Author: Charlie

Retired American nature-lover, living in Costa Rica, photographing birds and other jewels of nature. This site simply reports on my joys of being RETIRED IN COSTA RICA!
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Red-eyed Tree Frog

Red-eyed Tree Frog, Tortuguero, Costa Rica by Charlie Doggett

A long, busy, and very productive day ended with me getting my best yet photo of the red-eyed tree frog. And that was after getting photos of 3 kinds of Toucans and many other birds/animals! But with a 5:30 AM birding trip tomorrow, I am settling for this one photo tonight. Reagan doesn’t enjoy the wildlife like me, but he is still having quite an adventure and will be back online Wednesday night. And I will have a lot of photos for future posts!  🙂

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Coffee Farm & Begin Jungle Trip

Gabriel was our guide at El Toledo Coffee Farm

His Mom made the coffee samples

And we decided our favorite before he told us which was
dark roast, light roast or medium roast

Then we watched the beans roast

Which were earlier sun-dried like this

We learned how organic “natural” farming is better than just organic

The purpose of many different kinds
of trees among the coffee plants

And ate a typical Tico lunch at Gabriel’s aunt’s house. A great total experience!

Reagan continues to say that sitting on my terrace is his favorite place.
I never show the driveway in photos, he noted; so here it is! Not picturesque!
I only use it when I have a rent car, like this week. 

Tonight – Sunday night – we are at the Hampton Inn Airport where we will be picked up at 5:30 in the morning for our trip to Tortuguero on the Caribbean Coast. Our big adventure starts with the van trip to the boat dock in the morning, driving over a mountain range and into the coastal rainforest for and hour and half boat trip through the jungle to our Laguna Lodge.

We are suppose to have internet access in the common areas, but if not, no more posts until Thursday.

Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of his visit here!



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ZooAVE and Zoo of a Dinner

We visited Zoo Ave in La Garita today with Abe and Nancy Docktar and then joined Jean and Carolyn for dinner tonight at a local gringo restaurant with a Nashville Band (of retired gringos here) called “FlashBack” playing oldies. An Interesting day!
Flash Back plays for dancing at Augostos Restaurant tonight
Scarlet Macaw at Zoo Ave
Keel-billed Toucan at Zoo Ave
An Injured Toucan rescued and nursed to health
Green Iguana, one of many around the park
Wild Spectacled Owl visiting Zoo Ave
Striped Owl at Zoo Ave
Crested Owl at Zoo Ave
Emu at Zoo Ave
Great Curassow Male at Zoo Ave
Great Curassow Female at Zoo Ave
Squirrel Monkey at Zoo Ave
Spider Monkey at Zoo Ave
Helicopter Damselfly at Zoo Ave
Baird’s Tapir or Central American Tapir at Zoo Ave

Zoo animals are ambassadors for their cousins in the wild.~Jack Hanna

IMPORTANT NOTE: In 2020 this facility has been “rebranded” to eliminate the zoo concept and is now called Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center.

Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of his visit here!

¡Pura Vida!
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Staying Local Today!

We started today after breakfast with a visit to the Feria or Farmers’ Market. See my photos from earlier post or how I use fresh fruits in an earlier post. The Feria is always a place my visitors want to see even if we don’t purchase anything.

The little Railroad Museum is nearby, so we went by it to make sure I knew how to get there Sunday afternoon which is the only time it is open. So some snaps of it before . . .

Ice cream at POPS, then we hang out at home rest of today.

And have dinner at a neighbor’s house nearby, Richard next door. It was really nice! I’ve included a shot of the view from his house looking over the roof of my landlord’s house. Quite a bit more expansive than my view!   🙂

View from Richard’s house at dinner tonight, looking over the roof of my landlord’s house.

Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of his visit here!



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Rainy Day in the Mountains

After a Tico breakfast at Casita del Cafe outside Atenas with a beautiful vista we drove up into the mountains with hopes of seeing Poas Volcano and the waterfalls of La Paz. Well, as we drove higher the rain increased and at the gate of Poas National Park we were told we could enter for $15 but we would not be able to see the volcano. So we turned around and headed for La Paz Waterfall Gardens where it was raining has hard but we could see most of the sights. Ponchos and a lot of dampness accompanied our tour of the gardens. But we did see quite a bit! And chose not to eat in the expensive La Paz tourist restaurants, instead driving to La Garita for lunch at Arroz Mango. Then home for sitting in sunny Atenas on my terrace until a little Mexican dinner at Donde Bocha Antojeria. An adventurous day!

I will try to label the animals the waterfall later. I guess it was as good of a way to spend an active day in the rain as we could find. I don’t expect any more rain until possibly a little at Tortuguero. It is the dry season, but the high cloud forests and the lowland tropical coastal rainforests can have some rain year around. Not a drop in Atenas!   🙂   Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of the visit here!
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Triquitraque or Flamevine Finally Blooming

Finally my concrete wall made pretty! Triquitraque or Flamevine

The triquitraque or flamevine I had planted 7 months ago started out with a burst of growth and then just quit and never bloomed much. So Jean-Luc suggested I feed them since the construction site soil was not particularly rich and I thus added a fertilizer, sort of a 12-12-12 from the La Coope Farm Store. Wow! what a difference it made! They grew and got greener and are now just starting to bloom. I think there will be more, but I’m sharing what I have now and I’m pleased! It kind of makes up for the Porterweed not blooming now. Both attract hummingbirds.

From above the flamevine contrasts nicely with the blue plumbago below.
I love it when a plan comes together!   🙂
And just in time for the visit here by Reagan Frazier from Nashville.
Photographed here on his camera on my terrace overlooking Atenas.
Thanks to Reagan for snapping this photo of me at the San Jose Airport!
I promise to give a warm welcome to anyone who comes to visit. Pura Vida!

Reagan arrived yesterday afternoon and today we took it easy, walking around Atenas Central a little and eating a typical Tico lunch or “Casado.” Tomorrow we start with a Tico Breakfast with a beautiful view at Casita del Cafe and then drive to Poas Volcano and the La Paz waterfalls so he can feel like a real tourist!  🙂   Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of the visit here!

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Is Costa Rica Really the Most Expensive Country in Central America?

The one bad rap we have been receiving by some writers is that  Cost Rica: The Most Expensive Country in the Americas.  This linked article explains that and why it is not always true and depends on your total picture and lifestyle chosen, almost like living anywhere.

Import taxes are very high here, especially on big-ticket items like automobiles. But I chose to not have a car and get around on foot, taxis, and buses with some of the lowest public transportation costs in the world. When I add the low cost of medical care, being some of the lowest and yet best in the world, I save money. Eat local, natural food from the farmers’ market and food is cheaper as well as healthier. Eat imported U.S. products and you pay a lot more than you would in the states. There are Americans here who actually live on their Social Security Checks and some have made it an art to live on less here such as Paul & Gloria at Retire for Less in Costa Rica.  Or check out George Lundquist’s “Retire in Costa Rica on Social Security”  Tour.  It is not the most expensive place for these folks!

So it really depends on what you want to do and how much you want to spend. I splurge on some birding trips and some foods I enjoy, while living very easily without owning a car. I find Costa Rica to be a very Easy Place to Retire. And so far costing me less than the multi-level retirement center I last lived in while in the states. And I think I live in luxury! Just read my blog and decide!  🙂

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Easiest Place for Retirement in the Whole World!

It is an especially easy place to retire for nature-lovers and birders!  🙂

Costa Rica is rated as “The Easiest Place for Retirement” by a recent report based on “fitting in,” “adapting” to the new culture, and a “happy lifestyle” which of course might relate to an earlier report that Costa Rica has the Happiest People on earth!  🙂

Now that I’ve been here more than a year, I agree that it is an easy place to retire. Like everywhere, there are some things that seem difficult at first or slow, like getting my residency (government bureacracy), but not as difficult or slow as it is for people moving to the states! It is the people of Costa Rica who make it easier with their friendliness and desire to help any way they can. And unlike most countries I have traveled in, the people of Costa Rica like Americans! Amazing!   🙂
Well, click the link above and read the article. It is good and explains the cultural acceptance.

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Palm Tanager

Palm Tanager
In my cecropia or yagrumo Tree
These first two shots were made at lunch today on my terrace while the
weaker 3rd photo made at breakfast yesterday was almost my only shot!
When you keep trying there will be a better shot eventually! Hopefully!
Palm Tanager
In my terrace cecropia or yagrumo tree.
Different shots show different aspects of a bird.
Palm Tanager Makes a Good Landing!
I love to catch a bird landing or taking off!
These are on my terrace rail at breakfast. Not best light for photo.
I make my identification with app and 2 books, my best call, not 100%!
Made the day before the top two shots. Click for larger image. 

This is in the family of the more common Blue-gray Tanager that I’ve photographed many times and the book says has a similar song. This is my first time to photograph these guys.

My Costa Rica Birds Photo Gallery   OR   All My Costa Rica Photo Galleries


Those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art.  ~Izaak Walton