Category: Travel

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River Roads

Getting to and from anywhere in Tortuguero is only by boat with outsiders able to use the Tortuguero Landing Strip to fly here by small plane. All week I have been traveling around this rainforest park by boat including my private birding trip in a canoe this afternoon with Ricardo doing the paddling and me making photos!  🙂   One photo below is from that canoe trip. It is a different world, a water world! Tomorrow the lodge takes me by boat to the Tortuguero Landing Strip for my flight out which is a relief since the gravel roads between Guapiles and the boat dock are in bad condition right now. It is only the second time I’ve gone to an airport by boat with the other being at Drake Bay.

River Scene Shots

 

Wilderness is a necessity there must be places for human beings to satisfy their souls.

~John Muir

 

See my 2019 Tortuguero Turtle Beach Lodge Visit Gallery for more on this exciting rainforest trip!

Or the Turtle Beach Lodge hotel website

Or my photo book on 3 visits to TORTUGUERO, The Amazon of Costa Rica

 

¡Pura Vida!

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Maquenque Bigger Water Birds

Yeah, when I did the “Big Birds” post I failed to mention that some of the water birds are pretty big too, especially some of the Herons and the Anhinga. And here they are:

Click Image to Enlarge

¡Pura Vida!

You may also enjoy my Costa Rica Birds Gallery 

and my 2019 Maquenque Lodge Trip Gallery   

See the lodge website:  Maquenque Ecolodge

 

And a BONUS article in Tico Times for you who are more adventurous, like my 82 year-old friend Jorge who completed The 280 Kilometers, 16 Day, Coast to Coast Hike    on  el Camino de Costa Rica.

Pura vida for mountain hikers! I did one day on this trail and the almost constant uphill climbs was too much for me, though of course the whole trail is not uphill!   🙂

 

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Maquenque “Big Birds”

Of course “Big” is relative, but these are probably the 7 biggest birds I photographed at Maquenque Lodge & Reserve, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica – with yesterday’s toucans and tomorrow’s parrots tying for second largest, then we get to smaller ones–lots! I photographed more than 50 species of birds at this lodge which I think only Esquinas Rainforest Lodge has equalled and maybe Selva Verde, Sarapiqui. I highly recommend Maquenque for birding!

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See also my earlier post on just the King Vulture with more shots of him/her plus a juvenile, and yesterday’s post on the three types of Toucans at Maquenque Lodge. The gallery and then a book are both coming soon! All about the wonderful Maquenque Lodge & Reserve!    🙂

¡Pura Vida!

You may also enjoy my Costa Rica Birds Gallery 

and my 2019 Maquenque Lodge Trip Gallery   

See the lodge website:  Maquenque Ecolodge

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Describing My 2014 Journey Here

This week’s death of Nature Poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019), and article about her in Washington Post, plus reviewing her poems led me to her “Journey” which in some ways describes what I was unable to describe in my 2014 “Decision Process” I called it then, of getting away from the depressing world of conservative Middle Tennessee, the clouds of a failed marriage and subsequent loss of family, branches and stones in my path of a vocational “calling”  manipulated by power-hungry “rulers” ending unceremoniously first in 1999 and finally by 2002 in unplanned early retirement. In a daze . . .

I’ve always tried to “make lemonade out of lemons” and I turned my retirement into an adventure of nature travel and photography as much as I could afford, including visits to all 54 state parks in Tennessee with a book about that, A Walk in the Woods, along with many other nature/travel books and my growing nature photo gallery. But I was still looking for something else.

Moving from the vibrant life of rowhouse living in downtown Nashville to a suburban “Independent Living Retirement Home” was still not what I was looking for.

It was to commune closer with nature, to travel in natural exotic places that my limited income could not afford, then suddenly it hit me, why not move to one of the nature places in which I love to travel and just live there?

With only 2 family members left and no grandchildren, it was easier for me than some people to make such a life-changing move! And now I see it described in a new way in this poem by Mary Oliver:

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice–

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do–

determined to save

the only life you could save.

~Mary Oliver

¡Retired in Costa Rica!

¡Pura Vida!

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My 2019 Nature Adventures

A different hotel/lodge every month except April when a gang from Nashville come to volunteer in the children’s home here in Atenas. 4 lodges are repeats but such great places they will be totally new experiences! I start this month near the Nicaragua border sleeping 5 nights in a treehouse and from there it is everything from Whale Watching to Tapirs and of course lots of birds! There will be new wildlife this year and also its the year I expect to top 300 bird species that I will have photographed in Costa Rica! What a life!   🙂

And you may wonder why I am planning so far ahead? Well, it was not far enough for some places I wanted to visit, especially for next Christmas when my first two choices were already booked. Costa Rica and its best lodges and hotels are very popular and stay booked more than a year in advance.

The links on the hotel/lodge name is to that hotel’s website, if you are interested. And the map gives the approximate location of each visit this year using the month number for when I visit that spot and listing indicates lodge or national park visited that month.

  1. Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada
  2. Doubletree San Jose & Turtle Beach Lodge Tortuguero
  3. Hotel Punta Leona, Jaco Beach
  4. Hogar de Vida Children’s Home, Atenas
  5. Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui  *
  6. Macaw Lodge (Nat Geo), Carara National Park
  7. Xandari Nature Resort, Alajuela  *
  8. Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Caribe (Carnival Week)  *
  9. Cristal Ballena Hotel, Uvita (Whale Watching) Ballena NP
  10. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, Rincón de la Vieja National Park
  11. Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park  *
  12. Tapirus Lodge, Braulio Carrillo National Park

*The 4 starred hotels are repeats for me, meaning I really like them!  🙂  And this is what it is like to be Retired in Costa Rica, the name of my blog! Pura vida!

For those who know Costa Rica the map helps understand where I’m traveling this year, my first to not go to Osa Peninsula, as I explore new places.

CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE  
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Good Samaritan Serendipity!

 

“It’s a small world!” phenomenon only happens occasionally and when it does it always brings a big smile to my face.  🙂  It happened today, January 1, 2019, with a message through the contact form on this site from an address I did not recognize.  I will keep their names private but briefly share the fun serendipity story of that email greeting:

The email starts with the couple (an educator & a musician from Canada but now in the states) saying they were looking at a travel book reviewing all the countries of the world and when they came to The Gambia, they were reminded of me since I’m the only person they had ever met from there, though a long time ago, and remembered the Gambia photos on my condo wall.

My downtown Nashville Row House for first 10 years of retirement.

THE  STORY

It was around the first of January 2003 (16 years ago) when after returning from The Gambia I finally moved from the Residence Inn Nashville West End to my new row house in Hope Gardens/Germantown across from the Farmer’s Market and Bicentennial Mall State Park (Header photo above). I think I used my new Tacoma pickup to move my stuff from the hotel to my new row house. As happens sometimes, a box fell out of the truck along West End Avenue and this charming couple from western Canada, in town as Vanderbilt students, saw the box and stopped, picking it up and diligently tracing it to me at my new address! Wow! There are still a few “Good Samaritans” left in the world!   🙂  Thank you!

When they brought the box to me I gave them an invitation to my already planned open house later in January and they came! And still remember it and all my Gambia photos on the walls.

Thus the connection when they read about Gambia in the book. They found me and my website in an internet search and decided to write their very kind and thoughtful New Year’s greeting through the contact form on my website. Small world & fun memories!     🙂

Thanks friends! For remembering AND writing!   Good Samaritans in my life!


“We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need – regardless of race, politics, class, and religion – is your neighbour. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbour, and you must love your neighbour.” 


― Timothy Keller, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just

¡Pura Vida!

 

Bicentennial Mall Carillons across the street from my Row House – Nice music!

 

How blessed I am to have lived is so many beautiful places!  AND to have had so many neat experiences like this! THANK YOU GOD! 

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Stress to Tranquility

¡Tranquilo!  is a favorite Spanish word in Costa Rica and is used in many ways to encourage or recognize tranquility and the easy-going ways here (except in the big city). My day started with a little bit of stress (in the big city) but ended very tranquil! (in a forest)

A different driver than expected picked me up early today which was good because of pre-Christmas traffic, but when I got to the airport the new girl at the counter told me my flight had been cancelled. What?! (Feel the stress building? She did.) But fortunately the supervisor she called over was exceptionally kind and helpful and not only got me on another flight but gave me a discount! Then I go and wait and wait for the plane which was 40 minutes late leaving with a driver waiting on me in Quepos. And being a Tico, he was not upset that the plane was late. ¡Pura Vida! Then when I got to my expensive hotel they could not schedule all the tours I wanted for various reasons (grrrr), but fortunately . . .

The Spa had space for one more person this afternoon and I got my “Relaxation Massage” and then went to a lovely dinner with monkeys entertaining and the nice sunset beside the building my room is in, with an ocean view by the way! 🙂

Phone Shots Today

All’s well that ends well!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

See this TRIP GALLERY   2018 December Si Como No.

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My Africa Adventures Added to Website

On Safari in Masai Mara Reserve, Kenya, November 19, 2005

I am beginning a new stories section of my website titled Travel. It will eventually have many stories of my many trips around the world (outside Costa Rica) with some illustrative photos along with links to the newest section of my Photo Gallery titled Pre-Costa Rica Travels.  where I am slowly creating a gallery on each trip over the years or at least the recent years, one at a time as I slowly move such photos from the Travel Section of my old Pbase gallery.   PHOTO ABOVE: Masai Shepherd in Kenya

Writing the stories and moving the photos are both very slow and time-consuming jobs, but time is what an ol’ retiree has isn’t it?   🙂

For multiple reasons, I decided to start with Africa in both the Travel Stories and the Photo Gallery sections. The photos are mostly moved but all of the stories have not been written yet. I have a good start, especially with most of my Gambia stories already told here. Here’s what you can expect to find now:

TRAVEL STORIES

Driving from Nairobi, Kenya to Musoma, Tanzania, November 7, 2005

You find Travel on the main menu above with dropdown menus for stories started here and additional menu links on each country’s home page for related stories in other pages of the site. For example: my Gambia Missionary experiences and mission trips are on the HIS SPIRIT menu first and thus linked to there from this Travel Gambia Home Page or Kenya Home Page, etc. The software allows for drop down menus for only items initiated on that page, thus regular links to other pages like the missionary stories.

And since my photo galleries are actually on SmugMug.com, they cannot be on any of my site drop down menus but must be linked to from each country’s Home Page or found by going to the big gallery first from the above menu. I hope that is not confusing. Just use the country’s home page to find everything about that country.   🙂

I have only barely started on all the stories I want to tell, but for the main Travel section described above I have started these pages with more stories coming on each in the future:

AFRICA

TRAVEL PHOTOS

Masai people in the Great Rift Valley near Masai Mara, Kenya

My travel photos made before moving to Costa Rica are in a special sub-gallery title Pre-Costa Rica TRAVELS. Like my Costa Rica Trips gallery they are arranged chronologically by dates of each trip with most recent at top. At this moment, I have only travels to Africa included. Click above to see all or here is the list of my Africa Travel Galleries which will later be mixed in with other travels depending on the dates:

Africa Travel Photo Galleries:

Sunset on River Gambia, McCarthy Island, Janjanbureh, The Gambia

 

“The darkest thing about Africa

has always been our ignorance of it.”

~George Kimble

All photos by Charlie Doggett.

Questions?    Contact me!

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Traveling Costa Rica

 “Remember what Bilbo used to say: It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”– JRR Tolkien

 

Beach or Mountain – Every Place is Good to Visit Here!
Above is sunset at Flamingo Beach.

That is part of my retirement job of “enjoying retirement.” And though my entire photo gallery titled “Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA” includes much from these trips I take about every two months or more frequently, it has been mostly organized in subject galleries like Birds, Butterflies, Flora & Forest, places and events. Because people ask me about traveling to a specific location, what I saw there, about guides, activities, hotel, food, etc. I decided to add a new section to the photo galleries called “TRIPS.” Here you will find a gallery or folder on each trip with most recent trip at top and most include multiple photo galleries, like one for all the birds I photographed there, one on the hotel, other animals, scenery, etc. So if you are interested in what you might see and do in say Drake Bay, Tortuguero, or Sarapiqui, just check out my trip gallery to that place. And you already know that nature is my primary focus on all trips!  🙂

I guess this will be most helpful to persons considering a particular place to visit to see if it is something that interests you. Now also be aware that I travel to places multiple times and usually in different hotels/lodges. So check out all three of my trip galleries to San Gerardo de Dota for example. Or if you are just wanting . . .


HOTELS & LODGES

Me at hotel by Arenal Volcano

And if you only want my opinion on a hotel or lodge? Well, I’m using a new “story-telling” feature on my web gallery host (SmugMug) now to present my opinions of the various hotels and lodges I have visited, over 30 in 3 years! These are listed alphabetically by locations (town. park, etc) and include links to the hotel’s website as well as other links of interest like my above trip galleries!  🙂 You find it in my big gallery under “PLACES & THINGS” as Cost Rica Lodges & Hotels. 

And for different kinds of reviews, I also write a report on most hotels on TripAdvisor where you should find a list of my reviews.





TRANSPORTATION
Most Americans are addicted to cars and thus will use a rent car with a GPS that will get you to any location. Just don’t depend on maps and addresses since house numbers are not used in Costa Rica much nor are streets or highways labeled, which can be a problem at the intersection of two highways where you need to turn. In addition to GPS systems, a lot of locals use WAZE on their cellphones for directions since it includes traffic problems, wrecks, construction work and detours. Or Google Maps provides good directions also on phones. Just bring a car charger for phone!

But if you want to forget the stress and travel the Pura Vida way, take a public bus to anywhere in the country for pennies on the dollar compared to rent car and no stress or getting lost. At your destination town, take a taxi to your hotel or many hotels provide shuttle transportation. To find bus schedules and plan your trip use  http://horariodebuses.com/EN/cr/index.php  and if you can’t handle Spanish, there is a menu item to “Change the Language” with many major world languages included, like English!  🙂

NOTE: Since this post I now use a private driver for most trips not needing a plane. I use Walter Ramirez whose business is linked in the right column of this blog and to logo at left. I highly recommend him and all of his drivers. It costs more than a bus but is quicker, more efficient, more comfortable and relaxing with stops anytime you wish.

For longer distances and to save a long bus ride, I recommend the Costa Rican Sansa Airlines to get you across the country quickly and efficiently (telephone them is best) or their Canadian competitor Nature Air.   Booking online has not worked efficiently for me, so I recommend telephoning either airline.  NOTE: Nature Air has gone out of business since this post. But Sansa was always better anyway!  🙂

Typical 12-passenger plane used for in-country flights
and to neighbors Nicaragua and Panama.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

 
Well, I may have gotten carried away with travel information and opinions! Sorry! My original purpose was to simply introduce you to my new set of photo galleries called
A New Photo Gallery!
So, I hope you check it out and enjoy some of my trips vicariously or get ideas for trips of your own!
buen viaje
(That’s Spanish for “Bon Voyage” or “Good Trip”)
 
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, 
leading to the most amazing view.”    
— Edward Abbey

 

Caribbean Sunrise at Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca