Places Archives - Page 281 of 303 - Retired in Costa Rica

August 18, 2015July 22, 2018

I Love My Trees!

Strangler Fig Tree by the road in front yard.

Palm Tree behind my Guarumo Tree
in side yard which is my front yard, balcony

Guarumo Tree leaf, up close. This is a type of cecropia tree.
Leaves are the favorite food of sloths, and the seeds of Keel-billed Toucans!
Mine has to get a lot larger for animals though!

Yellow Bell Tree is the name I choose from many it is called.
My front yard will be beautiful with 4 of them come February-March!

Ylang-Ylang Tree, is known for its wonderful
smell or aroma! Mine is new, but hope for the
aroma before a year is up! A source of perfumes!

Unknown Tree (for now) I see out my kitchen window.

Want to improve your health? Go Live Near Trees says an article in The Washington Post.

A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
~Hermann Hesse, Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte

August 16, 2015

More Garden Additions

Yesterday (Saturday) I took a taxi to La Garita to visit Vivero Central, my favorite plant nursery (largest in the country). Just walking through the place motivates you to work on your garden!

Kevin Hunter at Vivero Central in March, making a photo of course!

My new garden art is on a tree stump with a hole in a root near bottom that just needed a plant

coming out of it! Pequeño (small) of course! This is what I came up with:

Garrobo en español, like a small stateside philodendron or caladium.
Kind of snuggled into a crack of the tree base, like it would in the jungle!
I was afraid a vine might get out of control or take over the garden.

You just barely notice it at base of tree stump,
but I like the use of that hole for a plant and
think it makes the garden more interesting.
Its an ongoing, creative process that is fun!
And notice how my ground-cover has spread!
It is pilea depressa or helxine soleirolii – wonderful!
Next photo is up close of it:

pilea depressa or helxine soleirolii ground-cover in my main garden

I also got this small planter for my patio/balcony with a red flower that blooms
year-around! Plus it attracts colibri (hummingbirds)! Didn’t get the name of it.
You also see the crotons around one of my front yard palms and barely the
ground cover I added there. Next photo of it:

I haven’t even tried to get the name of this flowering ground-cover – love it!
Got a few cuttings from the apartment manager and it now covers the ground
around three different trees in my front yard. The crotons were already there.

The aloe vera was getting too big for the narrow bed it was in,
so it got a new home of its own in this pot at the end of walk by palma roja
(red palm) and you can see I added some free coleus around the palm.
Not sure that’s a good match, we’ll see. May move it. Had to plant it somewhere.
This pot might later go on the balcony/patio, my medicine cabinet for burns! 🙂
And it had two babies, so I have plenty of aloe around.

I also added two ferns in two bare spots which is another texture this tropical garden needed. And I got a new ceramic pot for my dining room plant which was in a plastic pot. Accomplished at lot!

And if you have wondered about the concrete wall behind my new garden, well, my house is built into the side of a hill. It is a retainer wall above which is the landlord’s driveway on one side (below photo) and a neighbor on the other side (above photo). I have planted Triquetraque or Mexican Flame Vine at top of the wall which will soon cascade down with beautiful orange flowers and cover the ugly concrete. I’m trying to be patient while it grows! 🙂 Photo below (22-July-2015 growth):

Triquitraque or Mexican Flame Vine will someday cover my back wall.
The advantage of being the first one in a new house is I get to help design it!

One of my “regular” taxistas (taxi drivers) is Nelson. He is learning English and helps me with my Spanish and I help him with his English. This is his second time to take me to La Garita and he is patient waiting on me shopping. In fact he walks around with me and seems to enjoy it. I pay him above the going rate for this trip to make it fair for an hour and half+ of his time. And I now have a favorite helper at Vivero Central named Francisco (who gave me the coleus). He is so good at helping me and does pretty fair English and puts up with my Spanish, so more good local friends/helpers. And a tip will assure good service next time. Its my second time with Francisco and he has already remembered me! La Garita is halfway between Atenas and Alajuela and is the plant nursery “capital” of Costa Rica, 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) east of Atenas through the mountains and over the Rio Grande.

It is always exciting to open the door and go out

into the garden for the first time on any day.

– Marion Cran

August 15, 2015August 7, 2019

Newly Hatched Banded Peacock Butterfly

Earlier I featured a mature Banded Peacock with most shots of top of wings. This is a younger, maybe newly hatched, with more yellowish wing bands and more brown background color than the more mature one. In my garden of course! 🙂

Immature Banded Peacock butterfly
In my Roca Verde Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.” ~Hans Christian Andersen

And don’t forget that I have a Costa Rica Butterflies PHOTO GALLERY.

August 14, 2015

Festival de Artes, Escuela Los Angeles de Atenas

I’ve gone from visiting two high schools to a primary school today. I’m helping them with promotion of their garage sale in October, raising money for a playground.

A younger class represents favorite storybook characters in a skit.
Some creative Mom’s with these costumes!

This was the first program in their new outdoor auditorium/theater with covered stage here and covered bleachers.
It did rain for part of the program and they invited me to sit in the VIP tent. 🙂

Nicole, son of David & Corinna at Su Espacio.
He’s front & center in red as they sing a song.

Snow White tells her own story
complete with magic mirror behind her and basket of poison apples in hand.

Another class has skit on recycling and sorry my photo does not include the
girl in a really cute dress made out of newspapers.

A guest band from a school in Alajuela marched in, played concert,
and then here they marched out of the outdoor arena (after the rain).
They were very good and kind of like a New Orleans Dixieland Band.
A common style band in Costa Rica seen at most fiestas & with dancing.
That is Nicole and his mother Corinna on far right clapping.
And the girl snare drummer was a fave along with a girl sax player!

Disney is dearly loved here! This mural is in the entry hall of the school.

A child’s smile is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
~ Author Unknown

And after all that, plus hiring a maid who starts next Tuesday, I get a dinner sunset like this! PURA VIDA!

August 13, 2015

14 Reasons to Live in Costa Rica

The farming town of Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica from a walk over the hill above my house.
My house is bottom center between and below the big brown & orange roof houses. Orange roof is my landlord.
The church steeple is the center of town, facing Parque Central.

Must read research article by a Dutch expat living here: 14 Reasons to live in Costa Rica

Hope you will notice that Atenas is the only town mentioned as the only one being in the top 10 places in the world to live! It also has National Geographic’s label of “Best climate in the world.” People have asked me if I ever regret my “radical decision” to move here? The answer is unequivocally “No!” I love it here and continue to slowly become a part of the place. I will have been here 8 months on the 24th of this month!

I live in the Central Valley close to the best shopping, entertainment and medical services, while I can easily travel to a wide range of nature spots in an hour or three! (6 hours to farthermost point in country) Last week I was on Pacific coast just an hour away. In September I go with birding club to the Talamanca Mountains maybe two hours away plus a tack-on adventure of my own. Then in October I go with the club again to the Caribbean coast, maybe 3 hours away, after which I plan to explore further south in the Caribbean. All these exotic vacations almost monthly with no plane fares and moderately priced hotels, meals and transportation. I love being Retired in Costa Rica! I’m “Happier than a Billionaire!” (To borrow the title of another expat’s blog and book)

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.

~Andre Gide

PURA VIDA!

And if you didn’t bother to go to the link above, here’s the 14 reason without his good intro:

1. Highest score on happy life years by the Happy Planet.

2. Top 10 for best places to live or retire according to International Living.

3. An amazing amount of different locations to live, within a maximum 6 hour drive of each other.

4. The huge Central Valley urban location along with hundreds of beach locations on two coasts.

5. A real democracy with many political parties.

6. NO army and the funds are spent on education.

7. A large number of the habitants are bilingual.

8. The quality lifestyle you have been used to all your life.

9. Perfect weather with many micro climates to choose from.

10. Atenas is on AARP Top 10 for best places to retire abroad.

11. #29 world ranking for Press Freedom by Reporters without Borders in 2010 (1st in Latin America).

12. #31 world ranking for Global Peace by Institute for Economics & Peace in 2011.

13. #49 world ranking for Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal in 2011.

14. Affordable healthcare and an important destination for cosmetic surgery and dentistry.

August 12, 2015August 7, 2019

Fritillary

Fritillary – One of many varieties
In yard on Ruta 3, Calle a Orotina, near Maxi Pali
Atenas, Costa Rica

Fritillary
Atenas, Costa Rica

Pardon the poor images blown up from my cell phone, but isn’t that an interesting flower?

More? See my Costa Rica Butterflies PHOTO GALLERY.

And now the healthiest country claims to have the oldest man in the world at 115. See this short 59 second video of him walking. He was born in 1900 and never married or had children. Still quite active!

August 11, 2015

New Anole & Rain!

Giant Banded Anole, new in my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica
And I think he is different from the Green Tree Anole I posted earlier.
Maybe not. But I think larger and the stripes different.

I first saw this one on the tree stump I was preparing for my ceramic bird art.
I was waiting for the wood filler to dry so I could paint it & mount the bird.
It is now mounted as shown in yesterday’s post.

Rainy Season is back with rain every afternoon and today’s is especially good, started at 1:00 and still raining at 6:00!
The garden loves it! 🙂

I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain; What a wonderful feeling, I’m happy again.

~Arthur Freed

More lizards in my Costa Rica Reptiles PHOTO GALLERY

August 10, 2015

“Open Bird” Garden Art by Anthony Jeroski

“Open Bird” Garden Art by Anthony Jeroski, Garden of Charlie Doggett, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica, front door view.
Anthony just emailed another suggested name of “Holy Bird” for the holes in it, but holy has many other meanings for me.

Vertical View of Garden Art from front door.

Arrival View or First Impression from the Driveway
In some ways I like this view best – more subtle.

The fired clay sculpture was made of Costa Rican clay by my former next door neighbor Anthony and was fired at the University of Costa Rica the week before he left for his new art experiences in Spain. I wanted it to be like one of the flowers growing out of my garden. At first I looked for driftwood to mount it on but couldn’t find what I had in mind. Then I found this tree stump just tall enough to bring it up with the taller flowers. I think it is just right! Here it is on the stump before installed in the garden:

Once installed in the garden, it sort of looks like the bird is growing up out of the ground.
I got the stump at a rustic furniture shop, Muebles Rusticos
They mostly make rustic furniture out of items like this, including
the table I got there for my terrazzo between the two rocking chairs (next photo)

A place to sit drinks when sitting in the rocking chairs! Costa Rica loves it woods!
Most furniture and house ceilings are wood. And the rustics like this table are popular.
The car is last weekend’s rent car in my driveway in front of the garden.

I am so blessed to have found this house and to live so well for so much less than the retirement center in Nashville! Someone said they heard a rumor that I was moving back. What!? Do you think I’m crazy? I’m having more fun, living better, healthier and cheaper here than anywhere else in my life. Costa Rica is my home now! And I hope this same house for a long time!

August 9, 2015

Last of Tarcoles Animal Photos

I got a few more photos, but not really good enough to show (and maybe some of these neither!)

Tarcoles River before flowing into the Pacific Ocean, an hour+ drive from Atenas.
Adjacent to Carara National Park, the last transitional rainforest in the Americas.
Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Amazon Kingfisher, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Boat-billed Heron, a better photo than shown first day.
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Royal Tern, Tarcoles River Mouth, Costa Rica

Black-crowned Night Heron, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Snowy Egret, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
(With trash all around him!)

White-tailed Hawk, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Brown Basilisk (Striped Basilisk), Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Mangrove Crab, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Juvenile American Crocodile, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

See also my Costa Rica Birds PHOTO GALLERY

Costa Rica Reptiles PHOTO GALLERY

THE FUTURE OF TARCOLES RIVER?

“That’s what people do when they find a special place that wild and full of life, they trample it to death.”

― Carl Hiaasen, Flush

I’m hoping that won’t happen to Tarcoles River, but during Dry Season it is full of tourists coming to see the crocodiles and what is worse, the government is building two hydroelectric dams upstream on the Tarcoles River. Plus it has already been labeled “the most polluted river in Costa Rica” as many Central Valley towns dump their sewage and industrial waste into it. Wildness is slowly disappearing everywhere, even in one of the “green” countries! And the lack of rain thus far in this year’s rainy season has been shocking to me!