Category: Travel

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New Phone APP: Animals of Costa Rica

For my fellow nature-lovers in Costa Rica or ones who travel here frequently, you may want to check this out . . . Animals of Costa Rica

Thanks to the El Silencio Guide (Eco Concierge) Daniel for introducing me to a new source of identifying my wildlife photos. I haven’t used it enough to have a strong opinion yet. The one unknown butterfly I tried to find on it, I couldn’t, so like all my other ID sources, it will not be perfect or totally complete, but it is my first source to have all animals in one place and it has a lot of animal photos & detailed info already which I suspect will expand.

And for the birders, I suspect that Merlin & eBird will stay on top for birds, but I’ve had lots of ID needs on other animals here and that is where I expect it to help me the most. We will see.

It was developed by a naturalist from Austria (like one of my favorite lodges was, Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, Golfito), so I have high hopes for it! 🙂 You also can use it to keep a record of the species you have seen by just clicking the eye icon when on a species page. I suspect it will continue to be expanded or updated and for now updates are free.

Go to your preferred App Store to find it available at two price levels (all animals or just one order of species like if only interested in insects):

Google Play

Apple App Store

Here’s just one of many pages as all wildlife orders are included . . .

Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself. —L. Wolfe Gilbert

¡Pura Vida!

And my animals photo galleries are two: BIRDS and then OTHER WILDLIFE.

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El Silencio Book Published

I’m happy to announce that the trip report photo book from my visit to El Silencio Lodge is finished and now available for you to preview electronically for free or order a copy if you like! 🙂 It’s 60 pages with 97 photos of a truly incredible place! See it in my Blurb Bookstore at https://www.blurb.com/b/10309436-el-silencio.

Feature photo is front cover and the back cover is below:

“God is the friend of Silence. See how nature — trees, flowers, grass — grows in silence . . .

We need silence . . . to touch souls.”

~Mother Teresa

¡Pura Vida!

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Villa #4

The villas are different ages as they were added through the years with mine one of the older ones I think but an excellent “Suite” style with open living room, bedroom with King Bed and a huge bathroom with separate little room for toilet plus outside door to my outside Jacuzzi Hot Tub in total privacy but still looking up at the trees. Then there was the great deck/porch or terrace it is called here with great forest views and a place to relax in the outdoors, even in the rain with its roof! I walked almost everywhere but did use their free golf cart transportation to return from dinner at night and to take me and my bags back to office to check out on last day where their driver just moved my bags from the cart to Walter’s van that was waiting. Great service in absolutely everything! And that is what makes a great lodge! 🙂

  • Living Room
  • Bedroom
  • Bathroom
  • Minibar-Kitchenette, frig, microwave, coffee, etc.
  • Jacuzzi Outside off the Bath
  • Jacuzzi
  • Porch – Deck – Terrace
  • Golf Cart right up to steps!
  • On hill in forest – very private
  • Seen from below
  • Towel-heating device! Wow!
  • Fresh Flowers daily in bath!

But the best thing about El Silencio Lodge was the attitude of the employees! They treated me so special every moment of every day that I can’t help but like them! 🙂

“Our attitude towards others determines their attitude towards us.”

– Earl Nightingale

¡Pura Vida!

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El Silencio General Shots

The El Silencio Lodge & Reserve is a very special and unique place! And I say that having spent nights in more than 45 lodges & hotels in Costa Rica. For service, food, room quality, and the natural surroundings it is definitely now in my top 3 favorite lodges and maybe even my #1 favorite! (Remember – different lodges have different priorities!) And also it is my most expensive! 🙂 But with waterfalls like La Promesa at right near your cabin, it is worth almost any price! 🙂 And of course nothing is perfect . . .

My only two complaints at checkout were that the bathroom sink drained slowly because the stopper was installed incorrectly (CR is not famous for great plumbers) and the gourmet chef who served great food served me limp, lightly cooked bacon. Bacon must be crisp in my book! 🙂 Though, in his defense, the night I asked for a well-done steak, he did that very well! 🙂 And I had not specifically asked for the bacon to be crispy! (Had I, it probably would have been! Never assume nothin’!))

I mainly walked, but they have golf carts and drivers who will pick you up anytime, day or night and take you anywhere on campus free of charge! They also have two fleets of bicycles you can use for free, with a handful actually electric! Then they have several vans to take you off-campus to outside waterfalls or other attractions like Poas Volcano, two national parks, birding trips as far as Cañon Negro included with the cost of a guide for the trip. But believe me – there’s enough to do on campus to fill a week easily and their 3 beautiful waterfalls are as good or better than the two outside ones I paid extra to see! But still glad I saw them!

With nature my focus, I don’t get a lot of hotel shots, but here are a few with a separate gallery for my room or villa shots . . .

  • Many Vistas
  • Lodge Road
  • Main Building, Restaurant, etc.
  • Restaurant & Office
  • Entering Empty Restaurant – Dinner by appointments spaced people out
  • Restaurant with University Student Day Visitors
  • Eat overlooking mountain river.
  • Outdoor dining option
  • Lobby – Lounge
  • Golf Carts & Bicycles
  • Street with 3-bedroom villas for families.
  • Tourism Vans
  • Tourism Van
  • One of the hiking bridges
  • Trail
  • Good Signage
  • Hummingbird Garden
  • Trail
  • Nature Preserve
  • Past Farmland
  • Trout Pond
  • Many Streams
  • Waterfalls trails
  • Everything Well-labeled!

Going to the mountains is like going home.

—John Muir

My Trip Gallery: 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve

¡Pura Vida!

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Lichens, Leaves & Nature Things!

Some wonder what I do with a whole week at one of these very remote nature lodges I visit all over Costa Rica – well, a week is almost never enough time for me to see, experience and photograph all there is in these natural wonders! First priority at El Silencio Lodge & Reserve was waterfalls, then birds, butterflies, and on it goes through nature! Today’s collection is some of those little things like an ear-shaped lichen or a fiddlehead – the furled fronds of a young fern that were the inspiration of some of the colorful Oxcart designs used in this lodge and on the famous Oxcarts of Costa Rica. Enjoy a slide show of those and 23 other designs from nature . . .

  • Lichen
  • Lichen
  • Plant
  • Leaves
  • Spear plant?
  • Airplant
  • Moss
  • Ferns
  • Berries
  • Airplant
  • Leaves
  • Leaves
  • Bud
  • Seeds or Berries?
  • Moss
  • Plant
  • Plant
  • Leaf
  • Leaf
  • Ear Lichen
  • Lichen
  • Lichen
  • ?
  • Fiddlehead of a fern
  • ?

Lichens, Leaves & Nature Things!

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. —John Lubbock

¡Pura Vida!

All of my Photo Galleries are Nature-related in Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA.

and I’m finished with the new Trip Gallery: El Silencio Lodge & Reserve or perhaps you would prefer to zero in on my Costa Rica FLORA & FOREST Gallery. ¡Buenas Dias!

¡Pura Vida!

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The Silent Flowers!

Silent at El Silencio Lodge & Reserve in Costa Rica and all are wild flowers with only 3 of these having been planted and cultivated near the buildings. CLICK an image to enlarge.

“A flower does not use words to announce its arrival to the world; it just blooms.” – Matshona Dhliwayo

My Gallery FLORA & FOREST

Or see THIS TRIP GALLERY: 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve

¡Pura Vida!

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Night Hike in Rain

It was raining every night at El Silencio Lodge, so waiting would not have helped! 🙂 But I enjoy night hikes that are provided in most Costa Rica wilderness lodges and you do see thing not normally seen in the day time. We saw less on this one because of the rain and that also made photography with only a cell phone not super good, but here’s 6 shots that are samples of even more we would have seen if not raining. Daniel was my guide on this hike and he included two miradors (vistas) which were interesting at night and sorry I did not try to photograph the views, though again the rain made it more difficult with less moonlight and no stars. CLICK image to enlarge . . .

  • Cloud Forest Anole
  • Tiny Frog Unidentified
  • Cloud Forest Anole
  • Strange Insect Unidentified
  • Red-Knee Tarantula
  • “Letter Tree”

“Between every two pines there is a doorway to a new world.” ~John Muir

¡Pura Vida!

You might also like my Amphibians Gallery, most of which were photographed on Night Hikes all over Costa Rica! 🙂

Or see THIS TRIP GALLERY: 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve.

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Odd Butterflies at El Silencio

I got photos of only 5 species of butterflies during my week at El Silencio Lodge and Reserve, all new to me and difficult to identify – with 2 still unidentified! I also saw a lot of Blue Morphos and Yellows but simply too fast-moving – never stopping for a photo! CLICK an image to see it larger.

  • White-chain Oxeo
  • Unidentified – similar to Splendid Mapwing
  • Harmony Satyr
  • Harmony Satyr
  • Orange Mapwing
  • Orange Mapwing
  • Unidentified Ticlear or Heliconian
Butterflies at El Silencio Lodge & Reserve – September 2020

¡Pura Vida!

And My CR Butterflies Gallery for more!

Or see THIS TRIP GALLERY: 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve

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Walking Among Miracles!

“To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.” – Mary Davis

Just a few shots of walking around El Silencio Lodge & Reserve, Bajos del Toro Amarillo, Costa Rica.

  • Lodge Road
  • Trout Pond
  • Many Streams
  • Rio Corrión
  • One of Many Streams
  • One of Many Streams
  • One of Many Vistas
  • Walking Through a Farm
  • Below my Villa
  • A Mirador Vista
  • Gardener’s Art
  • Gardener’s Art
  • One of Many Streams
  • My Trout Dinner One Night 🙂

By discovering nature, you discover yourself. ~Maxime Lagacé

¡Pura Vida!

See my other Costa Rica Vistas and/or my 2020 El Silencio Trip Gallery.

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Birds of El Silencio

Here’s 12 birds I photographed at El Silencio Lodge and Reserve in addition to the 3 hummingbirds shared yesterday. Of the 15 I photographed, 4 are lifers or first-time I’ve seen that species. Then there were others not photographed like the red-tailed hawk flying overhead and a Black and White Warbler. And my main reason for coming here was the waterfalls! 🙂 So it has been a very good week and I go home tomorrow morning (Saturday) to continue my lesser adventures in Atenas, but will continue sharing photos from this excellent trip.

  • Chestnut-capped Brushfinch
  • Western Wood-Peewee
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Prong-billed Barbet
  • Slate-throated Redstart
  • Blue-gray Tanager
  • Brown Jay
  • Collared Trogan female
  • House Wren
  • Black Phoebe
  • Rufous-collared Sparrow
  • White-throated Thrush

And the lifers? They are the Chestnut-capped Brushfinch, Blackburnian Warbler, Scintillant Hummingbird, and the Black-bellied Hummingbird. I showed the two hummingbirds in a post yesterday. And the reason the Brushfinch is in a girl’s hand, he had just flown into one of the lodge office’s plate-glass windows and was still in shock. He eventually flew off.

I highly recommend El Silencio Lodge & Reserve and though it is expensive, it is well-worth what they charge! And I am not finished sharing photos from this trip, so expect more for the next few days! 🙂

Or see THIS TRIP GALLERY: 2020 El Silencio Lodge & Reserve.

¡Pura Vida!