Dry Season Waterfall

There is not a lot of water in many streams during dry season, though springs provide some, and this Waterfall #5 is the biggest one during the rainy season, but not much to look at on my last morning hike down the steep path to see it. Of course there is a much larger and nicer falls at Arenal Observatory Lodge and even better are the 3 giant falls at El Silencio Lodge in Bajó del Toro, but still I like all waterfalls, so here’s 4 shots of a little one from this morning.  🙂

 

Waterfall #5, Xandari Costa Rica

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Xandari Landscapes

I got 8 more butterflies today and at least one a “lifer” or new one for me, but identifying and processing hundreds of photos is just too much to share those today and the birds were just a very few! It is quite windy here this time of year.

So for today’s post, the easy way out, a handful of vistas from the hotel, many from my room and most of these are untouched straight out of the camera to facilitate my limited time for this post today!  🙂 One shot of last night’s sunset from my room just for the email announcement, and then all in a slide show that follows . . .

Sunset from Villa 19, Xandari Costa Rica, Alajuela, 31 January 2023

 

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First Afternoon Butterflies

I arrived at Xandari in time for a little snack lunch and was assigned the same room, Villa 19, that I was in last August also for just two nights (they’re expensive is why short stays). See the room gallery for last year if you want to know what it looks like. All rooms are very nice here!

I walked the inner-circle trails photographing only these four butterflies and a whole lot more flowers and other nature which I will share later. It was bright sun and hot all afternoon, which is what butterflies like and there were a lot flying around but not stopping for a photo, especially the yellows and I saw some Julias too, but only these 4 landed where I could photograph. Tomorrow I will walk some deeper forest trails which have different butterflies and birds, though I got no birds this afternoon.  Birds will be in the morning.

Banded Peacock, Xandari Costa Rica, Alajuela

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Alajuela’s “STARRED” Park

While Alajuela is finishing the reconstruction of the bus terminal for buses from surrounding towns like Atenas, our Atenas bus drops us off downtown and then we catch the return bus between a cemetery and neighborhood city park that I haven’t found a name for yet. For Christmas this year they hung brightly colored stars from all the trees in the park which doesn’t seem that special, but their “Walk-through Stars” on one of the sidewalks is kind of neat to me. Here’s three shots of it from different angles.

Starred Park in Alajuela, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
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New Photo Book Published

CLICK this cover image for the bookstore and a preview of all 30 pages.

It is too late to get it for Christmas except in the states, but my reasons for publishing now is to have in January and February to share on trips. I have no ambitions to make money on my photography but operate with an almost obsessive desire to create and these little photo books provide that creative outlet more than anything other than maybe this blog! 🙂 The sharing of photos on this blog and in my gallery are two other outlets and to a lesser degree the sharing of bird photos on eBird and butterfly photos on butterfliesandmoths dot org. 🙂 Right now I’m the biggest contributor of butterfly photos from Costa Rica! 🙂

Check this book out with the free preview and let me know what you think! And I hope you are exploring the world where you live! There’s a lot to discover literally everywhere!

¡Pura Vida!

Hotel Colinas del Sol

Just one block outside of the Roca Verde Gate or about 3-4 blocks from my house is this little boutique hotel now run by a wonderful German couple who are making improvements over the previous owner and it is the location for our ART SHOW this weekend, in their events space where some of my neighbors go regularly for their yoga class. It will be a very pleasant place for 21 different artists to share their work and for me to hang out in this weekend . . .

Hotel Colinas del Sol, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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CafePress for Unique Photo Items

CLICK this image of my home page at CAFEPRESS to see the few items I now have available.

I have quit using them 2 or 3 times because I didn’t like something they did or didn’t do, but they are still my best source for a few quality novelty items that I will have 3 of this weekend at ART SHOW: Tote Bags, a T-shirt and a Mouse Pad. I’ve found no other source for the quality of their tote bags, T-shirts or mouse pads that no one has anymore! I was upset when they quit doing the wall calendars that I wanted for this show and ordered 2 from another source that are okay, but I will not use again, and so I’m back with CafePress and will keep just a few limited items on my page there with a link to it from my web page. Just click CafePress on the menu. And if you love tote bags and miss getting one this weekend, you can go to my CafePress page and order one. 🙂

AND if you want a different one of my photos on something, just email me and I will add it to the CafePress page! 🙂

Note that my Gallery has a few novelty items like the coffee mugs that you can also order with any of my gallery photos on it as well as prints, the metal wall art I have this weekend and canvas wall art. So if you’re willing to shop online, my photos are available in many ways from several places! 🙂

Also be aware that many of these online sources in the states require a U.S. address for shipping, like my bookstore. I prefer to use Aeropost even though I have to go to Alajuela to pick up packages. They are faster. In Atenas there is the new Atenas Webshop and the more established Costa Rica Shipping, both of which will give you a Miami Address just like Aeropost. They are both slower than Aeropost but you can pick up the packages at their offices in Central Atenas. 🙂

Costa Rica Photo Art

¡Pura Vida!

Christmas ’22 at CITY MALL

The closest shopping mall to me is City Mall in Alajuela across the highway from the San Jose Airport, the largest mall in Costa Rica and second largest in Central America (Panama has a bigger one). Like all malls everywhere, everything is more expensive than at little local stores, but it is still popular, especially with the younger generations! I go two or three times a year for things I can’t get anywhere else and to see the new Christmas decorations. I went last week for my annual photo wall calendar by CR Photographer Pucci in the big and wonderful bookstore “La Librería Internacional” and some Avery Labels at Office Depot. 🙂

Christmas 2022 at CITY MALL Alajuela, Costa Rica
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My New Butterfly Photo Gallery

The general address for my Butterflies & Moths of Costa Rica stays the same, but all the sub-galleries or individual butterfly galleries will unfortunately have new web addresses. This is because I want this gallery to be scientifically accurate to match my volunteer work with butterfliesandmoths.org. Thus each of nearly 200 individual butterfly galleries will be titled with their common name and sub-titled in smaller letters with their scientific name. Then they have been placed in folders or family galleries according to their taxonomy. Thus the first level of galleries you see on the first screen image below are the families such as Hesperiidae – SKIPPERS (35+) or the largest family in my collection is Nymphalidae – BRUSHFOOTS (79+). The individual butterfly galleries are presented inside these family folders in the taxonomic order found on butterfliesandmoths.org, making my gallery a good research tool for anyone doing research on butterflies and moths in Costa Rica! 🙂 The bad part is that all my old blog posts (before yesterday’s) that have a link to an individual butterfly gallery – that link will no longer work! So sorry! But that is the cost of scientific accuracy. Before I just had them arranged alphabetically by common name – not the best way! 🙂 To check out my Costa Rica Butterfly & Moth Photo collection, click the first page image below or go to this address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/Butterflies-Moths

My Photo Gallery: Butterflies & Moths of Costa Rica – CLICK IMAGE to visit.

I have one of, if not the largest collections of Costa Rica Butterfly photos online that I know of at about 200 species. Before getting involved in the butterfliesandmoths website, my primary source was and still often is the excellent book A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America by Jeffery Glassberg.

And I could say the same things about my CR Birds Gallery which has about 360 species and has always been arranged in taxonomic order by families based on the order found in Princeton Field Guide: Birds of Central America, my preferred bird guide now, other than eBird online.

¡Pura Vida!

Xandari Trip Gallery

I do an online photo gallery (or galleries with the sub-galleries) and the gallery for my recent little two-night stay at a favorite place is now up at https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2022-Aug-31-Sept-2-Xandari-Resort-Alajuela

Or you can just click this first page image and get there!

The highlight of this little trip was the large number of butterflies seen and photographed with 29 species having useable photos for the gallery. And I am still trying to catch up with posting all my butterfly species on butterfliesandmoths.org! 🙂 Butterflies rule! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!