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Is not really that “giant” in size like its cousin, Monstera Deliciosa, but rather has leaves that mostly grow flat against the trunk of a tree and sometimes, as in this photo, on top of moss. This Giant Monstera – Monstera tuberculata (Wikipedia article) was growing on a tree in the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge in the South Caribbean area of Limón Province of Costa Rica on my recent trip there.
¡Pura Vida!
You might also enjoy my gallery Leaves & Nature Things!
“The Caribbean Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita clypeatus), also known as the soldier crab, West Atlantic crab, tree crab, or purple pincher (due to the distinctive purple claw), is a species of land hermit crab…” ~iNaturalist,
And on iNaturalist Cost Rica they have been reported only from the South Caribbean area of Limón Province where I visited recently.
For several different species of crabs, see my gallery: CRUSTACEANS CR (linked).
¡Pura Vida!
The Sandbox Tree – Hura crepitans (linked to Wikipedia) in wet tropical lands in both the Americas and moist jungles of Africa; seen here on my walk through just one little part of Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, manzanillo, Limón, Costa Rica. It has a lot of other “Common Names” other than the “Sandbox Tree” listed as the official common name. My favorite of them all is the “Monkey No-Climb Tree.” 🙂 Yes, those scales are very sharp-pointed!
¡Pura Vida!
This bird used to be called just “Whimbrel” and that common name and its scientific name was for all Whimbrels world-wide. Now “they” have split them into two species with the old scientific name going for the ones in Europe & Asia and the ones in the Americas (North, Central and South) are called Husonian Whimbrel (Numenius hudsonicus) (my gallery link).
Thus another one of my galleries had to have a name change, including each individual photo. Just part of having up-to-date science! 🙂 This smaller, “chunkier” one (compared to the majority) was seen last week at Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. And if you notice the water is darker and reddish or rusty, it is because the ocean’s saltwater at high tide went up into the Mangrove Forest and the Bloodwood Trees there react to the salt, releasing a reddish sap this time of year, turning the water red as the tide goes back out. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
This year’s visit to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica included a week at Hotel Banana Azul with a day hike in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge and my collection of photos are ready to see at https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2026-09-14-18-Banana-Azul-Gandoca-Manzanillo or you can click on the first page image below to get there. Two disclaimers as to why there are not as many photos this year: The bizarre weather with a Super-El-Niño, wind and rain every day (normally the driest month there), a muddy beach road with no butterflies at all (my main thing there now) and the global-warming and ocean rising has caused enormous erosion of the beaches there now, with almost no beach left. But it is still a beautiful nature place and I have a lot of photos from this year’s trip.
¡Pura Vida!
I’ve done blog posts of Caribe photos ahead through the end of September, but wanted to announce my trip gallery now. The first of October I will continue sharing nature photos from my garden and on walks in my hometown of Atenas. If I just look, there is some nature to experience every day! 🙂
. . . used to be one of the birds I photographed at Banana Azul every year, but not this year. (I did see one fly off one day.) But I got several shots of this one in Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge and we saw him in 3 or 4 places searching for crabs (his favorite food) or other small animals to eat. Just two shots here, but you can see more in my gallery: Common Black Hawk (linked). It is found from the Southwestern U.S. south through Mexico and all of Central America to the northern shores of South America. We have them on both slopes of Costa Rica.
¡Pura Vida!
. . . Peacock Butterflies that is, at Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge: the feature photo above is of the White Peacock (my gallery link) and below is the common Banded Peacock (my gallery link) as the only two butterflies I was able to photograph during this year’s week in Caribe Sur, with a few others seen flying but never landing at both Manzanillo and Banana Azul.
¡Pura Vida!
A graceful and simple flower along tropical beaches and in the Gardens of Hotel Banana Azul, the Beach Spider Lily, Hymenocallis littoralis.
¡Pura Vida!
Read about this species on Wikipedia or on iNaturalist Costa Rica.
I am not through sharing photos from this year’s trip to Banana Azul and haven’t even started on the photos from a morning hike in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (source of my most wildlife sightings this year), but with all the praise I’ve given Banana Azul over the years and what was an annual trip every September (the month with usually less rain), I need a “DISCLAIMER” to previous recommendations for this hotel and area and to explain why I will not continue annual trips here and may not even return to Banana Azul.
Read on for my explanation or reasons and to see more photos . . .
Continue reading “Eroding Beaches, Diminishing Wildlife, and . . .”
Another new species of lizard for me! The Ghost Anole, Anolis lemurinus (my gallery link with only these 2 photos now) or you can check out the parent gallery LIZARDS (22+ species) (linked) where you will find 8+ anole species in the Genus Anolis, plus a lot of other interesting tropical lizards. Just more of the adventure of living in Costa Rica! 🙂 And yes, this one was found at Hotel Banana Azul in the Caribe. And because I went to Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on the last day there, all of those photos are yet to come. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!