Category: Photography

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A Fiery Kiss to the Night!

With rain and clouds every afternoon and early evening we haven’t had much of a sunset this week but tonight was a good teaser!

Sunset at Uvita

 

 

“A sunset is the sun’s fiery kiss to the night.”
― Crystal Woods

I was so busy photographing birds off my terrace and the above sunset that I haven’t had time to present the other shots from Whale Watching – but will eventually!   🙂   See more of my sunset photos in my VISTAS, BEACHES, SUNRISES, SUNSETS Photo Gallery.

Good Night from Cristal Ballena

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

¡Pura Vida!

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Quick! Snap it!

WHALES! The magic of seeing them and the difficulty of photographing! I spent 4 hours on the ocean this morning trying to do that. Not easy, but a real rush and satisfaction. None of our whales today jumped out of the water like you see in the classic photo and we were told that it doesn’t happen very often. In fact they even have some days when no whales are seen, so we were lucky to see 5 or more!

Our guide said all of these are humpback whales, though they looked like two different species to me, but maybe some are juveniles which are often different in many other species.

And we had 4 “species” of people on our boat! A group from Argentina, another group from Chili, a family from Costa Rica, and one little old man American who now lives in Costa Rica. Guess which language was spoken on this tour!   🙂

I’ll do another post tomorrow with scenery, boats, swimming and other information, but these photos are just a few of my whale photos – my reason for being here. CLICK IMAGE TO SEE LARGER.

Whales in Costa Rica

The full size versions of these photos are in my Trip Gallery for 2019 Cristal Ballena, Uvita,  sub-gallery Whales. I’m developing this trip gallery day by day during the trip. And read about my hotel at their site: Cristal Ballena Hotel.

As a matter of information, all these whales are from the south, along the Pacific coast of South America and possibly from Antarctic. They come here every July-October for the warm waters and to calve their babies.  Then in December to March we have whales coming from the Pacific coast of the States and Canada and as far north as Alaska and the Arctic and Russia. But we don’t get as many of these in Costa Rica because some go to Hawaii.

Ships are expendable; the whales are not.

~Paul Watson

¡Pura Vida!

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

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Rainy Day Wildlife

Dateline: CRISTAL BALLENA HOTEL, UVITA, COSTA RICA, 15 September 2019

I got here late morning and by the time I got settled in my room and the map figured out for  my bird walk before lunch, it started raining (like it is suppose to this time of year). Well, I got my tours lined up for the week with Whale Watching tomorrow morning, then went for a little light lunch in the rain.

From the restaurant, in the rain, I got photos of 8 birds and one sleeping sloth. Not bad!   🙂  Also overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Marino Ballena National Park.

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

Rain Birds and Sloth

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Nice extras for lunch!   🙂

The only thing I shall want for a rainy day will be my umbrella.

– Agatha Christie, Nemesis

-o-

Costa Rica Celebrates Independence Day Today

Costa Rica Flag MapCosta Rica’s Independence Day is celebrated on September 15th. It commemorates the independence of the entire Central America from Spain, which took place in 1821. The news of the country’s independence reached the nation’s people about a month after the declaration of independence that occurred in Guatemala.

Following the independence, the first constitution of the country was soon embraced. The celebration of the first elections in Costa Rica was held in December, 1821. The first elected Chief of State was Juan Mora Fernández, whom did much for the advancement of his country and people, as well as promoted industrial and commercial development.

The Independence Day of Costa Rica has been declared an official national holiday in the country and is celebrated with much joy and cheerfulness. The national holiday is marked by raising the National Flag, patriotic parades and the singing of the National Anthem.
Even though September 15th is Costa Rica’s official Independence Day, festivities begin on the 14th, with the reenactment of the notification of Costa Rica’s liberation carrying the ‘freedom torch’. At precisely 6:00 p.m., national TV and radio stations broadcast Costa Rica’s National Anthem, as the entire country sings along in a burst of patriotism. Following the anthem, the popular ‘faroles’ parade begins – homemade lanterns symbolizing the original freedom torch. Children in traditional costumes perform typical dances and then the fireworks begin.

Another important parade takes place on the morning of the 15th. School bands march along with children wearing traditional dresses, dancing at the beat of drums and lyres. During the vibrant and colorful processions, Costa Ricans, young and old alike, sit on sidewalks and enjoy the parade in a peaceful, friendly and family oriented environment.

There is typical Costa Rica food for sale in stands along the roads, such as arroz con pollo (rice and chicken), tamales, fried yucca, black beans and rice, fried plantains, rice pudding, coconut flan, and tres leches (three milk cake.)

Independence Day activities at commercial centers and other communal places are also very popular and free to the public, offering folkloric shows, typical dancing, great music and more.       ~copied from Google

PuraVidaBandera

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Baile folklórico – Historical village dancing

Independence Day activities sometimes start early and they did today in front of the city hall across the corner from my bank which had 20+ people waiting for only one working ATM. Pura vida! I got to watch the dancing while I waited and make a few cell phone photos, though lower quality, zoomed in from a half block away. The people are always as interesting as “the show,” thus two little slideshows which is my substitute for the parade I will miss tomorrow.

See my photos of previous parades in  People, Fiestas & Arts Gallery.

Waiting & Watching

 

Dancing

Happy Independence Day Costa Rica!

¡Pura Vida!

 

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Preparing for Sunday the 15th

All the Schools Prepare for Independence Day Parade

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Escuela Central, the large main Public Elementary School’s band practices for Sunday’s parade. 

The high school bands have been practicing too with the same monotonous drum beat that it seems all the bands use. Note in the photo above two interesting facts that tell about the culture or a small town:   (1) The band director is almost a kid himself, first job out of college as a low-paid music teacher in rural elementary school.  (2) All the girls play a xylophone and all the boys play a drum, either snare or bass.   🙂   I regret that I will miss this year’s parade, but I’ve seen it several times!   🙂

My Friday Night Treat

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Every Friday night I have my one steak a week at Parrillada Androvetto which has a big platform deck overlooking the surrounding hills and the Public Cemetery above. Tonight the clouds hung low on the hills, but still no rain. Yes, it is now a semi-drought for rainy season. Met a nice young couple at Androvetto from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I like the “Small World” effect of living in Costa Rica!

Whale-Watching Starts Sunday

Sunday morning I fly to Palmar Sur and check in to the Cristal Ballena Hotel  in Uvita for the week where I will go Whale Watching on Monday for the first time in my long life and if satisfied (get whale photos) I will use the rest of the week to photo birds and a very special Nauyaca Waterfalls one day.  I drove through Uvita on the 2014 Relocation Tour and have flown over its famous “Whale’s Tail Beach” in my photo below from a Carcovado trip.

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My hotel is in this little South Pacific town and the whaling boat will probably deport at Dominical, a nearby larger town. The waterfall is up the mountain & birds everywhere!

🙂

Retired in Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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New Skipper in Garden

There are hundreds of species of Skippers and many are similar, but I thought I had narrowed this one down to two in the book and favored as first choice the Gold-costa Skipper but none of online maps nor the book show it as far south as Costa Rica. My second choice from book was Chiapas Groundskipper, but the book shows it only in Mexico and it is not even online. So, I guess this is another of my many “Unidentified” butterflies.” And I want so much to identify all my nature photos! Oh well . . . ¡Es la vida! — It’s life!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!

See also my Gallery: Butterflies & Moths of Costa Rica  (80+ species)

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A Red-headed Visitor

If you are afraid of bugs then Costa Rica might not be the best place for you. We supposedly have one of the largest number of insect species of any country our size in the world – more than U.S. & Canada combined in a country the size of West Virginia! But if you see the beauty, adventure or just novelty of different kinds of weird bugs, then you will love it here! See my other insects gallery!

This guy was on a plastic drinking glass waiting for my dish-washing chore yesterday evening. I’m showing two shots because one was with only the overhead light and the other with my flashlight added for brightness. Yeah, flashlight photography is common here! We don’t worry about sophistication! 🙂   ¡Pura vida!

Unknown Insect

Overhead light only.

 

With flashlight added to overhead light.

 

“Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself.”       ~L. Wolfe Gilbert

 

See my photo galleries:  Butterflies & Moths of Costa Rica   (80+)  –and–   Other Insects CR   (65+)

 

¡Pura Vida!

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Park Renovation – Poco a Poco

Well, this morning they seem to be burying large pipes all around the circular concrete base for the Central Park Kiosk or stage. It could be for electrical and sound wiring underground or simply storm sewer drainage from the roof. No sé! I don’t know! And “poco a poco” means “little by little” they are completing the work. Pura vida! No rush here!    🙂   Without deadline stress you live longer and happier! Hey! We’re one of the happiest countries in the world for a reason!   🙂

See the gallery:  Remodeling Central Park inside my Atenas Gallery (my contribution to local history)   🙂

Or the city’s architect drawings   (can be seen as slide show)

¡Pura Vida!

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Through-the-Fence Beauty

One advantage of walking everywhere (I still do not have a car) is you see more! Walking to town I noticed this orchid through a metal bars fence and used my cell phone to snap between black bars this shot of unanticipated beauty!

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”

~Vincent Van Gogh

¡Pura Vida!

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New Youth Art

The wall on the back side of Colegio Liceo (College Prep High School) had all its graffiti painted over with black paint and new graffiti-style art painted – I assume by the high school art class students, though they signed each piece like a street artist (possibly wannabes).   🙂    Freshness is always good and though not my favorite style of art, it seems to be typical of teenagers today around the world.

It is important to me because I walk down this street almost every day and have to look at it.    🙂

New High School Graffiti

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”       ~Pablo Picasso

 

For more of my photos of such art here in Atenas, Costa Rica, see my gallery:  Public Art & Graffiti – Atenas 

or  for a broader look at Costa Rica Art, my gallery People, Fiestas & Art.

¡Pura Vida!