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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Festival de Artes, Escuela Los Angeles de Atenas

I’ve gone from visiting two high schools to a primary school today. I’m helping them with promotion of their garage sale in October, raising money for a playground.

A younger class represents favorite storybook characters in a skit.
Some creative Mom’s with these costumes!
This was the first program in their new outdoor auditorium/theater with covered stage here and covered bleachers.
It did rain for part of the program and they invited me to sit in the VIP tent.  🙂

Nicole, son of David & Corinna at Su Espacio.
He’s front & center in red as they sing a song.
Snow White tells her own story
complete with magic mirror behind her and basket of poison apples in hand.

Another class has skit on recycling and sorry my photo does not include the
girl in a really cute dress made out of newspapers.
A guest band from a school in Alajuela marched in, played concert,
and then here they marched out of the outdoor arena (after the rain).
They were very good and kind of like a New Orleans Dixieland Band.
A common style band in Costa Rica seen at most fiestas & with dancing.
That is Nicole and his mother Corinna on far right clapping.
And the girl snare drummer was a fave along with a girl sax player!
Disney is dearly loved here! This mural is in the entry hall of the school.
A child’s smile is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
~ Author Unknown

And after all that, plus hiring a maid who starts next Tuesday, I get a dinner sunset like this! PURA VIDA!

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14 Reasons to Live in Costa Rica

The farming town of Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica from a walk over the hill above my house.
My house is bottom center between and below the big brown & orange roof houses. Orange roof is my landlord.
The church steeple is the center of town, facing Parque Central.

Must read research article by a Dutch expat living here: 14 Reasons to live in Costa Rica

Hope you will notice that Atenas is the only town mentioned as the only one being in the top 10 places in the world to live! It also has National Geographic’s label of “Best climate in the world.” People have asked me if I ever regret my “radical decision” to move here? The answer is unequivocally “No!” I love it here and continue to slowly become a part of the place. I will have been here 8 months on the 24th of this month!

I live in the Central Valley close to the best shopping, entertainment and medical services, while I can easily travel to a wide range of nature spots in an hour or three! (6 hours to farthermost point in country) Last week I was on Pacific coast just an hour away. In September I go with birding club to the Talamanca Mountains maybe two hours away plus a tack-on adventure of my own. Then in October I go with the club again to the Caribbean coast, maybe 3 hours away, after which I plan to explore further south in the Caribbean. All these exotic vacations almost monthly with no plane fares and moderately priced hotels, meals and transportation. I love being Retired in Costa Rica! I’m “Happier than a Billionaire!” (To borrow the title of another expat’s blog and book)


Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.

~Andre Gide

PURA VIDA!

And if you didn’t bother to go to the link above, here’s the 14 reason without his good intro:

1. Highest score on happy life years by the Happy Planet.

2. Top 10 for best places to live or retire according to International Living.

3. An amazing amount of different locations to live, within a maximum 6 hour drive of each other.

4. The huge Central Valley urban location along with hundreds of beach locations on two coasts.

5. A real democracy with many political parties.

6. NO army and the funds are spent on education.

7. A large number of the habitants are bilingual.

8. The quality lifestyle you have been used to all your life.

9. Perfect weather with many micro climates to choose from.

10. Atenas is on AARP Top 10 for best places to retire abroad.

11. #29 world ranking for Press Freedom by Reporters without Borders in 2010 (1st in Latin America).

12. #31 world ranking for Global Peace by Institute for Economics & Peace in 2011.

13. #49 world ranking for Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal in 2011.

14. Affordable healthcare and an important destination for cosmetic surgery and dentistry.

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Fritillary

Fritillary – One of many varieties
In yard on Ruta 3, Calle a Orotina, near Maxi Pali
Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Fritillary
Atenas, Costa Rica

Pardon the poor images blown up from my cell phone, but isn’t that an interesting flower?

More? See my Costa Rica Butterflies PHOTO GALLERY.

And now the healthiest country claims to have the oldest man in the world at 115. See this short 59 second video of him walking.   He was born in 1900 and never married or had children. Still quite active!

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New Anole & Rain!

Giant Banded Anole, new in my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica
And I think he is different from the Green Tree Anole I posted earlier.
Maybe not. But I think larger and the stripes different.
I first saw this one on the tree stump I was preparing for my ceramic bird art.
I was waiting for the wood filler to dry so I could paint it & mount the bird.
It is now mounted as shown in yesterday’s post.
Rainy Season is back with rain every afternoon and today’s is especially good, started at 1:00 and still raining at 6:00!
The garden loves it!  🙂


I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain; What a wonderful feeling, I’m happy again.
~Arthur Freed
More lizards in my Costa Rica Reptiles PHOTO GALLERY
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“Open Bird” Garden Art by Anthony Jeroski

“Open Bird” Garden Art by Anthony Jeroski, Garden of Charlie Doggett, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica, front door view.
Anthony just emailed another suggested name of “Holy Bird” for the holes in it, but holy has many other meanings for me.

Vertical View of Garden Art from front door.
Arrival View or First Impression from the Driveway
In some ways I like this view best – more subtle.

The fired clay sculpture was made of Costa Rican clay by my former next door neighbor Anthony and was fired at the University of Costa Rica the week before he left for his new art experiences in Spain. I wanted it to be like one of the flowers growing out of my garden. At first I looked for driftwood to mount it on but couldn’t find what I had in mind. Then I found this tree stump just tall enough to bring it up with the taller flowers. I think it is just right! Here it is on the stump before installed in the garden:

Once installed in the garden, it sort of looks like the bird is growing up out of the ground.
I got the stump at a rustic furniture shop, Muebles Rusticos
They mostly make rustic furniture out of items like this, including
the table I got there for my terrazzo between the two rocking chairs (next photo)
A place to sit drinks when sitting in the rocking chairs! Costa Rica loves it woods!
Most furniture and house ceilings are wood. And the rustics like this table are popular.
The car is last weekend’s rent car in my driveway in front of the garden.
I am so blessed to have found this house and to live so well for so much less than the retirement center in Nashville! Someone said they heard a rumor that I was moving back. What!? Do you think I’m crazy? I’m having more fun, living better, healthier and cheaper here than anywhere else in my life. Costa Rica is my home now! And I hope this same house for a long time! 

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Last of Tarcoles Animal Photos

I got a few more photos, but not really good enough to show (and maybe some of these neither!)

Tarcoles River before flowing into the Pacific Ocean, an hour+ drive from Atenas.
Adjacent to Carara National Park, the last transitional rainforest in the Americas.
Tarcoles, Costa Rica
Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Amazon Kingfisher, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Boat-billed Heron, a better photo than shown first day.
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Royal Tern, Tarcoles River Mouth, Costa Rica
Black-crowned Night Heron, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Snowy Egret, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
(With trash all around him!)

White-tailed Hawk, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Brown Basilisk (Striped Basilisk), Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Mangrove Crab, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Juvenile American Crocodile, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

See also my Costa Rica Birds PHOTO GALLERY

Costa Rica Reptiles  PHOTO GALLERY
THE FUTURE OF TARCOLES RIVER?

“That’s what people do when they find a special place that wild and full of life, they trample it to death.” 
― Carl Hiaasen, Flush

I’m hoping that won’t happen to Tarcoles River, but during Dry Season it is full of tourists coming to see the crocodiles and what is worse, the government is building two hydroelectric dams upstream on the Tarcoles River. Plus it has already been labeled “the most polluted river in Costa Rica” as many Central Valley towns dump their sewage and industrial waste into it. Wildness is slowly disappearing everywhere, even in one of the “green” countries! And the lack of rain thus far in this year’s rainy season has been shocking to me!

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10 More Birds from Tarcoles River (& More to Come!)

Roseate Spoonbill, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Mangrove Hummingbird, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
(Proud of this! A rare shot! Got another of his back, all green.)
Wilson’s Plover, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

White Ibis, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Great Egret, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
(Our morning ballet?)

Whimbrel strolling with big brother Spoonbill, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
(It’s kind of like me hanging out with Ticos!)   🙂
Juvenal Little Blue Heron , Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Juvenal Yellow-crowned Night Heron,Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Olivaceous Cormorants, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Some of these will eventually be added to my Costa Rica Birds PHOTO GALLERY (It’s growing!)
Carols of gladness ring from every tree.
~Frances Anne Kemble



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First 9 Birds from Tarcoles River

I still haven’t processed all the bird photos from the 2-hour, pre-breakfast float on Tarcoles River last Saturday morning. Maybe I’ll finish them tomorrow, a week after the trip to a favorite place!

Boat-billed Heron, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Cerulean Warbler, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Mealy Parrot, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Great Egret, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Green Heron,  Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
(I’ve many photos of them, but none like this front view)

Ringed Kingfisher, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
White Ibis hanging out with Black Vultures, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Black Vulture, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Wikipedia on Tarcoles River
It has been declared our most polluted river in Costa Rica, so birding may diminish here. But for now it is the closest place to my house I know of for this kind of birding and bird photography. 
No matter how high a bird flies, it has to come down for water.

MORE BIRDS TOMORROW!
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More School Relationships

They really get into decorating for these Spelling Bees! And they served me food and drink too!

I’ve been too busy to process 650 bird photos from the boat trip on Rio Tarcoles, thus that report will be delayed another day or more. So, a report on two more schools I’m relating to:

One of the Student Coordinators of the
Spelling Bee at Colegio Tecnico Professional

Wednesday I was asked at the last minute to help with the English Spelling Bee of a second High School, Colegio Tecnico Profesional de Atenas, more of a job & skills training school than Liceo, last week’s high school. It was wonderful and again the kids so friendly and helpful and hard working. I was “The Pronouncer” of words for this one. It hurt me every time a youth misspelled a word, as if I did not pronounce it clear enough, but we had to get down to one winner just like before. The winner was an extrovert 14 year old boy, one of the younger students, who was born in Dallas, Texas and moved here 7 years ago at age 7. He talks/acts like a real Tico, but did have an unfair advantage in the English Spelling Bee since his parents still speak English at home. But he won! He will go to the regional and maybe the national English Spelling Bee. I learned that the program was started here several years ago by a Peace Corps worker. And you wondered what they did?

Then today, I went with with Corinna, the wife of David Castillo and co-director of Su Espacio, to visit with the principal of Escuela Los Angeles (Los Angeles is a barrio of Atenas), received a tour of the school (as I got yesterday at high school) and she showed me their construction needs for and outdoor theater (to be their auditorium) and playground construction needs. They are going to have a Garage Sale, Venta Garaje, on October 3 that Su Espacio is co-sponsoring and I have been asked to help with marketing and promotion, especially to get expats to donate good clothing, etc. for the Garage Sale. Plus next week I will attend their arts festival!

I’m getting more involved with Ticos and local activities as opposed to just with expats like some. This has been my plan from the beginning and it feels good to participate in the local community. I love Atenas and the wonderful residents! Everybody helps me with my Spanish! And this evening I started a second Spanish Class, which emphasizes Costa Rica Spanish, which is unique in several ways. And I need all the help I can get to speak Spanish!   🙂   This is so much fun!

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~ Aesop


Love your neighbor as yourself.   ~ Jesus, Matthew 22:39
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Carara National Park Plants

Pixie Cup Fungi, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Ceiba Tree, Carra National Park, Costa Rica
Also called Kapok or Silk Cotton Tree
In all tropical forests I’ve seen, Africa, South America
The back side of the above Ceiba has a “cave”

 

Rain forests have an incredible variety of trees
and plants. My guide Victor leads the way down
and old road used as trail now.
One of the several varieties of Cecropia Trees,
similar to my Guarumo but not the same. Cousins!
This whole family of trees has multiple medicinal uses.
Rare plant that only grows in this particular
transitional forest and only in the shade.
Has medicinal uses.
And another fungus!   🙂

“The clearest way to the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”

— John Muir