Category: Places

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Celeste Mountain Lodge, Flowers, Insects

A “Catch All” post except for Rainforest Trail I’ll share tomorrow.

Each night many came early for dinner to visit & use the wifi.
In addition to this dining room there was a lounge area below, all open-air,
simple, rustic, and ecologically sound structurally.

After breakfast with friends from France, Italy, & New York City.

Hercules Beetle
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Hercules Beetle
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Chestnut-sided Warbler with Caught Insect in Rain
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica
I did not include this photo with the other birds at the lodge. 

Heliconia
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Heliconia
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Heliconia
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Hibiscus
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica
Heliconia
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

The real highlight was the Birds at Celeste Mountain Lodge, link to earlier post
Or you might want to see the lodge’s website for more about their services, great food, etc.

Tomorrow I share the last of my trip to Bijagua, “The Celeste Mountain Lodge Rainforest Trail.”

For more photos of Costa Rica, see my gallery called Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA
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Tenorio Park & Rio Celeste

Charlie Doggett crossing Rio Celeste 
I sure have a lot of “Jungle Fun” for an old man! Its why I’m here!
Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica 
Welcome Sign 

Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica 
They are known for Tapirs (the image) but we saw none. 
We did see 5 Peccaries (like wild hogs), probably a family.
And photos below of 3 other animals.

Merging of the Waters 
 
2 streams merge & their minerals mix & turn the water blue. Fun!
30 meters upstream from the bridge photo above. 
Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Trailhead to Waterfall I Missed 

Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica
Strong winds had knocked some trees over trail. Closed all 3 days there.
It was interesting to learn that Bomberos (Firemen) would clean it up. 
And yes, some people went around the yellow tape anyway. Not me.
Sendero Cerrado – Trail Closed

And Every Tree is a Work of Art! 

Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Brown Wood Turtle 

Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

White-nosed Coati 

 Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Yellow-eared Toucanet 

Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Yes, Much of Trail was this Muddy! 

Tenorio Volcano National Park, Costa Rica
I always take two pairs of hiking shoes & one is still drying from cleanup!
¡PURA VIDA!

You may be asking how it could be so wet when you are still in the “Dry Season.” Well, in a cloud forest like this it is always humid, misty, and sometimes raining, year-around. Maybe more so during the rainy season. Same goes for the coastal rainforests, while we in the Central Valley have two very distinct seasons. That is why the majority of the population lives in the Central Valley.

LITTLE CR EXTRAS:

History of Gallo Pinto (beans & rice in Costa Rica)

Starbucks Coffee Farm in Costa Rica

Another Reason to NOT have a Car in Costa Rica  (Besides the high cost)

Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires!   (Dry Season problem around the world!)

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Cañon Negro: People & Other Wildlife

The Jacques Pellé’s
From France at my lodge and decided to join me on Cañon Negro trip
A very enjoyable couple!

 

Alex, our guide
Explaining this interesting plume plant
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Me
Thanks to the Pelé’s
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Red-eared Slider Turtle
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Green Iguana (male in mating orange)
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Spectacled Caiman
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Unknown Frog (Smilisca?)
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Red Seed of a Fruit used to Color Rice
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Dry Season Flowering Trees
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

And many other interesting trees!
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

A Big Boat for just 4 of us!
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

 

Jacques captures the river ahead – Rio Frio
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Obviously, Cañon Negro was a highlight of the trip! Assuming that you saw the 19 different bird photos from the last three days’ posts. Harris’s Hawk,  Cañon Negro Birds 1, and Cañon Negro Birds 2

Tomorrow I will share shots from the Tenorio Volcano National Park, the closest place to Celeste Mountain Lodge and then more from the lodge another day.

And my general Costa Rica Photo Gallery is always available!

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Today’s Bus Trip

Return trip was on a Double-Decker, air-conditioned bus, painted cool!

Going and returning we stopped about halfway at Baranca, a little village
near Puntarenas, at this super-bus-station, restaurant, stores, huge bathrooms,
for our needed potty break and snacks! 20 minutes!
Our tourist van stopped here on all the Visa Runs to Nicaragua my1st year.
And John & I stopped here on our trip to Tamarindo.

On the return trip I got off the bus in Alajuela (before San Jose) to speed up my

return to Atenas by more than an hour, maybe two! At the bus stop in Bijagua were three young adults from North Carolina on their adventure trip (2 girls & 1 guy) and I enjoyed visiting with them. They had been all over the country by bus from coast to coast for 16 days! Ahhhhhh! Youth!  Yet I probably have as much adventure as an old man, just at a much slower pace in little short trips! What a life! 

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Cañon Negro Birds, Part 2

Mangrove Cuckoo
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Great Blue Heron (Running from A Caiman?)
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Black-collared Hawk
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Amazon Kingfisher male
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Sungrebe (non-breeding male)
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Neotropic Cormorant
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Black-necked Stilt
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica
Roseate Spoonbills
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica
Could not get closer. We were not in the boat but walking in mud!

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

See Yesterday’s Post for the other 9 photos of birds there that I’m sharing, including a Squirrel Cuckoo and Laughing Falcon. Then Monday I shared only the Harris’s Hawk, maybe my favorite, which we saw driving back from Cañon Negro.

About Cañon Negro Wildlife Refuge  (Wikipedia)  Tomorrow some scenery & people there

Or for more of my general photos see the gallery Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA


So far, every new trip I make in Costa Rica yields at least one new species of birds photo for me. And this trip was no exception! On this post the new ones for me are the Mangrove Cuckoo and Black-collared Hawk. And new ones the last two days were the Harris’s Hawk and Laughing Falcon! Four more species added to my collection this week! Not bad!
And that collection is my Birds photo gallery
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Cañon Negro Birds, Part 1

Squirrel Cuckoo 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Anhinga female 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Yellow-throated Toucan 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica
Green Heron 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica
Amazon Kingfisher female 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica
Boat-billed Heron 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Laughing Falcon 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Red-winged Blackbird 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Social Flycatcher building a nest 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

And 9 more tomorrow night, then we start on Tenorio and more from the lodge. Tomorrow (Wed.) I ride the buses back to Atenas.

And my Birds photo gallery

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Harris’s Hawk

Harris’s Hawk
Roadside between Bijagua and Canon Negro, Costa Rica

Click the photo to see it larger.

I made around 600 images at Canon Negro today and have a lot of birds & other photos to share, but I have not had time to process them all, plus we have been without internet connection most of the day and what we have now is very slow. So this is all the report for tonight. But this shot of a Harris’s Hawk will probably be my favorite shot of the day and is my first ever for this kind of hawk. I also got two other kinds of hawks and a Laughing Falcon today, but not this good of an image.

Tomorrow I finally get to the nearby Tenorio Volcano National Park which is where I want to photograph a beautiful waterfall with bright blue water, BUT, all the heavy winds blew a tree down over the waterfall trail Saturday or Sunday and as of today they still have not opened the trail, soooo, I may not get the waterfall I came for. I will learn when I get there. There are other trails to hike and birds to find and I’m hoping for the rare Umbrella Bird that is known to be in the park, but tough to see. Will try! Having a great trip! Traveled to Canon Negro with a lovely couple from France today. Using the same guide tomorrow, Alex, to explore the park, just him and I.

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By Bus to Bijagua

I road my familiar bus to San Jose Coca Cola Station and then
a taxi to Pulmitan Station where I waited for the bus to Upala with everything
indoors at this station, including the boarding of the buses. I nice terminal.

And if I had not eaten breakfast at home, I could have eaten here.
I did have coffee of course and read a little of a Spanish language
newspaper and the latest book on my Kindle while waiting. 

It was the same bus all the way to Bijagua with many brief stops picking up people. Yes, it was a “collectivo” stopping anywhere someone was at a stop and went into Alajuela Central to pick up a lot of people there. It was definitely best that I went to San Jose and got my favorite seat, the front right seat looking out the windshield all the way up! It was most of the way on Highway 1 and from Baranca on a very familiar route to me which we used on our “Visa Runs” that first year. And the Baranca bus station is also a restaurant with shops and big restrooms that I have stopped at many times, so quite familiar. We had a 20 minute break there. All other stops were along the road including my stop in Bijagua in front of a Soda. I found an unmarked taxi that took me to the lodge.

After arriving at Celeste Mountain Lodge I wandered around with my camera for a few birds in the garden and a bird-less hike on a rainforest trail which I will try again in the morning. The room is basic and nice but the food is fantastic gourmet food! At least dinner was tonight! 3 more dinners plus the other meals. It will be amazing if they keep up the quality of food we had tonight. It is one menu for everyone each night with something new everyday. We started with the best 3-cheese quesadilla appetizer with homemade peccadillo that I could have made a meal of! Then sliced chicken breast with this scrumptious sauce accompanied by three local fresh vegetables all cooked differently, with their own sauces. My Planter’s Punch went great with this and it was topped off with a delicious chocolate layer cake. Wow! Beats bus stop food!  🙂
I have a lot of pictures from this afternoon here, but will save them for sharing tomorrow. Tired and sleepy now! And it is cool tonight! Down to 17c or 62f.   ¡Buenos noches!
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My Spanish line is ready for the San Jose bus station in the morning.

Necesito el bus a Upala, saliendo en Bijagua. Favor de por entrada de adulto mayor.

I need the bus to Upala, exiting in Bijagua. A ticket for one senior adult please.

It pays to be over 65 here (adulto mayor), giving me discounts on all buses and national parks, museums and theaters, etc. 

I emailed my self the Spanish line so I can open it on my phone and read it if needed. Or more likely I will wing it! The first sentence is easy now, and the second can be shortened to “para un adulto mayor” as I hand him/her my cedula and gold card.

The bus trip is part of the adventure!  🙂
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Tree-trimming the Quick Way!

Whack! Whack! and Drop the Machete!
All before I can turn on my cellphone & photograph it!
2 limbs of my Guarumo Tree were banging against roof in the wind.
My yard, Atenas, Costa Rica

Photo gallery of My Home Gardens

And for anyone planning to drive a car here in the near future, Ruta 27 will get a little faster next week and the La Patina Bridge repairs & widening is to be finished by April 30 according to this article in Tico Times. And it will speed up the buses to San Jose also!