A Cabin in the Woods

Mine was so surrounded by forest on top of a hill that I could not get a distance shot of it, thus the featured photo is of another cabin, #9, not quite as big as mine (#12) since mine had a kitchen which I did not need but used like an office for my computer & camera stuff. I guess the kitchen is good for families.

Cabin-Vista_Panorama1-WEB

I sat on the porch every day with my camera but did not photograph many birds there, just a dove, kiskadee, clay-colored thrush and one little lizard with a dewlap. But a nice peaceful place!

The electricity is from solar-powered batteries (a bunch of batteries!). The “hot” water was a separate device with a long pipe running back and forth on a board out in the sun. Since it is rainy season and limited sun I barely had warmish water after letting it run for three minutes. Showering first thing in the morning means a cold shower. Ahhh nature!   🙂

These “eco” lodges all encourage you to reuse your towel, hanging it on the towel rack for multiple uses all for ecology (but even more to save on their laundry costs!). The problem is that in a coastal rainforest like the one I was in, It is very hot 24-7 with humidity in the 90 percentiles, thus hanging towels never get dry (unless in direct sunlight). A wet towel will not dry you! I was not very ecological!   🙂

Macaw Lodge Cabins

Click an image to enlarge it.

 

Yes, you have to walk up a trail to your cabin, uphill! But they have strong young men on staff to carry your luggage up! A part of the remoteness!

There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea.

~Gustav Stickley

I’m starting a “Trip Gallery” on my visit to Macaw Lodge, but it may be a week before finished.  It is titled:  2019-06–18-24–Macaw Lodge

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Waterfall & Natural Spa

This morning after breakfast I hiked to the waterfall and “Natural Spa” on the lodge property. Tonight I only report on that. You never get many bird photos on thick forest trails like that one, but I did get an unusual frog that I will share later plus a lot more birds today in lodge gardens plus a fleeing Sunbittern at the waterfall! There is Wifi only in the dining room, so I’m doing one post a day just before dinner. And tonight after dinner I’m going on the night hike for probably more frogs!  🙂   Pura vida!

Trail to the Waterfall

Waterfall Slideshow

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Natural Spa

“The waterfall winks at every passerby.” 
― Marty Rubin

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Saving a Wetland “in the nick of time”

An old English saying “in the nick of time” or Just in Time could be applied to the saving of a wetland near my old home of The Gambia West Africa on the Dakar Senegal Peninsula:  Diplomats visit a key biodiversity site (article on BirdLife.org which I encourage nature-lovers to subscribe to).

If you have ever been to the sprawling metropolis of Dakar you have seen the danger of another city getting too big and another wetland destroyed like New Orleans did in the states. The great Niaye of Pikine, commonly known as the Technopole, is an exceptional urban wetland located in the heart of Dakar. And a big chunk of this one has been saved and hopefully the biodiversity that goes with it. Though getting less news coverage, scientists say that the loss of biodiversity around the world is as big a danger to the future of life on earth as is climate change. Yet modern man continues to destroy the natural worlds of places like this in Africa, in Amazon, etc. I’m thankful to live in a small country trying to do its part in saving the world’s biodiversity!

Read more about Birdlife International and sign up for email alerts.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”       ~Albert Einstein

 

Monteverde Gallery Completed

Finally, all the photos made during a week in Monteverde, Costa Rica have been sorted, culled, labeled and organized into the few best in each category as one of my “Trip Galleries” labeled as:

2019 April 7-13 — Monteverde, Costa Rica

Now I will start working on the photo book about Monteverde and making more photos around here as I report on things in Atenas like the progress on our central park remodeling and the climate fair here next week with our annual oxcart parade – always something happening!    🙂

Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

~John Muir

¡Pura Vida!

Cloud Forest Scenery & Vistas

Just a few sample shots of the beautiful cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica which I’m sorry I did not pay more attention to in my photography this past week. Every tree is a beautiful work of art and some are old growth or a part of an ancient virgin forest. I was particularly surprised to see how close we were to Arenal Volcano and what a beautiful view we had from the continental divide in Santa Elena Reserve shown above in the feature photo. I plan to go back to Arenal in November! So many beautiful places of nature here!

Monteverde Forests & Vistas

 

Cloud forest is quite different from lowland tropical rain forest. The name comes from the observation that the forests are nearly always shrouded in clouds. These forests are situated at high altitude along the continental divide down the spine of Costa Rica. As the warm moist air from over the Pacific or Caribbean is pushed up the sides of the mountains, it cools, and the moisture begins to condense forming clouds.       ~Costa Rica Guide,  https://costa-rica-guide.com/nature/refuges/monteverde-cloud-forest-reserve/

I just realized that I have started to repeat some photos, so this will be all of my reports on a wonderful week in Monteverde. My “Trip Gallery” will be coming to my online photo gallery soon at 2019 April 7-13 — Monteverde Lodge & Gardens – just need a few more days for that and then “The Book,” my first on Monteverde even though I was there one other time. Watch my Bookstore for the Monteverde photo book! This trip alone yielded photos of 44 species of birds!

And check out some of my other trips in the Costa Rica Trips Photo Gallery! Almost every location is as beautiful and exciting as this one.

¡Pura Vida!

Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve

My first of 6 different Cloud Forest Reserves this week (where trees, wildlife, water and air is protected) was this morning at Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve (right click on page for English translation). It is beautiful and less crowded than the one I will visit tomorrow. The above featured cell phone photo is from the highest point in the reserve looking East/Northeast at Arenal Volcano which I visited last year at Arenal Observatory and going again in November. The photo at bottom is looking the other direction at the mountains and clouds you are above in a Cloud Forest.

I had a wonderful guide through the hotel’s tour service, Costa Rica Expeditions, Rodiberi, and we saw 14 species of birds, several new to me. Here are my photos of 9 of those species, two of which are lifers for me:

Birds at Santa Elena Today

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 Cool birds huh? Most live only in the cloud forest.

Other wildlife will be a separate post for the whole week.

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One of the views from the highest point in the reserve, looking West/Northwest

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” 
― John Muir

¡Pura Vida!

The Brave

Read below about a new “Great Big Story” coming March 25 – The Brave – I received as a subscriber to The Great Big Story.

It is time to do something about man’s destruction of earth!

So in 2019, we’re making a concerted effort to drive change, fusing the storytelling you’ve come to expect from us with action-oriented programs focused on the environment, diversity and inclusion, community, and audacity. We believe in leaving a gentle footprint on the planet and making a big imprint on our communities. We believe in the resiliency of people and in our power to achieve the seemingly impossible. But above of all, we believe this world—the one we all call home—is worth fighting for.

Introducing: “The Brave”

We’re excited to kick off a month-long celebration of our Great Big Planet with a new series, “The Brave,” on Monday, March 25, where you’ll meet the extraordinary people taking incredible action on Mother Earth’s behalf.

Watch the trailer HERE.

Costa Rica Leads in Banning Plastic

Costa_Rica_relief_location_map-Palo-VerdeTiny little Costa Rica is leading the way by banning disposable plastic. See these neat little videos about the effort:

Costa Rica Is Leading the Way  (1:28)

We Can Save the World   (3:00)

Banning Disposable Plastic   (14:36)

Costa Rica Is First  –  the prettiest video is on my facebook page as a share.

 

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall

¡Pura Vida

Why Costa Rica is Happier

The above featured photo by Charlie Doggett is of the Bribri Watsi Waterfall in the South Caribe of Costa Rica. The latest international report to place Costa Rica as the happiest place on earth lists some of the reasons. See the full article at World Economic Forum  or here is my brief summary:

Our president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, said at Davos 2019:

  1. Seventy years ago we did away with our army and now spend 8% of GDP on education while the rest of the world (including the U.S) spends only an average of 4.8%. So our strength is human talent, human wellbeing.
  2. Not spending on the armed forces also allows this country to protect the environment. Costa Rica generates more than 99% of its electricity from renewable sources.
  3. The Costa Rican government has used taxes collected on the sale of fossil fuels to pay for the protection of forests. “We saw in the eighties that the forest coverage was reduced to 20% due to animal farming and timber. We’ve managed to recover all this and we’re back to forest coverage of 50%. By this we are combating climate change.”
  4. Costa Rica hosts more than five per cent of the world’s species, despite a landmass that covers just 0.03% of the planet. “Many people say that to protect the environment goes against the economy. Whereas it’s the complete contrary. Our tourism has grown precisely because of this,” says Alvarado.
  5. As a result, Costa Rica is the happiest and most sustainable country on Earth, according to the 2019 Happy Planet Index (HPI).

 

See my photo Gallery of happiest, most sustainable country:

Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA

¡Pura Vida!

 

The Gringo’s Hawk

Excellent first person account of living in the earlier, wilder Costa Rica as a twenty-something, then adapting and growing older here. Especially good for nature-lovers like me as a “Retired in Costa Rica” senior adult blogging about it at charliedoggett dot net. ¡Pura Vida!

—      Goodreads Review by Charlie Doggett

And I read the real book on paper! It is not available digitally for my Kindle. Thanks to a friend here in Atenas who loaned the book!