Category: Places

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Natural Bird Bath in the Creek

Only Hummingbirds, like this Wood Nymph, bathe in this creek. 
First he/she waits in a nearby tree (above) for his turn. 
Tranquilo Bay Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Then it is a quick dip in the creek and . . .

They shake the water off above before flying back to a tree.

Tranquilo Bay Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
We were gone 12 hours to the mainland yesterday (Saturday) for some fantastic birding in both the lowlands and the mountain! Then around here today including a visit to the Manakin Lek with beautiful dancing male Orange Collared Manakins attracting their females, and tomorrow we go on a boat trip up an old banana boat canal for many more birds. Fantastic eco lodge! And it will take many days to catch up on my reports in the blog!  🙂   ¡Pura Vida!

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Early Birds 2

Blue Dacnis Female
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Passerini’s Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Palm Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Kiskadee
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Green-breasted Mango Hummingbird
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Tropical Kingbird
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Plain-colored Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

And my photo gallery:  Panama Birds
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Early Birds 1

I was going to do one post with the first or early birds photographed here on the lodge grounds, but with 14 already I’m dividing it into two posts of 7 each. Then we go to another island today and the mainland tomorrow for many more birds I hope! But with slow internet, 7 is enough for one post!

Red-lored Parrot
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Red-lored Parrot
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

There are also Mealy Parrots and Blue-headed Parrots here, but I have no photos of them yet. 

Lineated Woodpecker
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Boat-billed Flycatcher
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

There is a slight difference between this flycatcher and the Kiskadee which I will show one of tomorrow. They are easy to confuse!

White-lined Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

The “white line” is on his shoulder and only seen when in flight. 

Blue-gray Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Living slow in the jungles on an island in the Western Atlantic or Western Caribbean Sea. It is very hot and humid and you tire easily but it is a great place with lots of wildness, This afternoon we go to another island for a particular bird found only there, the Snowy Cotinga. Tomorrow we do the first of three trips to the mainland for birds. The two families running the lodge are very accomodating of us and our needs/desires. Cabins are very nice and the food is very good. We are experiencing a Panama version of pura vida!

TTranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge 

Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
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Life on the Water

Part of the archipelago of Bocas del Toro from the tower at Tranquilo Bay Lodge on Isla Bastimento, Panama

Family transportation in Puerto Almirante, Panama

Bocas del Toro Taxi, Panama

Homes and businesses on the water, Almirante, Panama

“Bocas Town” on Isla Colon where our first boat met the boat from our lodge, Panama.

Arriving at the dock of Tranquilo Bay Lodge, Isla Bastimento, Panama.
The little girl is part of the family of 5 that arrived with me from Nashville of all places!
Small world in Bocas del Toro, Panama

Our welcome guide Joel leads us into property as one
of the owner’s sons in blue shirt come out too welcome us.
Tranquilo Bay Ecolodge, Panama

The Tranquilo Bay Ecolodge private dock seen from the birding tower.
Tranquilo Bay Eco Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama
This lodge is a family operation by two families from Texas with teenagers who are part of the operation. Two teen boys (1 from each family) are both excellent birders and of course many local Panamanians have been hired to help in various ways. There are less than 30 of us here and we are like the personal guests of Renee Kimball who works out everything for each of us, mostly family groups. It is a very casual, relaxed atmosphere which I like. And they have lots of local challenges with poor air and other transportation to get here and weak government to help with other issues. 
I’ve already got lots of bird photos which will be shared later. Internet is very slow and I will do fewer photos on future days. Mainly relaxing and enjoying the rare lodge room for me to have air conditioning! Birding around here today, Friday. 
Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
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Enroute to Paradise

Today (Tuesday) I used my local preferred driver (Walter) to take me to Hampton Inn Airport San Jose/Alajuela where I sleep tonight (free HH room) for a very early pickup tomorrow (Wednesday) by Caribe Shuttle, my favorite tour company on the Caribbean side, headquartered in my favorite Caribe hotel, Banana Azul.

I’m using them because the only airline flying to Bocas del Toro (Nature Air) went bankrupt after their serious crash in December (and they still haven’t refunded me for my planned airline ticket!) But this will be a different kind of adventure and we stop for lunch at Banana Azul enroute to Tranquilo Bay! I may be traveling with surfers or businessmen, you never know on this daily shuttle bus run. Tomorrow night I will have dinner overlooking the ocean and archipelago of islands in the Western Caribbean Sea and birding the next morning!

Tranquilo private beach, dock, boats, kayaks, snorkeling
and of course lots of birds on our island and others!
Bocas del Toro, Panama
Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
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Cloudy Without Rain

Cloudy Without Rain Currently in Atenas, Costa Rica  – Well, by 3:30 rain was here!  🙂
As seen from my terrace. 

THIS WEEK’S TRIP
Estoy muy ocupada ahora. “I am very busy right now” getting ready for the longest trip yet since moving to Costa Rica, nine days with travel! And as usual when busy, I forgot something important: to pay my CAJA (CR Medicare) by the deadline Friday and will pay Monday and find out if there is a penalty for being late. It and my rent are the only two regular payment I have been unable to secure “auto-debit” for. After class Monday morning I will spend time in the bank (longer lines on Monday) paying that bill and securing U.S Dollars which is what they want at the border and pretty much everywhere in Panama, as their default currency.

I’ve made two bus trips to Alajuela for internet order pickups for the trip. I got a second camera body so I will not have to remove one from the 600mm lens which I will use most, but sometimes will need one of my 3 other lenses. And I finally replaced my camera backpack which was stolen in Puntarenas a couple of years ago. And still dealing with computer people on the change of my website to WordPress and basically starting all over rebuilding the site. After the trip I will try to move my blog from Blogger to WordPress as part of my website, but the Panama trip photos will be shared on Blogger. 
Tuesday afternoon I go to a free night (Hilton Honors points) at the Hampton Inn Airport, since the Caribe Fun tour bus will pick me up at 5 am at any San Jose hotel the next morning. Then all day Wednesday by bus to Bocas del Toro, Panama with a lunch stop at one of my favorite hotels, Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. I get there late afternoon with only the border crossing uncertain about time. The last leg of trip is by boat to an island for my ecolodge, Tranquilo Bay. 7 nights there and then all day the following Wednesday to return home by way of the airport, though not all night on return. It will be a new kind of adventure both on the water and on the van.

¡Pura Vida!
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Hogar de Vida 23rd Birthday Today

And I can’t show children’s faces online which is the most beautiful part, but here’s the event!

We sang happy birthday to Hogar – in Spanish of course! 

New shirts for special occasions!

The back of the shirts. The toddlers had orange shirts with animals on them, but no good photo without faces. 

I think I’m safe on the faces here! 

Helen arranged everything AND served the cake! 

This is a very special place and I am now on the board of directors thought they call it something else.
And will be volunteering on the grounds occasionally when not traveling!  🙂 

It is very easy to make a donation to Hogar de Vida home for abused and neglected children, simply go to this website and make either a one-time donation or schedule a monthly gift:


And you can select the Costa Rica or the Guatemala home as you prefer. 
¡Pura Vida!
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West Indian Buckeye

West Indian Buckeye Butterfly
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
I am glad that we are getting a lot more butterflies now! I had forgotten that it was mainly in June & July that the butterflies were numerous. I have a bad photo of one of these West Indian Buckeys, but this is my first good photo that shows the beauty of its coloration and design.

PREPARING NEW WEBSITE/BLOG AT WORDPRESS

I will be working on my new website at charliedoggett.net for a long time it seems, though my phone appointment with a specialist Tuesday may move me forward a little quicker. That may be when I move this blogger.com blog into WordPress. We will see. I have started a practice blog in WordPress, but it will not be the main one until they are merged there. The merging is suppose to include moving my subscriptions, but I never totally trust computers or programmers, so be prepared to sign up again if necessary!
Then I will consider moving my photo gallery into the same website so everything is together.  ¡Poco a poco! Little by little!
¡Pura Vida!