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One of the many common lizards in the rainforests of Costa Rica is the Green Basilisk (English common name) with the Spanish common name my preferred, Emerald Basilisk or of course actually Basilisco Esmeralda. 🙂 I have a lot of better photos in my gallery: Emerald or Green Basilisk (linked). But from this trip, just one shot of the whole lizard and then one “head & shoulder portrait.” 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Not only is Maquenque up to 70 Treehouse Cabins (THE TREEHOUSE LODGE IN COSTA RICA!), but they continue adding wildness and nature to various corners of their deep forest. One of the additions I discovered this time is a corner of their farm alongside one of the smaller lagoons has been turned into a meadow of flowers! Not only the natural wild flowers, but they have planted more, like Zinnias, Daisies, Cuban Buttercups, Heliconia’s, and more that I haven’t identified. 🙂 And within it I photographed 15+ species of butterflies with the dominant ones being an assortment of “Tigers” or about 4 species of Genus Mechanitis (Tigerwings) and maybe a Tiger Mimic-Queen. I’m having trouble separating and identifying all the tigers! 🙂 Here’s two shots (side view & top view) of what may or may not be the same species in the “Flower Meadow,” followed by a gallery of 4 shots of the flowers in the meadow . . .
Today I will travel for about 4 hours to one of my favorite lodges and best birding place, Maquenque Eco Lodge (their link) near the Nicaragua border in Boca Tapada, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela Province, almost directly north of where I live in the center of the country. It will be my 6th trip there and 3rd time to celebrate my birthday there, which is July 4 and this year number 86! 🙂
I may or may not do a post tonight from there, but otherwise a daily post from Maquenque reporting on my nature finds there for the next 5 days and as always a few more days after a trip. This will be my 6th time at Maquenque with, of course, lots of photos and a “Trip Gallery” from every visit there . . .
Continue reading “Maquenque Lodge Tonight”
This little visit to a favorite nature place nearby was scheduled for May 25 and had to be postponed at the last minute because of a sick stomach. I re-introduced Xandari in that May 25 blog post Two Nights at Xandari (linked) within which are links to my 7 other trips there including for one birthday and one Christmas celebration. It is my 3rd best butterfly location (for the number of species) after my Garden and Hotel Banana Azul in Caribe Sur.
In that post I did not link the hotel’s website because they emphasize things like their Spa and pools rather than nature, but if curious, here is the link: https://www.xandari.com/Resort-Spa-costarica-overview.php
It was started and first operated by a Frank Lloyd Wright Style Architect and his Art Teacher wife who continued to teach in a special artist pavilion there. The contemporary rooms are decorated with art and sculptures from her and her students as are the gardens with sculptures. A large forest on a mountain north of the city of Alajuela (my provincial capital) with two major waterfalls, a farm, garden and forest trails and of course their Spa and a great restaurant! In their lobby is the only public library of Charlie Doggett photo books! 🙂 They are one of several nature-centered tourist locations in Costa Rica that I have bonded with and I’m always welcomed as a VIP guest with chocolate-covered strawberries and a room upgrade if I want it. Though their “small” rooms are much larger than most other hotel rooms and I’m sure some people retreat there just for their great rooms not to mention 3 pools or the trails for me! 🙂 Whoever bought it from them made it a part of the Xandari chain of exotic hotels out of India. Thus lots of international visitors here! 🙂
Like with most trips, I will probably do posts at night for the next two or three nights, then get back to my usual morning posts. Being able to visit special nature places like this is just one part of my Pura Vida retirement experience in Costa Rica and this is my first overnight trip this year! With 3 more planned for the rest of this year, to 3 of my other favorite places here! So it will be a very good year as I turn 86 next month at Maquenque Eco Lodge! 🙂 Stay tuned for more nature adventures!
¡Pura Vida!
This tiny butterfly appears at first to be plain beige with dark patches showing through from the top side (they are dark brown patches). But if you look close you can see a faint yellow band along the edge of the forward wing. The only ones I’ve seen have been in my garden and on the nearby Calle Nueva dirt road. See my other shots, including one top view showing those dark brown patches and at least one with a more obvious yellow band! 🙂 All in my gallery: Banded Yellow, Limoncito de Faja, Eurema elathea.
¡Pura Vida!
One of the few unique butterflies I saw in May, the Pink-spotted Cattleheart (my gallery link) is found only from Mexico to Costa Rica. They like my garden. 🙂 But this one would not come out in the open like a few in my above-linked gallery. All but one in the gallery were seen in my garden, with the one exception being at Villa Caletas, Jaco, just an hour west of here. Like with a few other butterfly species, I am the #1 observer of this in Costa Rica on iNaturalist. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
My sick stomach is slowly getting better with meds & careful eating.
Neither the AI nor I could positively identify this tiny little Skipper, but it is another encouraging sign that the wind was slowing down a week ago when photographed and soon I will be seeing many more species, though it will probably be May before a lot of them! 🙂 This one was maybe the size of my thumbnail, which is too small for any of the Longtails he looks a like and I just chose to not identify.
¡Pura Vida!
I apologize to the more than 500 subscribers of my blog “Retired in Costa Rica,” for no email notices now for maybe two weeks. Various tech help support have tried different things and this post is a trial for them to see if it triggers the automatic email notice of each post.
You can see the missed daily email posts for the past few weeks online at: https://www.charliedoggett.net/blog/
“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” ~Mother Teresa
She is emphasizing that simple acts of kindness, like smiling, are profound expressions of love, making it a meaningful gift to others.
Thus I try to smile at everyone I pass as I walk to town or anywhere else. AND, as is the local custom here, if we make eye contact, I always say “¡Buenos dias!” or if in the afternoon, “¡Buenos tardes!” And occasionally a grumpy man or teen will grudgingly say just “Buenos” back to me, while the vast majority here smile and say “Buenos dias” back to me. 🙂
Smiling is not trivial; it’s a powerful, loving gesture that connects people and starts something beautiful.
¡Pura Vida!
🙂
One of the most seen butterflies all over Costa Rica is this Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima (my gallery link) photographed here along one of the roads/streets in Punta Leona Resort, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
¡Pura Vida!