Second Group of Butterflies . . .

. . . from my brief two-night trip to Xandari Resort in Alajuela continues to show the amazing number of butterflies at this forest hotel less than an hour away from my house! I’m still not sure of the total and have four I can’t identify, but I will share 9 or 10 more tomorrow as the final batch of butterflies from Xandari before focusing on those around my house again.

As usual, one photo here for the email announcement of the blog post, then followed online with a gallery of all 10 butterflies. And again 11 photos because I want to show the big difference in the top and bottom side of the wings of one, the Starred Oxeo, even though almost all butterflies have different patterns on top and bottom, with this one just being a more drastic difference. Enjoy!

Ochre-patched Gemmed-Satyr
Continue reading “Second Group of Butterflies . . .”

SOUTH AMERICA Pages & Galleries

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The Prehistoric Hoatzin Bird found only in the Amazon – photographed in the Mamiraua Reserve, Brazil, August 2006

I continue to dig up my old photos and stories of past travels in my blessed retirement days for the TRAVEL pages of this website with the bulk being links to my new “Pre-Costa Rica TRAVEL” photo galleries.

The newest web page and set of photo galleries is summarized on SOUTH AMERICA. The feature photo at top is of a boat similar to what we traveled & lived on for a week of the mission trip on a tributary to the Amazon River, Rio Purus. Just a few more reports on the blessings of my retirement.

If you prefer to go straight to the photo galleries they are linked here:

South America Travel Photo Galleries

In Pericatuba, Amazonas, Brazil, August 19, 2006.
In Paricatuba, Amazonas, Brazil, August 19, 2006.

 

Magical!

 

 

My two guides, Fran & Raimundo, in Mamiraua Reserve, Amazon River, Tefe, Brazil

 

“I will look back at it and smile because it was life and I decided to live it.”

What I am Reading

If you are a member of Goodreads, the reading/sharing book club affiliated with Amazon and/or Kindle, then you know what I am reading. The Kindle Fire was the absolute best thing I purchased before leaving the states and is my primary entertainment. I have lost track of how many books I’ve read on it since moving to Costa Rica.

I have two versions of the Bible on Kindle and read from both each day (THE MESSAGE and HCSB). I have read several devotional books of varying value. I reread the entire Chronicles of Narnia series and the entire Hobbit-Lord of the Rings series, more traditionally I have read John Grisham, Agatha Christie, and Louis L’Amour books, plus some children’s books (still a child at heart), Costa Rica books, nature, birding and travel books, a pair of science fiction books that were pretty good: From Time to Time and Time and Again, both by Jack Finney. I read a book on simple living which I’m not following real close, the lengthy and sometime boring Don Quiote and the latest biography of Jimmy Carter, A Full Life, which is very good. I read three books by Catherine Ryan Hyde which were all good and totally different, though really into everyday life problems and emotions from a wide range of people and situations. Pay It Forward is her best and was made into a movie I understand but can’t find on Netflix. Electric God  was not what I expected but was very good and I recommend. And I just finished When You Were Older, which was particularly interesting to me because of the special needs child becoming an adult and reminded me of Juli in many ways. I am now reading a World War II novel about two children, one in France and one in Germany and how the war is affecting both of them in both similar and different ways. It is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Even as a war story it is lighter reading than the last book which became emotionally heavy for me at times. Most Children’s stories are good! Not sure what will be next.

I also read National Geographic digital, Christianity Today digital, and Washington Post digital on my Kindle along with a locally made Costa Rica Bird App to identify birds including their songs (On my phone too! A guy in our birding club developed it.). So this little gadget has been a world of information and entertainment! AND I have the Kindle App on my Galaxy 4 Android Phone so that when on the bus to Alajuela or in a restaurant, I can read on my latest book or play solitaire. On the Kindle at home I also have a jigsaw puzzle app. Wow! I don’t watch TV though I probably should some just for the Spanish. And I’m using my Bose CD player for a CD-based extra Spanish class which is good for the actual talking and pronunciation. Never bored! Pura Vida!

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.


–Vera Nazarian

The Costa Rica Amazon?

Aerial View of Tortuguero River/Canal not showing the beach area.
Photo from Chris Howard’s Live In Costa Rica Blog site

Chris Howard’s newsletter today tells about one of my favorite places in Costa Rica, Tortuguero which he calls Costa Rica’s Amazon. Having experienced part of the Amazon, I agree. And see my photos of Tortuguero as Days 3 & 4 in my Costa Rica 210 Photo Gallery. Or look at some professional photos on the Anywhere Costa Rica website, noting there are two sets on that site, one by tapping the arrows on the header collection and a static collection seen by scrolling down the page. There is good information on the Wikipedia page too!

Well, you can see it is one of the places I love in Costa Rica and will continue to visit while living there! There is another jungle boat ride in Los Chiles that is almost as good and of course Corcovado is the largest rainforest, but that is mostly seen by hiking with a guide. Recently a young man from Alaska was lost hiking there, meaning a guide is necessary. Well enough jungles for today!