Here’s my photos of just 10 of the many I saw at The Butterfly Conservatory, El Castillo-Arenal, on Christmas Day no less! 🙂 Tomorrow I will do a post on the facility which is a little-known nature gem in Costa Rica. It equals if not excels both butterfly gardens in Monteverde.
My guide there identified a some of these with all other identities found in my usual source, A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America, Second Edition by Jeffrey Glassberg and all were verified with this book.
If you really like the butterflies of Costa Rica, check out my Butterflies of CR Gallery, at about 130 species now! 🙂 I have the largest Costa Rica Butterfly Gallery on the internet.
CLICK image below to see larger:
Bordered Patch
Tiger Heliconian
White-spotted Prepona
Thick-tipped Greta
Grinning Heliconian
Dot-bordered Heliconian, Blue Form
Dot-bordered Heliconian, Red Form
Common (Blue) Morpho
Gold-bordered Owl Butterfly
Ruby-spotted Swallowtail
Butterflies photographed by Charlie Doggett, Butterfly Conservatory, El Castillo-Arenal, Costa Rica
First, the most popular vacation week for families is the week between Christmas and New Years. Schools are out and many companies and business close this whole week, thus families are freer to travel. The beaches and lodges sometimes have more Ticos than tourists, especially this year with Covid19 reducing our number of tourists.
Second is fireworks at midnight is a big deal, both large organized shows including some Catholic Churches in conjunction with a Midnight Mass and families or individuals in their yards and streets.
Third is the Midnight Mass.
Fourth is the usual happiness and friendliness as everyone wishes you ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
Fifth & Sixth are best described with part of a newspaper article:
Run around the block with your suitcase.
Though I haven’t seen it done, I have heard about this tradition for some Ticos which was reported in a Washington Post Article this month:
Put your 2021 travel ambitions into the universe by celebrating the new year like a Costa Rican. (The tradition is popular across Latin America.) At midnight, it’s tradition to grab a suitcase and run around the block in the hopes of traveling in the new year.
“The farther we run with our suitcases, my family always says, the farther we’ll travel in the new year,” writes Washington Post reporter, Samantha Schmidt, who has spent New Year’s Eve with her extended family in Costa Rica every year since she was born. “We all do it — from my toddler cousins to my eldest aunts in their high heels. Our neighbors always cheer us on, shouting ‘Feliz Año Nuevo!’ and sometimes join in, as fireworks shoot off in all directions.”
Also reported in that same newspaper article above is the tradition of Spain that is also done all over Latin America, including Costa Rica and I have seen and done this:
Perhaps the easiest tradition to carry out is eating grapes for good luck. The tradition began in Spain, but it is now practiced around the world, particularly in Central and South America.
Here’s how to do it yourself: Have 12 grapes, known as las doce uvas de la suerte, handy. When the clock starts chiming at midnight, eat one with each clang.
Bonus points if you’re wearing special New Year’s Eve underwear while eating your grapes. A pair of red underwear can bring you a new year of love, while yellow may bring joy and fortune.
Thanks to Goodreads that provided me with the above images and the list of books I reported to them as having read during 2020, most with a book review. I thought that by the time this blog post was scheduled, I would have finished my current book by Barack Obama, A Promised Land, that is not among the above images, but I was too busy at Arenal to read as much as I expected, meaning it will go down as a January book. And then there are others I’m “working on.” 🙂
I’m not a heavy reader because I tend to be a “doer” of adventures more a reader of adventures, plus I have a sometimes uncontrollable urges to “to create,” mainly with my photos. But I still love to read and no longer go to movies or watch TV. I currently have Netflix Costa Rica mainly for the documentaries and occasionally an old movie, though not as many titles available here as in the states, thus watch just occasionally. I no longer subscribe to any cable TV. So, when not photographing or creating something with my photos, I like to read Agatha Christie mysteries and select non-fiction books such as the Obama book.
Here’s a slide show of the book covers followed by a list of titles and authors. And note that in 2021 I plan to finish the entire series of Hercule Poirot mysteries with just 2 more to go! 🙂
My 12 Books This Year
Assuming I finish the Obama book which I’m sure I will. These are not in any particular order and I don’t remember exactly what order I read them, but most were good books. The sitting kills book was weak I thought and I was disappointed in the book on knowing God. The other 10 I recommend! The first 6 are non-fiction and the last 6 fiction – half and half! 🙂
One of my walking places I’ve shared a lot is Avenida 8 that turns into a dirt road that I sometimes call a “Country Lane” or “Country Road.” And if I go to the end of that dirt road down a hill I’m at a connector highway called “Radial 27” that runs only from central Atenas to our nearby toll road to the capital or the beach, Ruta 27. In town it is also Avenida 0 that runs in front of the central church, central park, central mercado and ends at Central Cementerio. 🙂
If I keep walking, like I did Monday, I enter the highway at the Farmers’ Market Pavilion and then, to get more exercise, I walk up the highway hill into Central Atenas where I turn left on Calle 4 and go four blocks to Avenida 8 and left down it 6 more blocks to my house in Roca Verde. I call that “My Radial Circle Walk” with more hills and more exercise! And though I don’t do it often, I need it now to get in shape for hiking at Arenal next week! 🙂
The Feature Photo of Radial 27 above is where I stopped and pulled out my cell phone to photograph the sign that lets visitors know they are entering Atenas – sponsored by Claro, one of the cable TV companies here. Just as I pointed my phone camera at the sign the moto (a motorcycle is called here) entered my frame and he must have known it because if you zoom in on him you see he is giving me the Peace Sign (V) just as I snapped. And “no,” it wasn’t the ugly finger sign or I would not have told you! 🙂 Most people are not ugly here! But they all like the peace sign! 🙂
“I love walking because it clears your mind, enriches the soul, takes away stress and opens up your eyes to a whole new world .”
I’ve been walking that route with only my cell phone as a camera and the other day missed a beautiful Squirrel Cuckoo bird in a tree that my big camera would have caught. Thus yesterday morning I went with my big camera and no cuckoo! But I did get rough shots of these four. The feature photo is a Great-tailed Grackle and the other 3 are labeled in the slideshow. It is not as good a place for birds as up the hill from my house, but I tried! 🙂
It’s rumored that many people went back to working jigsaw puzzles while on COVID19 lockdown. My neighbor’s sister came for an extended visit from the States just before our airport closed for the pandemic and she just returned to the states this week. In addition to books, she had this puzzle to work on while here. She gave it to me on leaving since her brother was not interested. I started on it immediately, liking a challenge!
I normally work only “nature” puzzles, especially landscapes and since moving to Costa Rica I have only worked puzzles online, electronically, and usually a much easier image than this 1,000 piece Coca Cola nostalgia painting. ! THIS WAS DIFFICULT! I spent an hour or two every day for six days but completed it solo. Now I will give it to my maid whose children and niece will enjoy working it while also feeling “trapped” at home. And I will go back to online 50-piece nature images that I can solve in 4-5 minutes before going to bed at night! 🙂 Hey! Its just to calm me down and clear my mind for bedtime! A tranquilizer. 🙂
A difficult jigsaw puzzle. Un rompecabezas difícil.
¡Pura Vida!
Most Read Bible Verse in 2020
Isaiah 41:10 was searched for and read more online than any other this year during the pandemic:
In an effort to include some Costa Rica Culture in my blog, I copied this from the Golden Gringo Newsletter, which is okay because he copied it from a local online newspaper! 🙂 He came here a year or so before me from the states as a retiree (younger than me) who chose to live near a beach and fishing place, Quepos on the Pacific Coast near Manuel Antonio NP. He’s a lot different than me, but I semi-follow his newsletter for his impression of things here.
And note that the original list below was most likely aimed at and/or written by young adult or teen Costa Ricans (Ticos) as a form of humor. But there is some real culture here! 🙂
Feature photo is mine of young adult Ticos in an Atenas parade (for a traditional look), but the copied stock photo above is more typical of young people here! 🙂 Below copied from Golden Gringo Chronicles:
“We’re Not the Happiest on the Planet for Nothing” 🙂
You had your first coffee before you were 5 years old. Your mom would mix it with extra milk so it wouldn’t taste so strong. She’s the reason you developed an addiction to it and now drink at least 3 cups a day. (But their also have been numerous articles in the press in recent years on the health benefits of coffee)
You don’t refer to someone as a person, you say “mae” (pronounced my). ‘Mae’ is everyone and anyone, either feminine or masculine (esa mae or ese mae). When talking to your friends, it’s not uncommon to hear the word mae at least 50 times in one conversation. (especially among teenagers, the closest modern equivalent to “mae” in English being “dude”)
You include partying in your monthly budget. It doesn’t matter if there’s nothing going on, you will find a reason to celebrate. You double your party budget if La Sele (the national soccer team) is playing that month. (in Covid times you can still watch the Sele on TV)
You don’t say 1000 colones, you say “un rojo.” (rojo, a “red” or un mil) In Costa Rica the 1000 colon bill is red in color (rojo in Spanish), so you denominate money as un rojo, dos rojos, diez rojos, and so on. For example, you say “I paid diez rojos for that ticket.” One million is “un melón,” just because it rhymes.
You use trees and house colors to give directions. From the mango tree, turn left and keep going 2 apples (blocks), it’s the third house on the right, watermelon color with a palm tree in the front. Street names — who needs them?
You know about Tico time. If someone says: “I’ll meet you at 4,” you know it probably means the person might be leaving the house at that time. Not proud of this one, but we Ticos are not exactly known for being punctual.
You say Pura Vida for everything. Used a hundred times a day to say hi, goodbye, thank you, you’re welcome, to express well-being, or to say something is good or nice, Pura Vida (pure life) is your mantra.
You eat tamales for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Your mom makes a huge batch of traditional tamales for the holidays and you are responsible for eating half of them, it’s your duty.
You honed your salsa dancing and merengue skills in family reunions. Your aunt, uncle, mom, or cousin made you dance with them at all family gatherings. You might have hated it back then, but at least now you can dance.
You secretly speak Pachuca (street slang). Even though you might not use it often, you can speak it fluently. You know that tuanis means good, that mopri (a mix of the letters of primo) means mae, that the police are los pacos, your car is la nave watched over by el guachi, and your job is el yugo. En ‘toas…it’s good, mae!
Support nature which helps save the earth from the destruction of global warming — COUNT BIRDS TODAY and report them to eBird! An account is free and you can also get a free app for your phone for easier reporting. Even if you see only one bird and report it – it counts and is important!
I will try to report later today which birds I see and report to eBird.
I had been trying to keep readers up-to-date on the renovation of Atenas Central Park but they mostly stopped work after February when the park was closed to the public because of COVID19, which would seem to me a good time to get the renovation finished without the bother of people. But no, they stopped work or maybe ran out of money? No one seems to know. Then in June they completed this one radial sidewalk, almost.
Well, the other day there was one man working on that one section of radial sidewalk they had finished and I then discovered that he was planting flowers! Great! Maybe we will have beautiful flowers like a few of Costa Rica towns central parks have. Well . . . it was just marigolds! Made me think of that great movie The Hotel Marigold! 🙂
Anyway, remaining faithful to my duty to report on the “Progress” in the renovation of Central Park Atenas, here is the latest! Marigolds! And the mass of color IS nice! 🙂
And don’t forget that I have a gallery of the step by step progress on the park, at first it was week by week, then month by month and I hope it is not now year by year! 🙂
Earlier I released a coffee table book titled Pura Vida Birds as a celebration of coming up on my 6 year anniversary of being “Retired in Costa Rica” (December 24, 2020).
Then I started thinking about my second nature love of butterflies and just couldn’t resist doing a similar book with my photo collection of butterflies and moths, even though not as big as my birds collection. So here it is! More than 120 butterflies in brilliant colors in a 10×8 in, 25×20 cm book, hardcover or paperback book. It is titled Pura Vida Butterflies from the Retired in Costa Rica Blog. Check it out and thumb through the pages electronically in the free Preview available online. Just one more incredible thing about Costa Rica! 🙂
