charliedoggett.net
My profession is to always find God in nature.
– Henry David Thoreau
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| Banded Skipper Butterfly In my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Photo Gallery of Butterflies & Moths
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| Selfie of Old Man on Daily Walk Atenas, Costa Rica Strangler Fig Tree in Background |
And a gallery of Other Photos of Me for those who say I only have bird photos
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| Bougainvillea Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Yellow Bells Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Triquitraque Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Once de Abril Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Atenas as seen from higher up the hill from me in the morning fog. This nice photo was made by Tom & Jessica, here for a couple of months on their trip around the world. See their blog http://www.worldwidewaftage.com/ Like most places you pay more for better view! Of course they zoomed in on the church with camera – they aren’t this close! Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Maybe call my view toward town “more natural” with more trees than even houses & no church. I am barely on the side of a little hill while the other view is from twice as high & zoomed more! Atenas, Costa Rica |
BLOG STATS
I have now written more than 1,000 posts that have received more than 100.000 pageviews online from more than 20 countries. I guess there is a lot of random viewing of blogs by some people. 🙂
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| Two Gray-headed Chachalacas in the Guarumo Tree at my Terrace My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica Note that the orange blooming tree is more than 100 yards away on a hill. |
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| Closer view of one Gray-headed Chachalaca My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| “Peace Dove” by an artist in El Salvador Now hanging on my year around Christmas Tree |
In my living room last Christmas I added a tree on which I hung crafted birds from all over Central America. Some I bought locally and others came from UNICEF. Every purchase from them helps care for children all around the world! I encourage you to consider buying a new tree ornament or other hand-crafted Christmas gift from:
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| Mariana Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Flowers in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Oxcart in front of Chapel Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
Villa Blanca’s Mariana Wedding Chapel was the 50th anniversary-wedding gift from former President Rodrigo Carazo Odio to First Lady Estrella Carazo Zeledon. Its unique hand painted ceramic ceiling depicts the history of the Virgin Mary when first introduced into Latin America by Christian missionaries. It is located on a grassy knoll overlooking the farm village and hacienda of Villa Blanca. The Chapel’s backdrop is the 840 Ha (2000 acre) Los Angeles Cloud Forest, with over 300 listed bird species included within a variety of flora and fauna in this protected habitat and serene mountain setting. The chapel, a replica of a 17th century chapel in Rome, features a high beam ceiling composed of 840 individual ceramic plates, all of them hand drawn and painted with high temperature enamel paints. Each side of the ceiling has 15 panels of 28 plates divided in two vertical rows of 14 plates. Each one of the columns formed by the 14 plates conveys a theme allusive to a Latin-American virgin and her country of origin.
On top of the hill, the center of everything that happens at Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel:
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| I know! It’s just a dead leaf! But I think it is beautiful art! 🙂 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Our guide told us a lot about plants as well as animals. I’ll do a separate post about plants & flowers in the forest. The 2 young men behind the guide are from Chicago. 3 of us on hike. Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Parsa or Synchlora gerularia Moth I’ll research more when I get home. Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Insect, a little beetle Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Insect, a little beetle Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Stink Bug Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Caterpillar Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Caterpillar Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Butterfly Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Glasswing Butterfly Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Red-tailed Dragonfly Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Walking Stick Insect Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Paw Print of Ocelot At least our guide thought so. See three toe prints right of beige leaf. Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
And the next morning this guy was in hotel garden – he fits with day hike varmits:
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| Hooded Mantis Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Hooded Mantis Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve San Ramon, Costa Rica |
We saw a lot more stuff and he told us about plants used for medicines, not only by natives, but also by modern pharmaceutical companies. Interesting but I will never remember most of that! 🙂
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| Stained Glass Window in my Cabin Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort Near San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| The One Traffic Jam Enroute to Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort Near San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| The View in All Directions fromVilla Blanca Cloud Forest Resort Near San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Me at the entrance gate Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort Near San Ramon, Costa Rica |
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| Rufous-collared Sparrow Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort Near San Ramon, Costa Rica |
I have loads of photos I would like to show, but will settle for these “just arriving” shots now. Left Atenas about 10:15 and arrive around 11:30-11:45, had lunch, explored grounds, made many photos yet to show, 6:00 to 8:00 Night Hike and late dinner with two other guys. The hike was great with more species of frogs than I’ve ever seen, a flock of parrots sleeping, 2 snakes, gobs of strange insects, and I’m sure something else. That will be one whole post! So this quick post and off to bed for an early morning birding hike before breakfast. This place is wonderful!
My Trip Gallery on this visit and the Hotel Website