Category: Travel

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Jaco-Carara -THE BOOK!

From expansive beaches to overpowering vistas and sunsets dotted with colorful tropical birds – my newest photo book captures the magic of where I live as well as any! With it my photos show the adventure of birding in three hotels just an hour from Atenas — Punta Leona Resort,  the Macaw Lodge and my recent visit to Villa Caletas, all with easy access to beaches, Carara National Park and Tarcoles River plus each having their own private forest reserve and trails. Nature at its best! All in one beautiful photo book!

You can preview the entire book electronically online at:

https://www.blurb.com/b/9601292-jaco-carara-birding-hotels

Or click the image of the book cover below:

Jaco-Carara

And if interested is purchasing a copy, Get 40% OFF through Monday 12 August by using the Discount Code LAZYDAYS4T at checkout.

Retired in Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Villa Caletas Photo Gallery

I just uploaded the last photo I’ve chosen to share from a very photogenic resort! I’m pleased with a lot of the photos and you can see them in the gallery at:

https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2019-July-28-31-Villa-Caletas-Jaco

Or it may be more fun   🙂   to click the image of the first page:

2019-08-02
Click above image to see the gallery.

Villa Caletas Website

¡Pura Vida!

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Caletas Beach

This morning I used the shuttle run to the mostly private Caletas Beach (technically all beaches are public) down the paved drive onto a gravel road along which I got my hawk photo (in a separate post) and onto their private hotel property adjacent to the beach which is a fabulous private park with rancho, rest rooms, restaurant, picnic tables and even a bonfire already built and ready to light for the next group wanting such. My plan was to walk their hiking trail down the mountain and drive back, but rain has heavily damaged the trail they say and thus it is closed. I decided not to walk the road but could have.

I explored with my camera where I got more butterflies than birds but I’m doing a bird post next anyway. It is mostly a rocky beach with a seawall along part of it and even a boat ramp. I got some cool seashells, the photos below and a wonderful fresh fruit bedida (smoothie) in the restaurant before the driver returned with a European couple on his hourly run to the beach from our mountaintop resort and I returned with him after one hour. Been there done that now!  🙂

Caletas Beach

CLICK an image to enlarge.

If this beach looks empty that is because it nearly was – one Tico family picnicking on this beach and as I left that European couple came on the beach from the hotel to replace me. High season (lots of people) is December through April. May to October is rainy season and “low season” for tourists.  There’s maybe only a dozen or so of us in the hotel now. I like that!

Also I don’t always go to such touristy places as a guy who prefers the forest and jungle lodges, but I had been urged to see the sunsets here and I am!   🙂

An ocean breeze puts a mind at ease.

¡Pura Vida!

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Zephyr Palace

One of the big attractions at this hotel is almost another hotel: an events facilities for weddings, big parties, family reunions, business meetings, retreats, whatever with its own set of luxury rooms and villas, infinity pool, large meeting spaces, etc. It is called “Zephyr Palace,” named after the Greek God Zephyr . . .

Zephyr was the Greek god of the west wind, which was considered the gentlest wind, especially if compared to the colder north wind, Boreas. The warm west wind brought the spring season. Even today the name of the god means a warm and light breeze. Zephyr was the father of two immortal horses, Xanthus and Balius.

Costa Rica seems to like Greece and Greek culture. I live in Atenas which is actually the Spanish name for Athens. Up the road north of us is another larger town named Grecia, Spanish for Greece.

My villa here is at the beginning of the road to Zephyr Palace that is lined with greek columns. In fact all of the buildings here have greek columns including my room! Monday morning late, when the maid came in my room, I walked up the road to Zephyr Palace. Here are some photos I made with my cell phone.

Zephyr Palace

CLICK an image to enlarge

 

Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows.

  • Thomas Gray, The Bard

¡Pura Vida!

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Monday Sunset

Here’s the photos of Monday’s Sunset with no rain!  🙂

Sunset at Villa Caletas July 29

Get outside. Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset. How does that make you feel? Does it make you feel big or tiny? Because there’s something good about feeling both.

~Amy Grant

¡Pura Vida!

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A Wow Hotel

Villa Caletas is an older hotel and old-style upscale, old-style architecture, and old-style service with big staff, lots of young people anxious to wait on you. So far I like it even though the trail down the mountain is closed because of rainy season damage. It was raining when I got here and has rained most of the time, which I thought meant no sunset, but boy was I surprised! It’s late & I’m tired, so I will post the sunset photos tomorrow. Here’s my first impressions of the hotel in photos without photos of the toucans and macaws flying around when I didn’t have my big camera out. All of these are cell phone photos:

Hotel Grounds

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My Room

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My Room’s Vistas (Before Sunset)

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Room’s Praying Mantis

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Tomorrow I Post the First Sunset Photos!

And maybe some birds!

¡Pura Vida!

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Free WiFi in Costa Rica!

One of the things the government is doing with the increased taxes is providing free WiFi all over Costa Rica in most public places: national and city parks, libraries, all government and public buildings and for university students access anywhere for free. The online world is expanding everywhere and more countries like Costa Rica are providing it for everyone. Read this article in Living in Costa Rica Blog:

Free WiFi Country-wide

If I wasn’t so lazy I could save about $30 a month on internet charges, but I really like the convenience of having it in my house!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Brilliant! The Book

Because it was a special week, I’m doing a second book on Xandari where I celebrated my birthday last week. It was such a colorful week, I titled it “Brilliant!” Follow the link to a free online preview of the book showing 82 of my photos. Or click this smaller image of the book cover below:

Brilliant Book cover
Click cover to Preview the book online.

Also see the 2019 Trip Gallery for this week. 

Or the older 2018 Xandari Trip Gallery

And my photo book for that year’s visit titled Xandari Enchanted by Nature

A truly amazing place!

Xandari Nature Resort

¡Pura Vida!

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Macaw Lodge Photo Gallery

I completed my “Trip Gallery” of the 6 nights at Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica. It is another fabulous nature retreat in Costa Rica and I hope you check out some of the photos I have posted. You can click the print screen image below or this web address:  https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2019-06-18-24-Macaw-Lodge

2019-06-27
Click gallery page above to visit it.

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels.”
— Ansel Adams

Macaw Lodge Website

¡Pura Vida!

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The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

For those who love birds and realize their importance in the future of planet earth, I hope you have already discovered The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

It is from this institution or website that I have my best bird identifier, the free app available from your phone app store called:   Merlin

The basic app is for North American birds, but includes for many countries, like Costa Rica, a download for free of your country-specific birds. The quickest, easiest and cheapest way of identifying birds you see or photograph.

And participate in the research and learning about birds plus create your own checklist of birds seen through their online base program eBird (also with a phone app):

I have also starting taking online classes on their website, the first of which is free and introduces you to eBird, your personal online record of birds seen.

One of their latest award-winning documentary videos is is worth seeing just the free 2 minute preview:  Bird of Prey  about the rarest eagle in the world in the Philippines.

If you love and appreciate birds, I hope you will learn about and connect with

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

¡Pura Vida!