Category: Forest

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Likes & Dislikes – Punta Leona

Maybe my biggest “LIKE” is the many species of birds you can see at Punta Leona like these Scarlet Macaws.

LIKES

  • Huge transitional forest as a private protected reserve with a large number of plant & animal species. I photographed 21 species of birds on my first visit in 2019, but with a lower energy level this trip and not as good a birding guide, I got only 11 species of birds, though I did also photograph 11 species of butterflies (more than last time), plus 8 species of other animals! They have correctly named it a “Nature Resort.” 🙂
  • Great Beaches & Underwater Activities that include the safest and best two beaches for children in coves and absolutely no undertow and very tiny waves. For divers (wish I was one), the first Central American Underwater Museum and first “Restored Coral Reef” that add to the uniqueness of this resort. And of course many other water sports plus a huge array of landside activities and sports for the hyperactive.
  • Punta Leona Hotel (Selvamar) has excellent rooms snuggled in among the tall trees with birds and monkeys, internet in your room, full breakfast, and all at what I consider a fair or good price.
My room in Selvamar section of Hotel Punta Leona, Costa Rica.

Read on for my dislikes and a gallery of more hotel photos.

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Beach Pleasant Views

That title is because tomorrow I will show some “Crowded Views” (Not pleasant to me) of the beach as sort of a contrast and then the following day I will report on all my “Likes and Dislikes” of Punta Leona and why. And I know that one of these pix shows some of the crowds, but I included it here for the lush forest that Punta Leona has right up to the beach and the new maybe 15-20 story beachside hotel that is under construction on Mantas Beach as a part of Punta Leona Beach Club & Nature Resort.

Now some Mantas Beach views that I like . . .

When you walk from the current hotel, swimming pools, restaurants, and recreation areas, this is your first view of Mantas Beach, Punta Leona. Kind of nice I think.
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Pompeius Skipper

This little brown skipper with a historic-sounding name was at Punta Leona Nature Resort as he sometimes is in my garden. See my gallery Pompeius Skipper – Pompeius pompeius for more photos of this “brown is beautiful” little butterfly. 🙂

Pompeius Skipper, Punta Leona Nature Resort, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

My 2025 Punta Leona GALLERY is now finished!

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The “Trail of Giants”

“Sendero de Gigantes” is the unofficial nickname for the main forest trail at Punta Leona Nature Resort because of some really large trees on the trail. It took me two tries (2 days) to get the 100+ meters uphill from my room to the trail entrance on the main entrance road and then I didn’t even hike it because after a rain it was a muddy, slippery mountainous trail with lots of steep climbs and I tend to fall on wet surfaces, especially on wet steep inclines like this trail had. In fact I nearly fell going downhill into the trail entrance, so I decided not to hike it for my own safety. The occasional disappointments of being old! 🙂

After this introductory photo, there is a gallery of 4 more shots at the entrance. For younger people who love forest trails, this would be a good one! Especially for the big trees! And maybe some wildlife! 🙂

Forest Trail, Punta Leona — Limited parking at the trail entrance.
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Poems in the Sky

“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”

– Kahlil Gibran

Anywhere in Punta Leona you can look up at a poem in the sky – TREES!

A slideshow of poems in the sky . . .

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Crested Guan

One of the good things about Punta Leona is that there are many species of bird and I got only 11 this trip compared to 21 species on my 2019 visit there. Of course the big turkey-sized Crested Guan (my gallery link) is a favorite of many of the foreign tourists. Not good lighting for this shot, but you can see better photos in the above linked gallery from all over Costa Rica.

Crested Guan, Hotel Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Our Skunk Encounter

I was the only guest to take the birding walk the other morning and Pablo & I had this skunk to cross our path in front of us! (Ideal for a photo!) Though there are several species of skunks, I’m reasonably certain that this one is the Striped Hog-nosed Skunk – Conepatus semistriatus (linked to my gallery with 3 other photos of this, my first sighting of a skunk in Costa Rica). 🙂

Striped-Hog-nosed-Skunk, Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Today, Friday, 26 December is my last day at Punta Leona. Tomorrow at noon, one of Walter’s drivers, Alex, will pick me up and return me home where I will again have decent internet service and will share a lot more nature photos from this visit and in one post will give the pros and cons of this unique place and explain why I may not return. Tomorrow’s post may also be done in the afternoon, then I will get back to my morning posts.

¡Pura Vida!

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Favorite Green Life Photos 2025

To live in a green world, absorbing both the oxygen and the green spirit is one of the greatest blessings of living in Costa Rica. I randomly picked these photos as representative of this spirit, though many others could have represented it just as well . . .

Red Croton, Atenas — The Simple beauty of nature!
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Favorite “Other Wildlife” Photos 2025

More photos from outside Atenas in this category because I always see more wildlife at the parks, reserves and lodges than at home, which may be best. 🙂 And with less travel this year there were fewer exotic animals, but here’s a few that are pretty interesting 🙂 . . .

Red-mantled Dragonet, Tortuga Lodge, Tortuguero NP
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Fence Post Fungi

Thanks to neighbor & friend Judith LaBelle for finding these fungi on a fence post across the street from my house by the cow pasture just yesterday!

I have submitted both fungi to iNaturalist where I will hopefully get an identification soon. The genus and family identifications I’m using on the photos are from the AI on iNaturalist and I’m glad the AI doesn’t force an identification but accepts a broader genus or even broader family when not certain. Google Lens just keeps going with possible IDs, though in their first paragraph on the Shelf Fungus (Bracket Fungus) did agree that is is most likely in the Hexagonia Genus as iNat says; while on what iNaturalist calls mushrooms in Family Hypoxylaceae, they got more specific with a species name that I will learn later if an expert on iNaturalist agrees: Lens called them “Afred’s Cakes” or “Cramp Balls” (2 common names) and the species name “Daldivia concentrica.” All are fungi! 🙂

A Shelf Fungi in Genus Hexagonia, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
A Mushroom Type Fungi in Family Hypoxylaceae, or possibly the species Daldivia concentrica (per Lens), Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
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