Monday morning Walter will drive me to Xandari Nature Resort, just about an hour away, north of our Provincial Capital, Alajuela (location of San Jose Airport) for my second visit to a very “arty” nature reserve, farm and hotel made the way I think Frank Lloyd Wright would have designed it! And every room and garden is filled with art!
Restaurant & lobby building at Xandar
The gardens, nature trails (many birds) and 5 waterfalls are fabulous as are all the meals and the Spa where you can have a private Jacuzzi overlooking the Central Valley, as will my room! Though I will be hiking and birding every morning, this is more of a relaxation retreat than some of my trips and I might even get a relaxation massage! 🙂
Mine was so surrounded by forest on top of a hill that I could not get a distance shot of it, thus the featured photo is of another cabin, #9, not quite as big as mine (#12) since mine had a kitchen which I did not need but used like an office for my computer & camera stuff. I guess the kitchen is good for families.
I sat on the porch every day with my camera but did not photograph many birds there, just a dove, kiskadee, clay-colored thrush and one little lizard with a dewlap. But a nice peaceful place!
The electricity is from solar-powered batteries (a bunch of batteries!). The “hot” water was a separate device with a long pipe running back and forth on a board out in the sun. Since it is rainy season and limited sun I barely had warmish water after letting it run for three minutes. Showering first thing in the morning means a cold shower. Ahhh nature! 🙂
These “eco” lodges all encourage you to reuse your towel, hanging it on the towel rack for multiple uses all for ecology (but even more to save on their laundry costs!). The problem is that in a coastal rainforest like the one I was in, It is very hot 24-7 with humidity in the 90 percentiles, thus hanging towels never get dry (unless in direct sunlight). A wet towel will not dry you! I was not very ecological! 🙂
Macaw Lodge Cabins
Click an image to enlarge it.
My bedroom
My Cabin 12 Kitchen – Office for me!
View from Cabin 12
My Cabin 12 Entrance & Porch
View from Cabin 12
Cabin 9 from entrance trail
My Cabin 12 Porch that wrapped around all 4 sides!
My bathroom
Cabin 9
Yes, you have to walk up a trail to your cabin, uphill! But they have strong young men on staff to carry your luggage up! A part of the remoteness!
There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea.
~Gustav Stickley
I’m starting a “Trip Gallery” on my visit to Macaw Lodge, but it may be a week before finished. It is titled: 2019-06–18-24–Macaw Lodge
In these last 2 or 3 days I’ve seen a lot of the same birds but also got 5 new species shown here plus I’m adding the juvenile of the kingfisher and a new shot of a Muscovy Duck in the rain that I really like which is different from the Mom and babies I shared earlier. Enjoy!
Final Birds, Macaw Lodge
Muscovy Duck in Rain
Juvenile Belted Kingfisher
Female Belted Kingfisher
Buff-rumped Warbler
Palm Tanager
Masked Tityra feeding young in nest
Yellow-throated Toucan
Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain.
The first photo below is of the back of the frog made on my cell phone and the other, a side view, with my Canon. To avoid scaring him away, both had to be shot from a distance in little forest light,f thus had to be cropped a lot, so not very good shots, but you can see what he basically looks like and online you will see some varieties of colors, etc.
More shots from Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiqui as I sit at my computer with another wonderful afternoon rain! It rained every afternoon at Selva Verde and it was like I brought the rainy season back with me, rain every afternoon in Atenas now! I love it! And tempted to take a little nap as I’m doing more now. 🙂
Everyday for a week I walked through the grounds of Selva Verde Lodge among these big old trees and one day across the river on that long swinging bridge to the protected old-growth rainforest where I saw those Manakin Leks and several other birds. One must have a guide to go with you to cross the river into that forest thus most of these shots are on the lodge side, still magnificent!
“Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees.”
On Saturday, my 3rd day here I chose to do the boat tour of part of the Sarapiqui River and part on the Puerto Viejo River. When I was here before in a December it was one of my best places for a large number of bird, but this time, like everywhere else in May, there were not as many birds. But it was still a good tour and a nice young couple from Austin, TX also in Selva Verde Lodge went on the same tour with me plus about 5 others on the boat. Here’s my photos in three categories:
Birds on the River
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Other Wildlife on the River
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Boat & River Shots
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“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.”
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
Today, Tuesday, is my last full day at Selva Verde Lodge, (link to their website) so of course I tried to get some more bird photos! Most of these are repeat birds, but different images and two are new for this trip. I just can’t stop photographing that baby Aracari and this morning after breakfast I saw him fly out of his hole to the nearest branch, not far, but he is learning! A treat to experience!
Last Day Birds
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I woke up this morning, Smiled at the rising sun, Three little birds, Sat on my doorstep, Singing sweet songs
These are just a few of the “other” wildlife I photographed here at Selva Verde Lodge, on the grounds. Of course birds & frogs have already been shown and I just got two different/new birds this morning, thus hard to keep up with. All will appear in the trip gallery soon to be announced after I return home tomorrow.
Selva Verde Wildlife
Unknown Caterpillar
Black River Turtle
Central America Ameiva
Brown Basilisk
Rhinoceros Beetle
Leaf-cutter Ants
Long-nosed Bat
Variegated Squirrel
Emerald Basiisk
Green Iguana
“The smaller the creature, the bolder its spirit.”
― Suzy Kassem
With the offical morning bird walk and personal walks around the lodge grounds today, I saw several birds not seen yesterday. The two special ones were the babies. The featured photo above is a baby Collared Aracari peeking his head out of the tree hole nest. Also in the slide show below is a baby Great Kiskadee. Both were first-time baby sightings here. It is that time of year, the beginning of the rainy season. Tomorrow I may share the birds we saw on our “Boat Bird Safari” Saturday, then sometime the other wildlife. It is so great to be out in a rainforest like this! Pura vida!
New Birds at Lodge Today
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“Pan, who and what art thou?” he cried huskily. “I’m youth, I’m joy,” Peter answered at a venture, “I’m a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
