Cloudy Morning Hills & Gallery Opening

The Hills of Atenas the other day (October 2). I tried to do a panorama that didn’t “catch” or all match, so this is just one section that depicts the clouds or fog in the hills surrounding Atenas many early mornings, as seen from my terrace. There seems to be something “magical” or “mysterious” happening when the morning air is like this. 🙂

Cloudy Morning in the Hills of Atenas, Costa Rica.

¡Pura Vida!

Report on Galería ARTenas Opening

Gallería ARTenas Opening

We had a great opening to our little art gallery yesterday with hundreds of people coming to see (and some buy) hundreds of pieces of art. I think it was a big success and that many people in Atenas will become regular visitors and customers. We have a VIP Opening November 5 (government officials, etc.) and the JIT or “Just in Time for Christmas” arts and crafts fair the second week of December, so lots of things planned to motivate return visits. I plan to work with the gallery until sometime in January and then I am going to phase out this old man who is finding it a little too much now at age 83, but after that I may have an item or two in the gallery on consignment but will go back to photography just for fun and sharing it on the blog. So keep reading this blog for my usual flow of nature photography. 🙂 ~Charlie

And a few shots from the Gallery Opening . . .

¡Pura Vida!

Saturday Sunrise

Sunrise, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica
Sunrise, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica
Sunrise, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica

The first shot was earliest, about 4:45 am and increasingly later until 3rd at about 5 am. It changes rapidly over the fifteen minutes or so of rising. I also gradually zoomed in on the sky in each progressive shot.

See a free preview of my book: Sunrise Banana Azul with all 2-page spread photos on “lay flat” photo paper.

¡Pura Vida!

¡Pura Vida!

¡Pura Vida!

¡Pura Vida!

¡Pura Vida!

Sunrise Canoe

The sunrise was not spectacular my first morning, but this guy in a canoe made an interesting subject. 🙂

Sunrise Canoe, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
Sunrise Canoe, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
Sunrise Canoe, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón
Sunrise Canoe, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Limón

¡Pura Vida!

🙂

Mystical Footpath to Waterfalls

I had only one full day (along with two partial days) at El Silencio Lodge last month and on that full day it rained until after 2 pm, so it was nearly 3 pm before I headed out on what the lodge sometimes calls “Mystery Trail” for my 2 km hike mostly uphill to the three beautiful waterfalls that I shared photos of yesterday, then 2 km back to cabin before dinner.

But as is often the case, the journey is as beautiful or life-changing as the destination! And this was no exception! Every hiking trail is a “Mystical Footpath” to me and when I have more time than I did that day, I find exciting insects and lizards along every trail and in some places birds, monkeys, sloths and other wildlife! But this report is more on the trail and many streams along the way found in a photo gallery below this one pix. In the gallery you can click an image to see it larger and full-width or by clicking the first image you can go through all 12 as a manual slide show that you click through my story in pictures! Enjoy views from my Cloud Forest Hike of last month . . .

I take off on my hike!
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3 Waterfalls at Lodge

The three falls on the lodge property rival some of the big commercial falls in and around the little town of Bajos del Toro where there are 31 waterfalls you can visit! But these lodge falls are assuming that you are willing to walk 2km, mostly uphill to get to them and then they are fairly close together once you get to the first, which is Melody Falls. Then hiking back to your cabin is another 2 km, though mostly downhill and a lot easier and faster! 🙂 I was hiking solo, thus I did not wade into the stream for a better view of Melody Falls. Unfortunately I have history of slipping and falling on wet rocks! 🙂 So all of these photos were made from the dry trail or flat land by the three falls. Tomorrow I will share a few pix of the streams and other views along the trail to and from the falls which I think is almost as beautiful or interesting. But here’s one pix of each waterfall with it’s sign to identify it. And it works better if you go to the website to see them, so after the first one in emailed version, a link to the other photos in the blog post online . . .

The Silence Waterfall

El Silencio Waterfall, El Silencio Lodge & Reserve, Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica
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Morning Panorama

These mountains or a wider vista of them is one of the things I look at during breakfast every morning that I’m at home, though I have never been able to fully capture exactly what I see. Here is another effort with a 5-shot panorama. You can see many of the other efforts in my GALLERY: From My Roca Verde Terrace – and just like sunrises and sunsets, no two are alike! 🙂 ¡Pura vida!

Morning Vista from My Terrace

¡Pura Vida!

New Esquinas GALLERY is finished!

Check out the now finished gallery of photos from my latest Costa Rica Adventure and second visit to Esquinas Rainforest Lodge by clicking the first page image below or go to this link: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2023-July-1-6-Esquinas-Rainforest-Lodge

CLICK this image of the 1st page of my ’23 Esquinas Rainforest Lodge GALLERY to visit it.
Continue reading “New Esquinas GALLERY is finished!”