Category: Travel

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Green Heron – All Weather Bird + Trump Stops Mail Service from Costa Rica

This water bird is familiar to most people in North America as he is found in all of the contiguous states and in southern Canada south through Central America and the Caribbean Islands and in the northern tier of South American countries, always on or near water. But I do see more of them down here than I did in Nashville! 🙂 You can see my collection of photos made here in Costa Rica at Green Heron Gallery (linked).

Green Heron, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica.

¡Pura Vida!

Trump Stops Mail from Costa Rica

The Costa Rica Post Office (Correos de Costa Rica) informed me earlier that they could no longer accept mail addressed to anywhere in the USA because of the unpredictable tariffs on all mail, including letters, with no way to charge us. Some other shipping services have also stopped sending to the U.S. like Aeropost & ARCR, though I can still receive packages from the States through Aeropost. The local Correos is now suggesting that you use the more expensive EMS, DHL, UPS or FedEx. Every day brings another reason that I’m glad I live here and not there! 🙂 The United States is being destroyed quicker than I thought they could. Below is copied from an email I received yesterday from ARCR . . .

Mail Service to USA and Canada has been Discontinued
According to a September 2, 2025, article in La Nacion, due to the duties that the Trump administration has imposed on imports from Costa Rica, los Correos has temporarily stopped accepting mail and packages addressed to anywhere in the United States or Canada.
This includes letter mail. It has been reported that Aeropost is following suit. The status of other mail forwarding services is unknown at this time. Check with your mail forwarding service provider.

When are Americans going to wise up and get rid of the worthless Republicans running (ruining) the United States?

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A Tropical Waters Icon

The Anhinga, sometimes called “Snake Bird” because when swimming with his long neck out of the water he/she looks like a snake swimming. This bird is found in all of the tropical Americas on the water where it dives into the water to catch a fish and then afterwards sun-dries itself on a tree as in these two photos, one a male (all black) and one a female (with brown neck). See more of my photos from Costa Rica in the Anhinga Gallery (linked) with most seen on rivers, though also on lakes.

Female Anhinga, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
Male Anhinga, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica

And yes, this makes three days that I have reverted back to my Tortuguero trip for photos. That is because I’ve had some “lean” days in my garden recently (doing posts a week or more ahead now) and I always have more that can be shared from places like Tortuguero! 🙂 Every national park and wildlife reserve here is a rich source of nature photos!

¡Pura Vida!

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“The Woods”

In and/or near Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, seen from a Sansa airplane.

More than 25% of Costa Rica’s forests and land is protected by the government in official National Parks, Wildlife Refuges and Biological Reserves. On top of that there are many “private reserves” that some people say brings the protected percentage closer to 30% but no data on that. And according to Google’s AI:

“With over 615 wildlife species per 10,000 sq km, Costa Rica sits atop of the list as the most bio-diverse region of the world.”

–Google

¡Pura Vida!

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Flowing through us . . . + Another Healthcare Adventure

Rio Tortuguero, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, September 9, 2025, persons unknown. I photographed from another boat that I was on from my lodge, also exploring the river.

¡Pura Vida!

My Latest Public Healthcare Adventure

I now wear hearing aids – a very high quality, made in Denmark. My ENT (with free public healthcare) who is monitoring my head and neck for any possible resurgence of that cancer removed in 2021, also now takes good care of my ears, nose and throat, his specialty. 🙂 When I told him that I could not hear much, if anything, with my left ear, he gave me a hearing test that showed it was sure enough not functioning well and in the process learned that even my right ear was not functioning as good as it could. Radiation Therapy could have possibly caused this, “but don’t worry, we’ll fix it!”

This week I started wearing a hearing aid in each ear, adjusted to fit my needs through the audiologist’s laptop computer. (Everything is computer-related now!) I even have the option of getting the software for my cell phone so I can adjust the volume, etc. myself on my own electronically. I decided to wait a little while before I jump into that technology. 🙂 I seem to stay overwhelmed by technology every day.

The public health hospitals don’t now have audiologists, so they pay a private practice audiologist right here in Atenas to order the hearing aids, fit them to my particular needs (each ear separately). For now I will be seeing him once a month until everything is working smoothly for my hearing and then as often as needed, plus I have his personal phone number I can call any time. And none of this has (or will ever) cost me a penny, thanks to the forward thinking government of Costa Rica.

And I really like the Tico young man who is my audiologist, Leiner Rodriquez, who tried to explain away his German first name as something his mother just liked at that time! 🙂 I look forward to working with him to hear better! It seems like every day I have another reason to be glad that I moved to Cost Rica. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Tortuguero Trip Gallery

CLICK IMAGE to go to the gallery or . . .

Go to: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2025-09-08-12-Tortuga-Lodge-Gardens-Tortuguero

For the last two weeks I’ve shared photos made on my 4-night trip to “The Amazon of Costa Rica,” Tortuguero National Park. And that was only the “tip of the iceberg” of the many photos made. See them all in the above gallery! Having this kind of nature adventures is why I chose to live out my retirement in Costa Rica and it has already surpassed my hopes and dreams and though I have to slow down some, the adventures continue! Sometimes in my little backyard garden! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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2 Monkey Species

out of the 3 that live in Tortuguero were photographed on my trip there more than a week ago now. I always see monkeys in Tortuguero, both at the lodges and on the boat trips or forest trail hikes like I did on the Jaguar Trail this trip. Here’s just 2 shots, one each of a Mantled Howler Monkey and a Central American Spider Monkey. My Trip Gallery is now finished, so you can now see several shots of each species there:

And oh yes, the third monkey usually seen in Tortuguero is the White-faced Capuchin Monkey (linked to my species gallery) but I did not see one this time, which is unusual. They are the most aggressive of the three and will steal food from your bags, etc.

Here’s one shot each of the Howler and Spider monkeys from this trip . . .

Central American Spider Monkey (Black-handed Spider Monkey), Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
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Tamandua Anteater

One of the many interesting things seen on my Jaguar Trail hike (Tortuguero) was a Northern Tamandua, a type of anteater. He was high in the many dark shady trees and thus very difficult to photograph, but here are 3 photographs that give you an idea of this larger than monkeys but smaller than an adult man, looking like he is wearing black coveralls or vest or suspenders! 🙂 You can see the few other photos I’ve made in other parts of Costa Rica of this interesting mammal in my gallery: Anteater, Northern Tamandua, Tamandua mexicana. This one lives throughout Central America from Southern Mexico to the northern edges of the Andes, though there is also another, larger, species of anteater in South America called “Giant Anteater.” Here’s 3 photos made on one of my hikes in Tortuguero National Park a week or so ago . . .

Northern Tamandua Anteater, Jaguar Trail, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
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Red Postman

This Heliconius erato (scientific name) has the English Common Name of “Red Postman” as opposed to the Heliconius melpomene rosina (my gallery link) which is often called just plain “Postman.” There is only a slight difference in both the red and the white bars on these two similar butterflies

And note that this one in today’s post has a very long Spanish Common Name here in Costa Rica: “Mariposa de Alas Largas de Bandas Carmesí.” See more of my many photos of this “Red Postman” Heliconius erato in that linked gallery. The two photos here were made near my room at Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica.

Erato Heliconian or Red Postman, Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
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Red-mantled Dragonlet

The most frequently seen dragonfly at Tortuguero this year was the Red-mantled Dragonlet – Erythrodiplex fervida (my gallery link). I saw them at both the Tortuga Lodge and on the Jaguar Trail in the park and in my gallery are sightings at Manquenque Ecolodge, Hotel Banana Azul, and Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge; all on the Caribbean Slope! Here’s three shots made this month in Tortuguero . . .

Red-mantled Dragonlet, Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
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