More golden this morning with a lone kayaker going by at first light . . .
¡Pura Vida!
Today’s Sunrise – El amanecer
Health Update & Trip Tomorrow
My daily nature post was earlier today with the skipper butterfly – now a personal update from cancer surgery & radiation therapy, plus the coming week that I’m excited about. 🙂
Health Update
As we say here in Costa Rica, “Estoy mejor poco a poco.” I’m better little by little. Most of my taste has returned after losing all of it from radiation. Food is not quite as “tasty” as I remember it being, but so much better now and I can eat almost anything. And my swallowing ability has also greatly improved if not completely normal now.
I still need to sleep long hours at night and sometime nap in the day with not near the high energy I used to have physically. But again it is so much better than it was at the end of June! And I’m still having to accept that being 81 years old might have a little bit to do with my lack of energy or physical ability now. 🙂
Overall I am feeling so much better than I was going into that July trip, plus this trip will be to flat land with no hills to climb! And generally a more “laid back” or relaxing place than my July mountain-top experience! 🙂 Plus right now I’m planning on no tours or side trips, just relax in the forests and beaches of the hotel which I overview below if you read on after this 2019 photo from there . . .
Animal Eyes
“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.”
~Martin Buber
And what do you think the following Costa Rica animals are saying with their eyes?
Continue reading “Animal Eyes”REVISED BOOK: Bosque del Cabo
When I saw what the photos looked like printed on plain paper, I decided that I could not let my photos go out looking that bad. The other book is no longer available in my Bookstore, replaced by this more expensive book printed on Premium Lustre Gloss Photo Paper for a totally different visual experience! Generally the public does not buy any of my photo books, but rather I order them to give to the lodges or to individuals as gifts. But just in case someone orders one, I want my simple photos to look their best! 🙂 And yes, you pay for it! 🙂
You may see a Free Preview of every page at this address or by clicking the cover image below: https://www.blurb.com/b/10815951-bosque-del-cabo
¡Pura Vida!
Bosque del Cabo – THE BOOK
Like with most of my trips I have created a photo book of the experience with an experimental change this time to make it a less expensive book. Like my recent “Experiencing Nature” book I chose the plain paper trade book in 6X9 inch format paperback rather than my usual 7X7 photo book with high quality lustre finish paper that makes the photos look better. This may be my last time to do this with a photo book but I like to experiment from time to time. 🙂 It is interesting that the same day I published this I received my copies of the “Experiencing Nature” book which is the same size and format and with the plain paper the photos all look too dark to me. So if the photos look too dark in this book too, I will probably not use this trade format again, unless I write a words-only novel! 🙂 Not likely! 🙂
Enjoy the free preview which looks great electronically by clicking the cover image below or going to this address: https://www.blurb.com/b/10813354-bosque-del-cabo-rainforest-adventure
¡Pura Vida!
Resilience
From my “Merriam-Webster Word of the Day” email today:
resilience – noun | rih-ZIL-yunss
the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
And this is the effort or goal of my body right now, much longer after the radiation treatment than I expected, as my trip the last week of July showed.
For the rest of the year I have only 2 trips, both very relaxing places that I have already explored, so I plan to truly “take it easy” in September on the Caribbean or Atlantic Coast of Costa Rica in maybe my most relaxed hotel here, Banana Azul. I have reserved “The Howler Suite,” like a tree house on the second floor with a large private deck overlooking the forest and the beach where I plan to hangout more this time, with my “hikes” limited to beach walks and I may even use room service for some meals in my room and use the in-room Jacuzzi this time! 🙂 I was “too busy” the last time there! 🙂 Maybe read two books this time!
Christmas week I’m back on the Pacific side at another favorite hotel, Cristal Ballena in Uvita, overlooking the bay of whales and the “Whale’s Tail Beach” (feature photo at top) along with a lot of birds right outside my room and with even better food! As much as I love where I live, I function better with a change of scenery every couple of months or so. And I believe both these places will help me immensely with my continued efforts of “Resilience” after cancer! 🙂
And “Feature Photo” at top is a Pacific View at Cristal Ballena, Uvita.
“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.”
― Robert Jordan
🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Photo Gallery of Bosque del Cabo Trip
As much as I hate to omit it, I was not well during my week on the Osa Peninsula, still tired or low on energy with limited taste due to 7 weeks of radiation treatment and not my usual “gung ho” self! I chose to not talk about how I felt and I still got a lot of photos, and some are pretty good in spite of my limited mobility on the trails (I fell twice). You can find my efforts in the Photo Gallery, under Costa Rica TRIPS, or click the seascape image below or this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2021-07-22-28-Bosque-del-Cabo-Osa-Peninsula
“Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you’ll find it there.”
~Robb Sagendorph
¡Pura Vida!
🙂
White-nosed Coati
Definitely the most seen animal at Bosque del Cabo and maybe all over Costa Rica, this tropical cousin to the raccoon (and there is a Crab-eating Raccoon here also) was seen scurrying around the lodge facilities and in the rainforest along all the trails. He digs in the ground looking for grub worms and other little goodies to eat. 🙂
And this was the only mammal other than the monkeys already shown that I got photos of, though I saw a Peccary and a Tamandua Anteater (bad photo). I was surprised to not see any Agoutis and had hoped to see a Tayra. Check out these 5 shots in the below gallery . . .
Continue reading “White-nosed Coati”Playa Pan Dulce
One of several beaches below the rainforest lodge last week, this one is the “Surfing Beach” or where the surfers hang out. The beach name translates to English as Sweet Bread Beach, which I won’t try to explain now. 🙂 I liked Matapolo Beach better because the Scarlet Macaws hung out there! Or the hotel’s beach at the end of Pacific Trail shown earlier.
I’ll just do a slide show of the 5 shots of Playa Pan Dulce . . .
Continue reading “Playa Pan Dulce”Unique Insects
I didn’t actively search for insects on this trip, but as in any rainforest you can’t help but notice some unique ones! Here’s three:
Unidentified with some kind of ants on a Heliconia flower. 
A rarely resting Blue Morpho Butterfly in closed -wings camouflage. 
Golden Orb Spider on back of bar stool in the “Internet Lounge.”
¡Pura Vida!