Red-lored Parrot
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| Red-lored Parrot, Tortuguero, Costa Rica |
It looks like it will be next week before I get all my shots from Tortuguero processed, so here is one more! He is the only parrot we saw and I am pleased with this shot. But there are still several more shots of birds to share! (And 3 species of monkeys, several lizards, and one snake.) And I assume you know that all of these were shot in the wild! Tortuguero is a terrific place for nature lovers!
“We need the tonic of wildness… We can never have enough of nature.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods
Bus to Alajuela Today
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| Catedral de Alajuela seen from Juan Santamaria Park |
Even though I have rental car, I really don’t like to drive in the big cities and wanted Reagan to experience how I get to town and walk around in the old, simple city of Alajuela – more crowded and dirty than Atenas and with more old buildings. So we rode bus to town where we walked and took taxis to and from the mall. He did not particularly like it until we got to the modern City Mall
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| Juan Santamaria Statue Alajuela, Costa Rica |
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| Main entrance to City Mall, Alajuela, Costa Rica |
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| Reagan in the City Mall Food Court Where he finally got to eat at McDonald’s! |
Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of his visit here!
Sungrebe
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| Sungrebe (mating female) at Tortuguero National Park (A first sighting for me!) |
Lots of catch-up work at home today that did not include managing my thousand+ photos from Tortuguero, so many more to share in time. 🙂 I’m taking Reagan to Alajuela tomorrow where I do much of my shopping. Then Saturday to the Pacific Coast, Jaco Beach and maybe Puntarenas. His last two days of Sunday and Monday may be a lot slower. We are both tired.
Tortuguero Toucans
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| Collared Aracari Toucan Eating Papaya in the village of Tortuguero, Costa Rica |
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| Black-mandibled Toucan Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica |
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| Keel-billed Toucan At Park Headquarters Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica |
All photos by Charlie Doggett and copyrighted
It is late and I am tired as we got back home from Tortuguero at nearly dinner time and I had to water the gardens. I will add more photos from Tortuguero tomorrow and the following days. And I hope you are beginning to see why I like Tortuguero so much! 🙂 Pura Vida!
The Toucan by Shel Silverstein
Tell me who can
Catch a toucan?
Lou can.
Just how few can
Ride the toucan?
Two can.
What kind of goo can
Stick you to the toucan?
Glue can.
Who can write some
More about the toucan?
You can!
Exploring Tortuguero
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| Green Basilisk or “Jesus Christ Lizard” (because he walks on water) It is also called emerald, plumed, or double-crested basilisk (Nat’l Geographic) From a boat on Tortuguero River – CLICK TO ENLARGE |
We are busy & upload is slow, so I’m saving the bird photos for when we are home tomorrow or later this week. Lots of birds! Good tours today! I recommend Laguna Lodge at Tortuguero!
And if you are going to the west coast or especially Manuel Antonio, I recommend our guide for these 3 days who usually works over in Manuel Antonio National Park. His name is Robert Umaña, robert.uma8@gmail.com or call (506) 8881-2240. He is very personable and well organized and good at finding birds. Though I have had guides more knowledgeable of birds, he is going to continue getting better as a young man. And he is real good about taking a picture for you with your cell phone through his spotting scope, which I find very impressive for most people from the U.S. And he is very patient with people which is important for a professional guide. Guides here are trained by the government and certified which means most are good and that is a big plus for Costa Rica tourism! I’ve never had a bad guide, just some are better than others. Robert’s one of the best!
Follow Reagan’s Blog for his view of his visit here! He is not into birds like me or the wildness, but he likes the adventure and the opportunities to make photos and share them just like me! So we are both having a good experience in “The Amazon of Costa Rica.” Pura Vida!
Red-eyed Tree Frog
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| 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! 🙂
Coffee Farm & Begin Jungle Trip
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| Gabriel was our guide at El Toledo Coffee Farm |
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| His Mom made the coffee samples |
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| And we decided our favorite before he told us which was dark roast, light roast or medium roast |
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| Then we watched the beans roast |
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| Which were earlier sun-dried like this |
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| We learned how organic “natural” farming is better than just organic |
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| The purpose of many different kinds of trees among the coffee plants |
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| And ate a typical Tico lunch at Gabriel’s aunt’s house. A great total experience! |
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| 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.
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!
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| Flash Back plays for dancing at Augostos Restaurant tonight |
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| Scarlet Macaw at Zoo Ave |
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| Keel-billed Toucan at Zoo Ave |
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| An Injured Toucan rescued and nursed to health |
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| Green Iguana, one of many around the park |
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| Wild Spectacled Owl visiting Zoo Ave |
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| Striped Owl at Zoo Ave |
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| Crested Owl at Zoo Ave |
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| Emu at Zoo Ave |
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| Great Curassow Male at Zoo Ave |
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| Great Curassow Female at Zoo Ave |
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| Squirrel Monkey at Zoo Ave |
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| Spider Monkey at Zoo Ave |
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| Helicopter Damselfly at Zoo Ave |
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| 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!
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! 🙂
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| 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!
