¡Pura Vida!
Simplicity in Nature
Blooming Cactus?
No – though the first time I saw these bright pink flowers on top of the cactus plant at a house I walk by frequently on my way to town, I thought is was going to be a beautiful cactus! But it seems that the owner of that house has allowed his Bougainvillea to climb over from the wall to the cactus and from a distance, the second photo, it looks like it’s blooming. And some cactus here do bloom, but I’ve not seen that one bloom yets.
Blue-lipped Iguana?
Not really a new species, but this is first time I’ve noticed any iguana with blue lips! (Okay, I just looked in my gallery and one at Punta Leona had his whole head blue! 🙂 ) It is an immature Spiny-tailed Iguana and I have no explanation for the blue lips or earlier blue head! 🙂 Here’s 3 shots of him the other day in my Guarumo/Cecropia Tree . . .
One Street’s “Tree Tunnel”
I love these! And there’s actually more than one place in Atenas where a tree spreads over the street like this, forming a “tree tunnel” that cars drive through and I walk through. There would probably be more if the power company wasn’t tree-trimming along most streets in town regularly. Here the tree is actually growing in the street and power lines are over the sidewalk and you can see that the sidewalk side of the tree has been trimmed and it looks like it is about time again! 🙂
Though not all of my photos, I do have an Atenas Gallery, a collection of things & places here, or for pix of people and activities here see my PEOPLE, FIESTAS & ARTS Costa Rica collection of galleries which is mostly from Atenas.
And in case you are wondering, “Pueblo Atenas” and its county called “Canton Atenas” is in the Central Valley of Costa Rica about an hour and a half from the Capital, San Jose. It is a coffee and sugar cane farming town of about 8,000 people while the canton has 25,000, thus many more live away from the main town. A lot of expats from the United States, Canada and Europe live here, more in the canton than the town. Rich Americans have built big luxurious homes out in the country nearby and do grocery shopping in town or other nearby supermarkets and big box stores around Alajuela and in other suburbs this side of San Jose. Because I have no car and walk most places, I prefer to live in town. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Fluffing the Great Tail!
Before I left on my recent Maquenque trip I caught a few shots of this male Great-tailed Grackle fluffing his tail in my Guarumo or Cecropia Tree. I thought it kind of funny, interesting and almost like art! 🙂 Here’s just 3 shots at different stages of his fluff! 🙂
Rio Tres Amigos Safari
My 4th time at Maquenque Ecolodge, but first time to go on this particular float trip (their web description link) though I’ve canoed their lake and been on the bigger river, San Carlos, in a larger boat. The only reason I’ve missed this one is that they require a minimum of 2 paying customers and I travel solo! 🙂 This was the first time there were other guests interested in this same float trip to make up the minimum with me. They were a lovely couple from Europe, he Italian and she Swiss! We had a great time together and I got a lot of photos which is right now the only part of my Maquenque Trip Gallery that is completed. So you can see more photos at Rio Tres Amigos Safari GALLERY. 🙂
And note that the only wildlife (The cow doesn’t count!) that I show in this post is one bird, but it’s a rare photo of a female Sunbittern sitting on her nest! In earlier blog posts I’ve shown you 3 animals from this safari: Crested Caracara, Green Iguana and Mantled Howler Monkey, yet there are still many more in the above gallery including 12 species of birds! 🙂 And here are 6 shots to give you an idea of what just one morning at Maquenque can be like! 🙂 Still my favorite lodge!
Mantled Howler Monkey
Called a “Congo” by Costa Ricans, the Mantled Howler Monkey is the largest and loudest of the four species of monkeys in Costa Rica and the only one I got photos of this trip, from alongside Rio Tres Amigos on float trip last Wednesday near Maquenque Ecolodge. I heard them at the lodge but never was close enough for photos and the same for the Spider Monkeys. I’ve been photographing Howler Monkeys since my first weeks in Costa Rica and have an okay GALLERY: Mantled Howler Monkey of Costa Rica.
¡Pura Vida!
The Stately Crested Caracara
I photographed this beautiful bird along the road on our way to Rio Tres Amigos for our floating safari. The guides and drivers are all so good about stopping when a significant bird is seen. I would not have photographed this bird had we not stopped the van. The map on eBird shows this falcon type bird throughout the Americas, but more so in Central and South america.
I was originally planning to do my post on Rio Tres Amigos today, but simply have too many photo of too many things to have them ready by today, plus this is a very full week with two medical appointments and tourist friends from the states stopping by! 🙂 So I may stick to individual birds, etc. for most of this week. But that Rio Tres Amigos was a great half-day trip that is going to make a super gallery when finished!
And oh yes, my Crested Caracara GALLERY!
¡Pura Vida!
Lizard for Lunch!
WARNING! The photos in this post are graphic and could be considered gross, especially if you are a lizard or have close friends who are lizards! 🙂
I was waiting for my driver from Atenas to arrive at Maquenque for lunch and our return trip home when one of the lodge staff come running in, excitedly telling me that there was a Toucan in a tree in front of the restaurant eating a lizard. Of course I grabbed my camera and ran out for some photos which were difficult because of the poor light in the tree at almost 12 noon! But here’s 5 shots of the Yellow-throated Toucan with his captured lizard and the final shot of another toucan either stealing lizard meat from him or having it shared. I could not tell which. 🙂
Siblings . . .
. . . at drastically different stages of development! 🙂 And so I guess all the eggs don’t hatch at the same time?! Four of us humans walked up to the nest where the mother was sitting and she just flew off! Hopefully to get food for that gaping mouth! 🙂
This is the nest of a Scarlet-rumped Tanager at Maquenque Ecolodge the other day. This is a nesting & hatching time for some near the end of the Dry Season These babies will grow up in the Rainy Season!
¡Pura Vida!