Category: Costa Rica

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Tarcoles Village

Dog on Porch Roof, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Tarcoles Village is where the Tarcoles River goes into the Pacific Ocean near Jaco and Carara National Park. It is where I have taken four boat trips on the river including the one today. It is where we got our good photos of Scarlet Macaws yesterday morning before going into the park where they are even more difficult to photograph. (Sharing those photos in tomorrow’s post.) And it is just a typical Tico small town, quiet, lazy, hot, and humid with sights like above and below before you get on your boat for the cruise. 

A boy brings in part of the morning catch at 8:30.
You can buy fresh fish along the road.
He caught those fish in a boat like this.
Then repair the nets for tomorrow’s catch.

The main road through Tarcoles.

And the only sign seen more than Coca Cola,
Costa Rica’s own, locally made, Imperial Beer.

For you Nashville readers, Kevin Hunter has ridden through this village with me for our birding/croc cruise. I came here two mornings on this trip; Friday for Macaw photos and Saturday for photos of other birds from a private boat. Someday I will just come and photograph the village. 

Growing up in a small, hot, humid town like this in South Arkansas near Louisiana and Mississippi brings me to a quote by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird.  Life in Tarcoles is like this:
“Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon after their three o’clock naps. And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There’s no hurry, for there’s nowhere to go and nothing to buy…and no money to buy it with.” 
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
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Pura Vida Gardens

After checking in my jungle hotel Thursday, I drove 6 km up the dirt road to a beautiful garden:

La hermosa Pura Vida Jardin:

 

Gardens carved out of the rainforest, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and threatening rain, near my hotel on a dirt road
buena vista

 

Miles of paved or maintained trails with every tropical plant imaginable!
sendero del jardín

 

You know you are still in the jungle! Technically it is the last remaining
“Transitional Rainforest” in the Americas, transitioning from the dry forests
of Guanacaste and the montane forests near Atenas to the lowland rainforests.
selva de transición
What I hope my “Maraca Plant” will look like in a year or two!
Also called “Shampoo Ginger” or in Spanish  plantas jengibre
But local Ticos call it the Maraca Plant which is the name I’m using.

 

And hoping I get several blooms like this next year!
flores jengibre

 

Many unknown to me flowers like this and too many to show here!
Desconocido para mí

 

A Water Hyacinth like we had in The Gambia
Eichhornia crassipes

 

One of the many Heliconias like I have in my yard
My blooms are dying out now and will return
in the dry season I’ve been told.
Heliconia L. es un género que agrupa
más de 100 especies de plantas tropicales
On the edge of Carara National Park just like my hotel grounds. Tomorrow’s post!
Parque Nacional Carara
And a view of Manantial de Agua Viva Waterfalls, one of tallest in Costa Rica.
I was going to hike to bottom, but decided safer to not do it solo! Maybe later!
The Pura Vida Gardens website with short video clip: http://www.puravidagarden.com/

 

Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.
~Rumi
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Felt Like Driving in Africa Again!

Just a gravel road you say? Well rainy season has made it a pot-holed rub board!
Driving a rent car on this to my hotel reminded me of driving in The Gambia.
Only we have mountains here!  los bosques en las montañas

From the road I snapped this view on cell phone of Tarcoles River dumping into the Pacific Ocean on a cloudy day.
But no views like this from Hotel Villa Lapas which is deep in the forest on the edge of Parque Nacional Carara.
Part of this little simple mountain lodge is made into a Spanish Colonial Village.
I’m sleeping in a tile-roofed hacienda with plaster walls and a musty smell.
Español colonial hotel de estilo

To make the colonial village complete, they have a little church (for weddings they say).
Old and simple but just right for a birder with the forest up against the backs of buildings.
The food was okay for dinner. You go to the beach town of Jaco for modern hotels.
con la iglesia

I’ve heard birds and seen a bat but the only wildlife I’ve photographed on the arrival afternoon are the leaf-cutter ants at right.

I did drive 6 km up the dirt road to Pura Vida Gardens which are simply beautiful in a hard to get to place with beautiful vistas and flowers and a view of what they call the tallest waterfall in Costa Rica. They also call it “Pura Vida Waterfalls,” but it is better know by “Bijagual Waterfalls” (name of nearby town) and “Manantial de Agua Viva Waterfalls.” I’m going with this last name.

I will do a separate post on the gardens tomorrow. Then tomorrow’s tour in the park is when I hope to collect a lot of bird photos. We’ll see! I trusted the hotel to get me a guide, so “proof’s in the pudding!”

I’m still reading Don Quiote and picking up Sancho’s habit of quoting truisms! 🙂  And I would love to hear from someone who has read it with your opinions, feelings, or meaning of the book. I’ve nearly quit reading it several times, saying “This is stupid!” But know how historically significant it is, so I keep trudging on through it at about 70% now.

Expect several more days of blogging from this trip. 🙂

“Blogging is like work, but without coworkers thwarting you at every turn.”

~Scott Adams  (Dilbert creator)

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Why Not Mopt instead of Mopped?

LICEO ENGLISH CLASSES “SPELLING BEE” CELL PHONE PHOTOGRAPHS
LICEO CLASES DE INGLÉS FOTOS “Spelling Bee”:

These two seniors stayed through last several rounds until girl on the right spelled
“Mopped” as “Mopt” to be eliminated. Wow! English is a difficult language!
Inglés es difícil de aprender.

A few of the early arrival participants. Orange shirts are seniors and
blue shirts are 9th through 11th grades. They were all so nice and polite.
Los estudiantes son muy simpaticas.

The 3 other “Native English Speakers” as judges besides me. Mainly record keeping!
But good to have several because I could not understand some of the kids at times.
The man and woman at other end of table are from Australia.
Gringos ayudan.

And another Expat read the words and definitions or examples when requested.
The girl in blue is spelling one of the words.
This expat lady also does the free lending library at La Carreta Restaurant.
Estoy feliz de ayudar.
We had several breaks in the three hour spelling bee when students showed
some of their other English language work. Here some students put on a
puppet show of “Little Red Riding Hood” in English of course! Cute!
Linda!

I was there at 8:15 and left a little after 11:00 for my jungle adventure which will be storied in other posts. Maybe one more tonight. 🙂    And note that I am back to including Spanish language words and phrases in red so you will know what is Spanish AND because my Spanish teacher wants me to use more Spanish all day every day and include a Spanish section to my blog or just some Spanish lines like I have done with this post.

❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela

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Spelling Bee and Carara National Park

All the students walk to and from
school, are clean cut, polite, friendly

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT SPELLING BEE
Tomorrow, Thursday, 30 July 2015, I’m starting the day as a “Native English Speaker” at Colegio Liceo de Atenas, the big high school near where I live, to serve as a judge and maybe to pronounce the English words for their English Language Classes Spelling Bee. They have 3 full-time English Teachers in a Spanish-speaking school! A big high school!

How fun this will be! Even though I was going to leave early on my birding adventure, I can’t turn down an opportunity like this to relate to the community! I’m trying hard to not be like most of the segregated expats who only associate with each other. I didn’t move to Central America to spend all my time with North Americans! I’m here to get away from them! 🙂 (No offense now! I still like some of you! But I sure like the culture down here better.) So I will leave for Carara at 11:00 after the Spelling Bee! FYI the school Facebook Page.    or  School Video   and    Google Images  of the school or just Google the school and you will see pages for the students to do homework, etc. You will get a report from me on this for sure!

Hope to get a better shot than this one on
my 2011 Tarcoles River Cruise as a day trip
from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship,
our FBN Panama Canal Cruise

CARARA NATIONAL PARK
Now for the planned trip: I have a rent car and I’m spending two nights at Hotel Villa Lapas at
Tarcoles, the closest one to the Carara Park and have scheduled a 5-hour guided tour of the park with hopes of Scarlet Macaw photos. This is mating season in the second most populous Scarlet Macaw forest of the country, so maybe some cute, cuddly couples to photograph!  🙂 But regardless, there will be many birds and much else to photograph! And if not raining too much, I will hike to the tallest waterfall in the country or at least see it from a distance at a nearby botanical gardens. I’ve done the nearby Tarcoles River cruise 3 times, but that is always another option if I get bored – ha, ha!

Tico Times article on Carara National Park

Costa Rica Bureau Page on park (not sure if it is official park page, if any)

One National Parks Page on the park (maybe not official)

A Guide Service Page     and the Wikipedia Page is good

And hopefully more than overfly shots like this one I made in 2009 at
Corcovado National Park in the South on Osa Peninsula. 

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” ― John Muir, Our National Parks

And my PHOTO GALLERY of Costa Rica Birds if you want more!  🙂

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Little Yellow Sulphur

Little Yellow Sulphur is one of many yellow ones all around now.
Note that this is different than the other two yellow butterflies I’ve shown.
On my Plumbago flower, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun.
And find your shoulder to light on.
To bring you luck, happiness and riches.
Today, tomorrow and beyond.
An Irish Blessing

And I have a PHOTO GALLERY of Costa Rica Butterflies that you might enjoy. Peace & Love!

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Humidity and the DampRid Discovery

It is rainy season (though less rain this year)
and that means high humidity, even in your house.
So I discover this interesting product at PriceSmart.
DampRid

I hang it in my closet and it absorbs the moisture
from my clothing and the surrounding air. The
crystals in the upper bag collect water and put
it in the lower silver bag until full or crystals used.

By holding up to light you can see the water in lower bag and some of the
crystals that are dissolving down there. A bag lasts about a month so far. 

Because my windows stay open at all times and there are often breezes, the air in the rooms does not seem to be as humid and I haven’t felt the need for a dehumidifier yet. September and October are when the heavy rains come and it may be different then, though being on a hill with good cross-venting air flow, it will probably be fine.

By the way, it is one of the driest rainy seasons in years here with half the quantity of rain this June as last June. Global warming and El Nino are already affecting this part of Costa Rica. While the Caribbean side has had too much rain and flooding. Go figure! 
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
~Anthony J. D’Angelo


🙂

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Dobsonfly

Dobsonfly at La Casa CATUCA, The Atenas Chamber of Commerce (sort of)
in a historic old house that includes arts, crafts, Tico food, and tourist assistance.
My picture framer has a shop in here and the Tico food is great! I recommend it!
You never know where a cool bug will show up! So have cell phone camera ready!

Read about the Dobsonfly on Wikipedia.

And for more of my insect photos, see Costa Rica Insects PHOTO GALLERY

or the separate Costa Rica Butterflies PHOTO GALLERY, a much larger collection.

We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics.  ~Bill Vaughan
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Common Rain Frog

Common Rain Frog (probably), though similar to Wet Forest Toad and
Rain Forest Toad. There are more frogs/toads here than anywhere, ID is difficult!
This one from my garden is waiting at my front door! About 3-5 inches, 10 cm. +/-
Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Click to enlarge photo.  A third the size of Giant Toad shown earlier.
Why are frogs so happy?
They eat whatever bugs them!
Ribbit, Ribbit

See also my “just beginning” Costa Rica Amphibians PHOTO GALLERY
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Iglesia La Soledad

Iglesia La Soledad, Alajuela
A Simple Elegance

And a young church for Costa Rica!
Many are dated to the 1500’s!

When I took Anthony for his going away lunch at his favorite restaurant in San Jose (Tin Jo), we saw this nearby church and made a brief visit. In Latin cities there is a church in almost every barrio or neighborhood. This is one of those. A simple beauty that I like and part of my “Costa Rica Churches” photo collection that is bound to begin soon!  🙂

I never weary of great churches. It is my favorite kind of mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral.
~Robert Louis Stevenson