A Fiery Kiss to the Night!

With rain and clouds every afternoon and early evening we haven’t had much of a sunset this week but tonight was a good teaser!

Sunset at Uvita

 

 

“A sunset is the sun’s fiery kiss to the night.”
― Crystal Woods

I was so busy photographing birds off my terrace and the above sunset that I haven’t had time to present the other shots from Whale Watching – but will eventually!   🙂   See more of my sunset photos in my VISTAS, BEACHES, SUNRISES, SUNSETS Photo Gallery.

Good Night from Cristal Ballena

This trip gallery:  2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita

¡Pura Vida!

An Adventure of Beauty

“When the destination becomes gracious, the journey becomes an adventure of beauty.”

-John O’Donohue

One week from today I return to the Costa Rica South Caribbean (Atlantic Coast South of Limón) for my 5th trip there, not counting 3 other visits to the North Caribbean (North of Limón or Tortuguero NP).

I’ve been “mulling over” (That’s a late 1800’s English idiom meaning “to think about” or “to ponder.”) what my photography focus would be this time (see previous focuses below–mainly birds!). I originally thought I was going during Carnival week, but got the dates confused (It’s the last week of October not August) so Carnival is no longer the theme for my photos and ultimately a photo book.  🙂   Here’s my previous South Caribe galleries & books:

Browsing Blurb’s Bookstore travel and art photography books (for ideas) I came across the above quotation by John O’Donohue in a book and decided next week’s destination is such a “gracious” place (both the Hotel Banana Azul and the Caribe) that the friendly, loving, kind graciousness of the place will make it truly an “adventure of beauty!” So now my mind is running in a thousand directions of how I can photograph that gracious beauty!

Of course there’s the beauty of nature as my sunrise photo above from another year depicts. The graciousness of the people there presents opportunities for grand portraits or activity shots. While the graciousness of the sea, or the forest, or the wildlife, or the plants . . . oh my, oh my – the destination becomes so gracious!

Soon I start my next adventure of beauty!  ¡Pura Vida!   🙂

 

I arise today Blessed by all things, Wings of breath, Delight of eyes, Wonder of whisper, Intimacy of touch, Eternity of soul, Urgency of thought, Miracle of health, Embrace of God. May I live this day Compassionate of heart, Clear in word, Gracious in awareness, Courageous in thought, Generous in love.”

~John O’Donohue

¡Pura Vida! 

Jaco-Carara -THE BOOK!

From expansive beaches to overpowering vistas and sunsets dotted with colorful tropical birds – my newest photo book captures the magic of where I live as well as any! With it my photos show the adventure of birding in three hotels just an hour from Atenas — Punta Leona Resort,  the Macaw Lodge and my recent visit to Villa Caletas, all with easy access to beaches, Carara National Park and Tarcoles River plus each having their own private forest reserve and trails. Nature at its best! All in one beautiful photo book!

You can preview the entire book electronically online at:

https://www.blurb.com/b/9601292-jaco-carara-birding-hotels

Or click the image of the book cover below:

Jaco-Carara

And if interested is purchasing a copy, Get 40% OFF through Monday 12 August by using the Discount Code LAZYDAYS4T at checkout.

Retired in Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Villa Caletas Photo Gallery

I just uploaded the last photo I’ve chosen to share from a very photogenic resort! I’m pleased with a lot of the photos and you can see them in the gallery at:

https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2019-July-28-31-Villa-Caletas-Jaco

Or it may be more fun   🙂   to click the image of the first page:

2019-08-02
Click above image to see the gallery.

Villa Caletas Website

¡Pura Vida!

Tuesday Sunset

No two alike, yet all are similar!   🙂   Here’s my Tuesday night sunset photos from Hotel Villa Caletas. My cell phone camera could not capture the deep, dark blue we had tonight. That black image was really a dark blue. The brighter blue in feature image was not really that bright, but a deeper blue. Anyway–Enjoy!

Tuesday Sunset

CLICK to enlarge image.

 

“Nature always wears the color of the spirit.”   

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

¡Pura Vida!

Monday Sunset

Here’s the photos of Monday’s Sunset with no rain!  🙂

Sunset at Villa Caletas July 29

Get outside. Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset. How does that make you feel? Does it make you feel big or tiny? Because there’s something good about feeling both.

~Amy Grant

¡Pura Vida!

1st Night’s SUNSET

It was raining the whole evening – all of these photos made in a light rain and that may partly account for the changing colors. Sunset at Villa Caletas.

If you are in a beautiful place where you can enjoy sunrise and sunset, then you are living like a lord.

~Nathan Phillips

¡Pura Vida!

In Search of the Perfect Sunset

Most of my trips within Costa Rica are in search of more birds! And most give me at least one new species. But I also love photographing other nature, vistas, waterfalls, and of course Sunrises & Sunsets!

Multiple expat friends here have told me that the best sunset vistas and photos are from the restaurant & theater at a hotel on a hill near Jaco, just an hour away, Hotel Villa Caletas. It is upscale or expensive, so only 4 nights which is not as long as I prefer to stay to really see a place, but that will still be 4 sunset opportunities, Sunday-Wednesday nights, weather cooperating. I’ve had more than one sunset rained out or covered by clouds, but that’s part of the adventure!

Villa Caletas is different from the nature lodges I usually visit, but still immersed in nature with hotel birding trails and a jungle trail down the mountain to their beach with shuttle rides back up the hill. It is close to Punta Leona which had very good birding and also close to the Carara National Park (good birding) which I may or may not visit again – been there 4 time now! Just going to take it day by day after I get there. A serendipity trip!

I think I already have some pretty nice sunset photos in my gallery called   VISTAS, BEACHES, SUNRISES, SUNSETS CR . The featured image above is one of mine of a sunrise on the Caribbean side which I like to use because so many people here think everything is better on the Pacific side – well, maybe just more expensive!   🙂   And most can’t see a difference in sunrise or sunset.

What I get at Villa Caletas will go in the Pacific Sub Gallery of the above linked sunset gallery and then we can compare to see if they really have the best sunsets on the Pacific coast!   🙂   My favorite on the Pacific so far is the one I took from a Sansa Airplane  (on return from Danta Corcovado). And they weren’t too bad from a hillside hotel in Manuel Antonio last Christmas! Yep! I love sunsets!

While the Atlantic or Caribbean side is mostly for sunrises, I have been pretty lucky over there too! (Where I go again the end of this August.) You just have to get up earlier to see sunrises!  Yawn!    🙂

And to be fair to Villa Caletas, here is one of their website photos of their sunset which is very nice! Hope mine will be as good or better!   🙂

Sunset photo from Villa Caletas online. — Not my photo.

¡Pura Vida!

 

When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.

~Mahatma Gandhi

Here’s The Science Behind The Magical Colours of Sunsets And Sunrises

🙂

Sundown

Sundown is a nice, quiet time at my house in Atenas, Costa Rica. Winding down for a good night’s sleep and a great tomorrow!

My casita or “little house” at sundown.

To watch a sunset is to connect with the Divine.

Gina De Gorna

¡Pura Vida!

Sunset

“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.” 
― Jo Walton

I haven’t been sharing as many of my terrace sunsets lately, which of course are different every night. The featured one above is from over my roof, which I often like better than from terrace below. Both last night. And I imagine that many of you saw the same beautiful sunset in your own world!   🙂   A beauty we all can behold!

20190328_180036-A-WEB
Sunset Last Night from My Terrace Looking North – Top photo looks West over my roof

And see my photo gallery titled Vistas, Beaches, Sunrises & Sunsets for more beautiful sunsets than these!

 

COSTA RICA NEWS:

SOCCER: 2019 Gold Cup field finalized; Costa Rica will host two matches

CR Stadium-1000x582
Costa Rica Soccer Stadium in San Jose  (Tico Times Photo)

-o-

On the Ecology Front:

And while Soccer is on your mind, did you know that

The planet loses 40 soccer fields worth of forests every minute   (Read it!)

Rich industrialists are literally destroying the world while we ignore climate change and the destruction of trees, our source of oxygen, wildlife and beauty. And did you read that a Deadly frog fungus has wiped out 90 species and threatens hundreds more.   How much time do you think we have left before the human species is wiped out?

Quetzale National Forest-WEB
My photo of Quetzale National Forest, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!