Category: Photography

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Alajuela City Workers Strike

You do not see strikes often here outside the capital city of San Jose (where they shut down the already horrible traffic), but the other day when in Alajuela a small group of city workers (police, fire, others) were striking across the street from City Hall which had police barricades to keep them off city property (sorry I didn’t photo that!). The homemade signs or posters taped to the railing of a closed business were complaining about waste of money by city and low salaries for employees – plus they were blowing horns and beating drums to attract attention and possibly annoy city offices across the street. Common low pay complaint around the world I guess.

Public employees picketing for better wages, Alajuela.

Though life is much better here than in the states for the poor, greed still causes the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. Life is not always fair.

Safe working conditions, fair wages, protection from forced labor, and freedom from harassment and discrimination – these must become standard global operating conditions.    ~Paul Polman

¡Pura Vida!

 

I have an Alajuela photo gallery if interested in more from our provincial capital and home of the San Jose Airport.

Bonus for CR Travelers

One of the CR Travel Agencies I use is Costa Rica Expeditions and they just sent out this message with 5 Secrets of Visiting Costa Rica in October.  Helpful information for traveling here near the end of our “Green Season.” (Rainy Season) Anytime is a good time to visit Costa Rica!

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Pruned My Yellow Bells Again

To maintain a vista from my terrace I have to top or prune off the top of both my Yellow Bells Tree and my Nance Tree about once a year.

I asked the gardener to write down the official name in Spanish which is “Arbole de vainillo” (Costa Rica only name – click for español description and other Spanish names by country). I just discovered that the Latin name Tecoma stans  (click for English description) also has multiple English names listed in this order on Wikipedia: Yellow Trumpetbush, Yellow Bells (which I have been calling it because of the yellow bell-shaped flowers), Yellow Elder, and Ginger-Thomas. It is the official flower of the United States Virgin Islands and the floral emblem of The Bahamas, both using different names!

Topped the Yellow Bell & Nance Trees to preserve my vista.   🙂

And is very popular all over Costa Rica as a garden tree bringing 2-4 months of yellow flowers every year. You can see more photos of my trees blooming in my photo gallery named:  My Home Gardens.

 

“In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.”
~Okakura Kakuzo
¡Pura Vida!
See my photo galleries  Flora & Forest  and  Vistas for more of life here!

Trip Gallery

And the trip gallery is finished for my week-ago trip at:

October & November Adventures

Coming in October: A visit to Rincón de la Vieja National Park & Hacienda Guachipelin, a volcano park lodge, this one in the north of Guanacaste, above Liberia (a new area for me)  and another hotel that promises a great birding experience. I continue to try new places while occasionally repeating favorites like a redo of Arenal Observatory (another volcano birding lodge) coming in November. In Costa Rica – the adventures never end!
¡Pura Vida!
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Hotel Grounds – Cristal Ballena

Included are shots from their “Rainforest Trail” which is a fairly dense forest with a lot of old growth big trees which is refreshing but difficult to photograph birds in because of all the limbs and leaves!   🙂

I did not show my room this time but the rooms are on the hill just above the restaurant and pool seen at top of feature photo above or in the pool photo below at upper left. Rooms 10-14 look directly over the ocean and sunsets, while other rooms like mine have garden views with partial ocean views. (My room views are seen in gallery Day Vistas.) I got more birds from my garden view but the premium rooms have better sunset views (cost more) and with clouds & rain every afternoon in rainy season there is not much sunset to see. See the hotel website for more information at   https://www.cristal-ballena.com/

Cristal Ballena Hotel, Uvita

CLICK Image to Enlarge

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more”
― Lord Byron

For more photos see my Cristal Ballena Trip Gallery

¡Pura Vida!

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Vistas

And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.

~John Muir

Day Vistas

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Sunset Vistas

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All from a week at Cristal Ballena Hotel, Uvita

See also my Ballena Trip Gallery  for ocean & river vistas.

Bonus Article

From the “Live in Costa Rica Blog”   —  What is the best way to do one’s due diligence for retiring or living in Costa Rica?

¡Pura Vida!

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Fruits & Flowers

Just a few of the beautiful fruits and flowers blooming all over the hotel grounds at Cristal Ballena Hotel with 2 shots made on the river trip in same area.

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“Almost every person, from childhood, has been touched by the untamed beauty of wildflowers.”    ~Lady Bird Johnson

¡Pura Vida!

For more area photos, see my Trip Gallery:

2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita

OR for more Costa Rica Flowers see my gallery:

FLORA & FOREST COSTA RICA

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Butterflies – Cristal Ballena

Though butterfly season is past its prime, there were quite a few at the Cristal Ballena Hotel in Uvita last week. Here’s some I was able to capture photos of (many I couldn’t).

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“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

¡Pura Vida!

See my Butterflies Gallery and

This trip gallery:  2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita

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Most Beautiful Country in the World!

Well, you already know what I think about Costa Rica, but Conde Nast Traveler published it’s ranking of “The 40 Most Beautiful Countries in the World” and Costa Rica tops the list.    🙂

The photo above is one I took of Nauyaca Waterfall last Friday – one of many beautiful waterfalls in the world’s most beautiful country!    🙂

Mountainous South Pacific Coast near Uvita, Costa Rica – a whale nursery!

 

“It is good people who make good places.”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

¡Pura Vida!

 

This trip gallery:  2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita

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Rio Sierpe Mangrove Tour

Wednesday of my visit to Uvita I took a taxi back close to the Palmar Sur Airport I flew into for the Mangrove Boat Tour on Rio Sierpe – my sixth place to do a Mangrove or River Tour in Costa Rica which always provides a lot of birds and other wildlife to photograph. This one did not disappoint! (Not my best, but very good!)

A Couple of Coincidences

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Carlos Gonzales

The big surprise for my solo boat tour with a captain and guide was that Carlos Gonzales was the guide – the same guide I had in Drake Bay at Aguila de Osa Hotel in 2017. He is one of the few “older” guides I’ve had in Costa Rica with the majority looking like they are fresh out of college. Carlos is 71.

Plus the funny coincidence was that the boat captain was also named Carlos and my name in Spanish is Carlos!   🙂   Tres Carloses!

Birds

 

Other Wildlife

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River Scenes

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“Oh, Eeyore, you are wet!” said Piglet, feeling him.
Eeyore shook himself, and asked somebody to explain to Piglet what happened when you had been inside a river for quite a long time.”
― A. A. Milne

🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

Another Nature Adventure arranged by  Hotel Cristal Ballena!

This trip gallery:  2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita

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Nauyaca Waterfalls

Wow! Nothing like it anywhere! The featured photo above is the Upper Nauyaca Falls and the one below is the Lower Nauyaca Falls & Swim Hole with my new friends from Portugal in the water before the crowds arrived.

LOWER Nauyaca Falls, Costa Rica

 

Below is a brief slide show of people in the swim hole and the truck ride up the mountain dirt road to the falls which is alone is quite an experience while others road horses or walked uphill for an hour and a half. Truck for me!    🙂

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Nauyaca Waterfalls  &  Cristal Ballena Hotel  official websites.

This trip gallery:  2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita

 

“There’s no better place to find yourself than sitting by a waterfall and listening to it’s music”
― Roland R Kemler

¡Pura Vida!

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Morning & Night Make a good Day!

I planned to post the report on Rio Sierpe Boat Trip today but still not finished – so just a quick glimpse at today, another nature day!    🙂

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A Roadside Hawk at hotel on my 5:30 AM Hike.
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This morning moon reminded me of what a beautiful world we live in.
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Another rainy-cloudy sunset tonight colored my daily dreams living in nature – beautiful!

 

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”     – Edgar Allan Poe

¡Pura Vida!

@ 

Cristal Ballena Hotel, Uvita

This trip gallery:  2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita