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| Sunset from my Terrace. Yes, similar to an earlier post, but newer and the one I have ordered a 48X12 canvas print of. It will likely hang in my office/guest room. I’m running out of space to hang photos. 🙂 |
Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.
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| My shot from the top of one of the mountains in Talamanca range in 2014. |
My general plan was to get settled in a home, explore locally, then travel, maybe as much as a week or weekend ever month to continue my exploration of this amazing Costa Rica. I’m now into the travel stage beyond some short trips earlier. Joining the Birding Club of Costa Rica came with a built-in trip every month, though eventually I will skip some of those and do my own thing. But for this month and next I’m doing the birding club trips and adding my own exploring days while in that part of the country.
Today (Tuesday) I take bus to Alajuela, pick up some mail, go to airport and get a rental car. Tomorrow after Spanish Class, I drive south 2-3 hours into the Talamanca Mountains where I have been two other times (09 & 14) but love it enough to go again with the club. I’m going early to explore a different part of the mountains, Mount Chirripo, the tallest mountain in Costa Rica. I’m not climbing it! But staying at a yoga retreat center lodge near the base, next to a national forest and the national park, Rio Chirripo Retreat. On Thursday I have scheduled a birding guide to take me out for some good photos of birds other than quetzals. Then Friday I move to Miriam’s Quetzals to join the club for more birds including the Resplendent Quetzal. There I’ll share a little cabin with some other guys there without spouses. Birding is all we do for two days. So get ready for some more bird photos! 🙂 And oh yes, it gets cold up there! I’m taking 2 weights of jackets plus long pants!
And if you don’t remember what a Resplendent Quetzal looks like, here’s my earlier shots of some.
Just in: Guava Leaves are Good for You! As much as the powerhouse Costa Rica fruit Guava. My favorite is Guava Marmalade, but good in fruit punch or just a guava fresca or guava ice cream! But I still prefer guanabana as first choice to drink! My cancer prevention fruit! 🙂
A good article: 7 Things to Consider Before Retiring Abroad And it is not just about Costa Rica. For what it is worth, I seriously considered Panama as my second choice and the cost of living is lower there than in Costa Rica but more nature here won out for me. Wherever you consider moving, check out these 7 things as a minimum and then visit the country multiple times and study it before moving there. Then you almost always want to rent at first to make sure the area or neighborhood is where you want to settle before you buy. It is easier to buy than sell! Me? I will only rent. Freedom! (And lack of money!) You too can have a stress-free life in paradise without American politics, crimes and wars! Pura Vida!
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| 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 |
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| 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. |
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| 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 |
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| 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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| The mountain range I watch daily from my balcony includes Grecia, Sarchi, and Poas Volcano. A five-shot panorama. It is La Cordillera Central or in English, The Central Sierra (a jagged mountain range) As always, CLICK PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW |
I chose to live here rather than some of the most beautiful beaches in the world because of the weather (70’s and 80’s year-around in Atenas while beaches are hot and humid year-around), the central location is also for me to eventually visit all the national parks, the closeness to San Jose and some of best hospitals in the world, and more shopping and entertainment possibilities nearby in San Jose and Alajuela. Also, the small town atmosphere and friendliness, laid-back way of life, no car required, just an hour and a half bus ride from a beach is perfect for me. I’m really not “a beach person,” as some here claim to be. I’m more of a “nature person,” if you please, and nature is everywhere in Costa Rica!
Once my nest is comfortably feathered in the central valley, I expect to be all over the country in some of the special nature places. Right now I’m enjoying the nature in my yard and nearby places, learning the language, and adapting to a new culture and government! Takes time! And I really enjoy sharing my experiences in this blog, whether anyone reads it or not! It is one of my creative outlets now. And yes, I’m living a dream! I consider myself one of the most fortunate persons in the world to be here and leave all the old junk of my life back in the states and my dim memories. It is a happy last chapter of a 74 year old living in Costa Rica!
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| First view is toward downtown Atenas and mountain range. Trees on right are neighbor yards. |
The vista from La Jacaranda was of the close hills of Atenas where this is more expansive, looking over Atenas to the mountain ranges that include Poas and Arenal Volcanoes. So it is quite different. If I walk up to the top of my hill in my landlord’s yard I can see downtown Atenas and the church steeple at Central Park and the mountains to the west (same if I walk up the road in front of my house – photo below).
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| View from about one block up the road from my house with sunshine. The Central Park church steeple is on the left. Amazing difference 50 to 100 feet makes! But they pay for these views! Yet I can walk up there anytime to look or photograph! 🙂 |
I just made a new shot from my balcony right after the afternoon shower which is not as expansive as the 2-pix panorama at top but what I see in one direction:
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| As the afternoon shower stops, looking northwest from my balcony. I live in the foothills of the mountains, a dream life! |