Celeste Mountain Lodge, Flowers, Insects
A “Catch All” post except for Rainforest Trail I’ll share tomorrow.
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| Each night many came early for dinner to visit & use the wifi. In addition to this dining room there was a lounge area below, all open-air, simple, rustic, and ecologically sound structurally. |
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| After breakfast with friends from France, Italy, & New York City. |
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| Hercules Beetle Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica |
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| Hercules Beetle Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica |
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| Chestnut-sided Warbler with Caught Insect in Rain Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica I did not include this photo with the other birds at the lodge. |
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| Heliconia Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica |
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| Heliconia Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica |
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| Heliconia Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica |
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| Hibiscus Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica |
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| Heliconia Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica |
The real highlight was the Birds at Celeste Mountain Lodge, link to earlier post
Or you might want to see the lodge’s website for more about their services, great food, etc.
Tomorrow I share the last of my trip to Bijagua, “The Celeste Mountain Lodge Rainforest Trail.”
For more photos of Costa Rica, see my gallery called Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA
Harris’s Hawk
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| Harris’s Hawk Roadside between Bijagua and Canon Negro, Costa Rica |
Click the photo to see it larger.
I made around 600 images at Canon Negro today and have a lot of birds & other photos to share, but I have not had time to process them all, plus we have been without internet connection most of the day and what we have now is very slow. So this is all the report for tonight. But this shot of a Harris’s Hawk will probably be my favorite shot of the day and is my first ever for this kind of hawk. I also got two other kinds of hawks and a Laughing Falcon today, but not this good of an image.
Tomorrow I finally get to the nearby Tenorio Volcano National Park which is where I want to photograph a beautiful waterfall with bright blue water, BUT, all the heavy winds blew a tree down over the waterfall trail Saturday or Sunday and as of today they still have not opened the trail, soooo, I may not get the waterfall I came for. I will learn when I get there. There are other trails to hike and birds to find and I’m hoping for the rare Umbrella Bird that is known to be in the park, but tough to see. Will try! Having a great trip! Traveled to Canon Negro with a lovely couple from France today. Using the same guide tomorrow, Alex, to explore the park, just him and I.
By Bus to Bijagua
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| I road my familiar bus to San Jose Coca Cola Station and then a taxi to Pulmitan Station where I waited for the bus to Upala with everything indoors at this station, including the boarding of the buses. I nice terminal. |
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| And if I had not eaten breakfast at home, I could have eaten here. I did have coffee of course and read a little of a Spanish language newspaper and the latest book on my Kindle while waiting. |
It was the same bus all the way to Bijagua with many brief stops picking up people. Yes, it was a “collectivo” stopping anywhere someone was at a stop and went into Alajuela Central to pick up a lot of people there. It was definitely best that I went to San Jose and got my favorite seat, the front right seat looking out the windshield all the way up! It was most of the way on Highway 1 and from Baranca on a very familiar route to me which we used on our “Visa Runs” that first year. And the Baranca bus station is also a restaurant with shops and big restrooms that I have stopped at many times, so quite familiar. We had a 20 minute break there. All other stops were along the road including my stop in Bijagua in front of a Soda. I found an unmarked taxi that took me to the lodge.
After arriving at Celeste Mountain Lodge I wandered around with my camera for a few birds in the garden and a bird-less hike on a rainforest trail which I will try again in the morning. The room is basic and nice but the food is fantastic gourmet food! At least dinner was tonight! 3 more dinners plus the other meals. It will be amazing if they keep up the quality of food we had tonight. It is one menu for everyone each night with something new everyday. We started with the best 3-cheese quesadilla appetizer with homemade peccadillo that I could have made a meal of! Then sliced chicken breast with this scrumptious sauce accompanied by three local fresh vegetables all cooked differently, with their own sauces. My Planter’s Punch went great with this and it was topped off with a delicious chocolate layer cake. Wow! Beats bus stop food! 🙂
I have a lot of pictures from this afternoon here, but will save them for sharing tomorrow. Tired and sleepy now! And it is cool tonight! Down to 17c or 62f. ¡Buenos noches!
