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!

Other Wildlife at Macaw Lodge

This is not all that I saw! There were really a lot of lizards of all kinds, especially a lot of Common Basilisks, which I never got a good photo of except the one juvenile below without the crown on his head. And as usual a lot more butterflies than I could ever get photos of. Plus my main focus is always birds!   🙂    But here is some “other wildlife”:

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

 

Walking is my main method of relaxation. I don’t go over my lines or try to solve the world’s problems, I just enjoy the scenery and the wildlife.

~Kevin Whately

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Last Minute Birds

In these last 2 or 3 days I’ve seen a lot of the same birds but also got 5 new species shown here plus I’m adding the juvenile of the kingfisher and a new shot of a Muscovy Duck in the rain that I really like which is different from the Mom and babies I shared earlier. Enjoy!

Final Birds, Macaw Lodge

 

Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain.

~Douglas Coupland

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura vida!

Funny Fungus & Gracious Green

In a very wet rainforest like this one where it rains every day, there are a lot of “interesting” things growing on trees, on the ground, etc. Here is just a little sample. There is so much more that I am tempted to photograph! It’s such a beautiful and visually stimulating place!

Tomorrow I will share some new birds I got in the last 2 or 3 days here and tomorrow is when I return home to Atenas. Got more to share after that! So keep reading or looking at my photos!

“Rainforest Greens”

Click an image to see larger or start a manual slideshow.

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul” 
― John Muir

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Flowers at Macaw Lodge

There are so many beautiful, tropical flowers everywhere I go in Costa Rica that I just can’t not photograph some of them, but please know that this is just a few I managed to grab shots of. There are so many more here! Pablo, the owner and director of the lodge is a horticulturalist, a lover of plants and he just keeps adding more plants, more gardens, more trees (like the new orchard of almond trees to attract macaws. The place is beautiful! And I am still trying to grab photos of the grounds which is hard to depict in a few photos!

A Flowers Slideshow

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

See also my Flora & Forest Costa Rica Photo Gallery for more beauty!

When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not. 

~Georgia O’Keeffe

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Brilliant Forest Frog

On my waterfall hike the other day I photographed a frog that was new to me. Lisa here at the lodge helped identify it at a Brilliant Forest Frog or Lithobates warszewitschii which is among the 194 species of frogs here in Costa Rica. The link to frog name is to Wikipedia but more research has info on:   (1) IUCN Red List, (2) Amphibiaweb, (3) CRBio, and many more!

The first photo below is of the back of the frog made on my cell phone and the other, a side view, with my Canon. To avoid scaring him away, both had to be shot from a distance in little forest light,f thus had to be cropped a lot, so not very good shots, but you can see what he basically looks like and online you will see some varieties of colors, etc.

20190619_084009-A-WEBIMG_2915-A-WEB

See also my Costa Rica Amphibians Photo Gallery for more than 20 species I have photograph and about that many more unidentified!   🙂

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Two Days of Birds

These 19 photos are in addition to the bird photos I posted my first day here and of course there will be more!   🙂

There are lots of birds everywhere here, but finding them close enough to make a photo is sometimes a challenge. My guide this morning helped some since he knows the area and where some birds are often found. That will help me with the rest of my days here as I continue to find and photograph birds on my own plus other wildlife and nature. Enjoy!

Birds Today at Macaw Lodge

And I hope you saw my earlier post of the sunrise on my early morning birding hike today! Beautiful!

“Some people are very competitive in their birding. Maybe they’ll die happy, having seen a thousand species before they die, but I’ll die happy knowing I’ve spent all that quiet time being present.” 
― Lynn Thomson, Birding with Yeats: A Mother’s Memoir

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Sunrise Hike

This morning I did my birding hike at Macaw Lodge and kind of liked this photo of the sunrise along our trail. Thought I would share it in addition to the birds I photographed which will be in another blog post.

“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.” 
― Jo Walton

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

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Natural Spa

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

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!

Arrival at Macaw Lodge

Lunch Today

I wandered around the grounds when I arrived but did not make it to the waterfall today. Had a beautiful, healthy salad for lunch when I met a lovely young couple from Germany who are thinking about moving to Costa Rica. He is a photographer. They are not staying the night in lodge, just day visitors.

I am the only overnight guest here now. It is off season or rainy season and the ride up the mountain from Tarcoles is a rough 45 minutes on a bad road which discourages some, but it is really isolated! That is one thing I love about it! It is also very “wild” with rainforest noises as dark arrives (mostly frogs). It rained much of afternoon so I will explore more tomorrow. Just a few shots for today:

 

Birds Today

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Other Wildlife

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Grounds Shots

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

My Cabin

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.      ~John Muir

Macaw Lodge

¡Pura Vida!