Here are photos of 20 species of birds I photographed around the grounds of Cristal Ballena Hotel, about a third of them just outside my room! It is a good birding hotel! I actually photographed more species here than on the Mangrove Boat Tour! 🙂 And I will record all of them on my eBird page, even though I got no new species this trip – but I did get several better photos of some species which is always another goal! Enjoy and as always CLICK image to enlarge or start a slideshow.
Most of my trips within Costa Rica are in search of more birds! And most give me at least one new species. But I also love photographing other nature, vistas, waterfalls, and of course Sunrises & Sunsets!
Multiple expat friends here have told me that the best sunset vistas and photos are from the restaurant & theater at a hotel on a hill near Jaco, just an hour away, Hotel Villa Caletas. It is upscale or expensive, so only 4 nights which is not as long as I prefer to stay to really see a place, but that will still be 4 sunset opportunities, Sunday-Wednesday nights, weather cooperating. I’ve had more than one sunset rained out or covered by clouds, but that’s part of the adventure!
Villa Caletas is different from the nature lodges I usually visit, but still immersed in nature with hotel birding trails and a jungle trail down the mountain to their beach with shuttle rides back up the hill. It is close to Punta Leona which had very good birding and also close to the Carara National Park (good birding) which I may or may not visit again – been there 4 time now! Just going to take it day by day after I get there. A serendipity trip!
I think I already have some pretty nice sunset photos in my gallery called VISTAS, BEACHES, SUNRISES, SUNSETS CR . The featured image above is one of mine of a sunrise on the Caribbean side which I like to use because so many people here think everything is better on the Pacific side – well, maybe just more expensive! 🙂 And most can’t see a difference in sunrise or sunset.
What I get at Villa Caletas will go in the Pacific Sub Gallery of the above linked sunset gallery and then we can compare to see if they really have the best sunsets on the Pacific coast! 🙂 My favorite on the Pacific so far is the one I took from a Sansa Airplane (on return from Danta Corcovado). And they weren’t too bad from a hillside hotel in Manuel Antonio last Christmas! Yep! I love sunsets!
While the Atlantic or Caribbean side is mostly for sunrises, I have been pretty lucky over there too! (Where I go again the end of this August.) You just have to get up earlier to see sunrises! Yawn! 🙂
And to be fair to Villa Caletas, here is one of their website photos of their sunset which is very nice! Hope mine will be as good or better! 🙂
Sunset photo from Villa Caletas online. — Not my photo.
¡Pura Vida!
When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.
I was happy on my visit to Tambor Tropical Beach Resort to see the many nesting boxes that hotel provides for Scarlet Macaws helping to maintain the population in that part of the Pacific Coast, the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. The destruction of large trees with cavities is possibly the biggest factor leading to the endangerment of this species as has already happened to the Green Macaw on the Caribbean Coast.
Well, here’s a Tico Times Article about More Scarlet Macaw Nesting boxes even closer to my home at Hotel Punta Leona near Jaco/Tarcoles. The article includes a video that will not let me share here (only FB). Check out the article & video and even the hotel which I will try to visit myself eventually! 🙂
Scarlet Macaws near their nesting boxes at Tambor Tropical Beach Resort. And I also made the header photo of a flying Scarlet Macaw at Tambor Beach.
Photo sent to mission team this morning as encouragement for their flight here tomorrow–Thursday. Sunset over Pacific Ocean while flying along west coast of Costa Rica in March.
Sunset Over the Pacific From our little 12 passenger Sansa airplane on the hour-late flight back to San Jose. Along the West Coast of Costa Rica ¡Pura Vida!
And ohhhh soooo many more photos to share, but exhausted again tonight and so much to do here. So tomorrow I will continue my report on Danta Corcovado Lodge, probably first with birds seen in the park, then much more over the next few days. Buenas Noches.
And most of you know that means I have trips planned for the rest of the year with other serendipities like holidays and local experiences being “extra” joys! But for those who particularly like my trips or the birds I photograph on them, here’s my coast to coast plans for the next 4 months, leaving specific dates off for security reasons: SEPTEMBER is my trek back to the Caribe with 4 nights in a very popular hotel I could not get in on another trip, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.It is one of the very few actually on the beach, like walk out of your cabin right onto the beach. (Most are across the highway.) I do not care for swimming in the ocean for many reasons, nor sunbathing, but absolutely love walking on the beach which I will do a lot of this trip. It is also “Adult Only,” simply meaning no children. I love kids, but they tend to dominate a resort at every point and can be quite disruptive from sleeping & meals to activities & pool. So my first time to try one of these! I’ll let you know what I think. Plus I plan on two new reserves for birding and otherwise hiking in nature with local guides; one is a national park and one a private reserve which they claim is the best. And of course the beautiful forested grounds of the hotel and even the beach will have birds! And I will experience a little caribbean culture & food in Puerto Viejo. See
this info page and welcome video About Puerto Viejo. There’s also links there to why visit the Caribe, difference in caribbean and pacific coasts, etc. I may come home singing reggae! 🙂 But mainly hope to relax and get more bird photos! Here’s more on Caribbean Local Activities beyond the music and food or my favorite, Caribbean Jungle, Nature & Wildlife. And the Hotel Banana Azul Photo Gallery. It will be both similar and different from my safari tent hotel in Manzanillo last year. See that Manzanillo Trip Photo Gallery for comparison. I still don’t have a strong preference for caribbean or pacific coast yet, though I tend to favor the “underdog” or least popular which would be the Caribe. It is quieter, cheaper, more natural, smaller & locally owned hotels, and less crowded. If you like big Marriotts or Hiltons, go to the Pacific side and spend more money! I’m doing that in December but not in a big chain hotel.
NOVEMBER is in the cloud forests not far from Atenas, just outside San Ramon where I stay in my second Greentique Hotel, associated with the Aquila de Osa Hotel I was in at Drake Bay. (One of my favorite!) But this one is only an hour or so away by bus through Palmares to San Ramon where the hotel picks me up at the bus station. It is called Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel & Nature Reserve.
Typical birding hike.
Of course I already have birding treks scheduled with local guides and may get to see their cloud forest research center. Plus they have trails on their own property I can visit on my own and all three hotels have jacuzzis which I hope to use and who knows? Maybe even a relaxing back massage! I view retirement as an almost continuous vacation! 🙂 It’s great! And this one’s close to home!
Another tropical paradise where you have both
a pool and the beach, plus forest for birds!
And hopefully great food! 🙂
CHRISTMAS WEEK is when I decided to try the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula and Guanacaste on the Pacific Coast. And my Google search showed Tambor Bay the best area of the southern peninsula for birding, according to a local birding club on the peninsula. So we will see! I have reservations at the Tambor Tropical Hotel right on the beach AND on a river with hiking trails following it inland for lots of do-it-yourself birding. Plus there are two reserves nearby that I hope to see with a guide. And this is another “Adults Only” hotel. Wow! New for me.
Puntarenas is almost due west of Atenas, slightly southwest. To drive or go on bus includes a long ferry ride, making a long trip. Thus I have elected to fly a small plane to the little airport at Tambor Bay. Hotel picks me up at airport.
Not having family, I have found that Christmas is more enjoyable while on a trip and I always end up with new friends as well as new experiences! So I’m looking forward to this Christmas when I celebrate living in Costa Rica for three years!¡Pura Vida!
On Flamingo Beach down the steps behind our Hotel Paradise Flamingo
Tomorrow we look at possible rental houses for John and explore some more. It is hotter here but we have air conditioning. The above shot was made after an hour-long rain. This area of Guanacaste is about a 4.5 hour drive from Atenas. John has a rent car. Pura Vida!
Waterfall & Swinging Bridge behind my cabin at Campesinos Lodge on Pacific Coast near Quepos. Yep! I walked over and back twice, a long bridge!
Several young men were repelling down the waterfall. Not me! I do birds! I was at Campesinos with the birding club, now adding my solo adventure.
Halfway home I stopped for a personal night near Carara National Park, staying at Cerro Lodge overlooking a Pacific Coast bay above. Tomorrow morning I do 2 hours of birding in Carara before going home. This afternoon I am enjoying a rest and birding the grounds of this lodge.
In the next couple of days I will post bird photos made in both places. This Cerro Lodge has pretty good internet connection while Campesinos had none nor cell phone service! Even with a connection there is seldom time to make these posts while on a trip. I may rest from travel a bit though it may not be for very long! 🙂 I love doing this! And just as I sign off a flock of Scarlet Macaws is flying overhead. 🙂 Pura Vida!
