Like one I photographed in my garden June, just not as good a photo this time. 🙂 And one of the iNaturalist “experts” changed the other photo to an “Orange Cracker,” but me and the AI + my book believe this one is “Red” though I admit the tops of both are similar. 🙂 I’m putting this with my other “official” shots of a Red in my Red Cracker Gallery. And if an “identifier” changes it, I’ll move it. And the butterfly house at Punta Leona says they have both Red & Orange there, so no help there! 🙂 But I’m sticking with red for now! 🙂
One of the many butterflies I photographed at Punta Leona was the White Satyr – Pareuptychia ocirrhoe (my gallery link) which is one that I’ve seen in my garden in Atenas and in 5 other locations in Costa Rica. I got home yesterday afternoon with laundry job #1 and watering plants job #2. 🙂 As I prepared this last night, I decided to get back on my usual schedule of early morning releases, so here it is on the Sunday after Christmas, an angel-like butterfly! 🙂
I was the only guest to take the birding walk the other morning and Pablo & I had this skunk to cross our path in front of us! (Ideal for a photo!) Though there are several species of skunks, I’m reasonably certain that this one is the Striped Hog-nosed Skunk – Conepatus semistriatus (linked to my gallery with 3 other photos of this, my first sighting of a skunk in Costa Rica). 🙂
Striped-Hog-nosed-Skunk, Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Today, Friday, 26 December is my last day at Punta Leona. Tomorrow at noon, one of Walter’s drivers, Alex, will pick me up and return me home where I will again have decent internet service and will share a lot more nature photos from this visit and in one post will give the pros and cons of this unique place and explain why I may not return. Tomorrow’s post may also be done in the afternoon, then I will get back to my morning posts.
The usually slow internet was completely down yesterday, so late on this post. The Scarlet Macaw (my gallery link), or Lapas Roja en español, is kind of a signature bird for Punta Leona since they have nesting boxes with continuous video coverage online of several of the boxes where you can watch the babies grow up and leave their nest. But the birds are all over the property and this shot was made about one block from my hotel room.
I’m on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica today and this photo was made on the opposite side of the country on the Caribbean Sea Coast in 2021 at sunrise. This greeting card photo was one of several I created that year and did not use, but I like it and decided to share today. Tonight maybe I will share a sunset photo IF the weather cooperates! 🙂 HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS DAY!
Sunrise on Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast in 2021.
¡Feliz Navidad! or Merry Christmas!
A potted Poinsettia has kept my terrace in the Christmas Spirit this December! 🙂
I got here in more time than usual because of heavy traffic, maybe the many San Jose residents who escape to the coast for Christmas. 🙂 And as always the coast is hotter than the mild climate of Atenas! Fortunately my room was ready ahead of the official check-in time and I went straight to it in what they call the “Selvamar” section of rooms with each pathway of rooms named after a Latin American country. I’m in the Cuba section and love the room with a small outside patio and everything here is surrounded by tall trees, thus tonight’s photo from my room.
Hotel Punta Leona Selvamar rooms are all surrounded by trees!
I may share photos of my room and the Selvamar rooms area later which is all nestled into the forest surrounded by many tall trees. I think it is the best place to stay for a short visit to Punta Leona and I will tell about other lodging later.
I organized my room and then did a lot of walking and got hot and tired, so I utilized their free shuttle buses to get back to my room. 🙂
Tomorrow morning before breakfast, I take the morning bird walk and then after breakfast the butterfly tour! 🙂 My only other tour is a sloth walk on Thursday. The last time here I also went to Carara NP for birds but decided not to this time, nor the nearby Tarcoles River morning bird boat tour. Instead, I will explore the tidepools and the gigantic trees trail here instead. And later I will write an evaluation of Punta Leona (their website link) telling what I like and what I don’t like about it, but for now just sharing photos and maybe only one photo a day since the internet is a little slow here. 🙂
I’m spending my Christmas or the next 5 days on the closest beach to where I live, Punta Leona, Jaco, Puntarenas Province in a protected transitional forest with lots of birds including the Scarlet Macaw, monkeys and other wildlife, plus two beautiful beaches for walking, birds, tidepools, sunsets, etc. I do not swim in the ocean anymore for multiple reasons.
My only other time at Punta Leona was in 2019 (trip gallery link) at a different time of year (March) and I’m hoping for better sunset photos in December than I got then. Plus I plan to explore the tide pools between the two beaches this time (new to me) and spend more time on the forest trail of “gigantes” or giant trees over 55 meters tall, enjoy the butterfly house and the Macaw nesting boxes. Punta Leona Posts will start tonight. Below this introductory photo is a gallery of my beach photos from 2019 . . .
More photos from outside Atenas in this category because I always see more wildlife at the parks, reserves and lodges than at home, which may be best. 🙂 And with less travel this year there were fewer exotic animals, but here’s a few that are pretty interesting 🙂 . . .
A regular in my garden, though not recently, and easy to confuse with Esmeralda Skipper, is the Long-tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus (my gallery link). It is found all over the southeastern U.S., the Caribbean Islands and Central America.
Long-tailed Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
And oh yeah, this is the first butterfly I have seen on the Desert Rose flower in the 7 or 8 years I’ve had it. But you can see that he is not eating nectar, just resting. The flower is just too deep for most butterflies and hummingbirds. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Extra Costa Rica News Article:
World’s 2nd Worst Traffic Congestion!
“Costa Rica now ranks second in the world for worst traffic congestion, according to new 2025 Numbeo data, with commute times and CO2-heavy gridlock far above the global average. The report underscores how daily jams are hitting quality of life and the environment, especially in the Central Valley.” Tico Times Article.
Tico Times photo
It is mainly inside and around the capital city of San Jose where I have to go with a driver for most of my medical specialist appointments. Realtors in Atenas will tell you that we are only 45 minutes to an hour from San Jose – well . . . maybe at 2 am! 🙂
It is not unusual for my trips to Hospitals Mexico or Blanca Cervantes to take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on time of day, accidents, or highway construction. It is frustrating that there are not enough lanes on the major highways AND that (like in the U.S.) most cars have only one person in them! Many, if not most, tourists want rental cars for the independence and freedom to go where you wish whenever. But many become very frustrated trying to drive here, especially in and around San Jose traffic, while in rural areas it is the pot-holed narrow roads and one lane bridges (or river fording) that make for an adventure. 🙂 I recommend tourists to stay in one place when here for less than two weeks and use lodge or van services to get to and from the airport. Though there is a sense of adventure when driving in Costa Rica! 🙂
And oh yeah! Who are we second to? Nigeria! And having traveled all over Africa, I would put the whole continent as worse than Costa Rica, but this ranking was based on some kind of research. And perceived paradises do have their drawbacks! 🙂 I handle if my not owning a car and using taxis, public buses, and my professional tour driver to get me wherever I need to be. (And now go to San Jose only for doctors!) 🙂
Hoping you will have a happy December as I expect mine to be. I will be slowing down with only 3 doctor appointments! 🙂 My health is doing well with mostly the wonderful public health system here in Costa Rica, an ultra sound scan every 6 months showing me cancer free, a monthly nurse visit to my house, checking on me and data on my CPAP machine, and just a month ago I got new hearing aids compliments of the Cost Rica Social Security! Life is good in Costa Rica! 🙂
