book.)

I visited these 3 hotels in March, June and July this year and because they are all in the same area of Costa Rica near Jaco Beach and Carara National Park I decided to do one photo book instead of three, thus the title and combination of photos. A nice book if I do say so myself, with a large variety of coastal and forest birds and other wildlife plus the best sunset photos yet and an interesting sunrise photo I used for the front cover. Check out this book about Punta Leona Hotel, Villa Calletas Hotel and Macaw Lodge by clicking the above link. An electronic “Preview” is free!

Walter picked me up at 10 am and I was home by 3:30 pm which included a super lunch at Villa Calletas which the book notes as the best of the three for food (according to me)!   🙂

Why would I spend as much money on delivering 3 copies of the book as I did on printing them? Because I’ve had 2 hotels not receive their book through the mail and most of all I’m passionate about making nature photos and sharing them, especially with the people who helped me make them and love the nature of their surroundings as much as I. One young hotel employee was thrilled to see his work surroundings depicted in a photo book – his smile alone made the trip worthwhile!   🙂

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”       ― Mother Teresa

Visit my Bookstore  for other such books.

¡Pura Vida!

Of the Marvelous – Trip Book

Sorry there were two posts yesterday, the old man gets flustered on the computer sometimes and makes mistakes! I intended for one of those today and this one for tomorrow, but here it is anyway! 🙂

I think this is one of my best books yet on travels around Costa Rica, this one about my week in Uvita on the southern Pacific Coast, whale-watching, many birds and other wildlife, sunsets, a river trip and visiting one of the most beautiful waterfalls I’ve seen yet in Costa Rica, Nauyaca Waterfall, my 27th waterfall to photograph here!

You may see or “Review” every page of the book electronically for free without having to order. Enjoy another one of my tropical adventures in Costa Rica!     ~Charlie

The book:     https://www.blurb.com/b/9678019-of-the-marvelous

Or click the book cover image:

Click to PREVIEW this book online for free

“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.”
~Aristotle

And for even more photos see my “Trip Gallery” 2019 Cristal Ballena, Uvita

¡Pura Vida!

Vistas

And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.

~John Muir

Day Vistas

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Sunset Vistas

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All from a week at Cristal Ballena Hotel, Uvita

See also my Ballena Trip Gallery  for ocean & river vistas.

Bonus Article

From the “Live in Costa Rica Blog”   —  What is the best way to do one’s due diligence for retiring or living in Costa Rica?

¡Pura Vida!