An Apartment is Arranged!

Beautiful apartments with valley & mountain views

Pool from patio and BBQ area where I’ll entertain you
on your visit

I now have an apartment that will be waiting on me when I arrive the last week of December, the one I told you about earlier, Hacienda La Jacaranda. 
Click the link to see photos of the property, the apartments inside, and even the waterfall on their property under their “Amenities” tab. Most of their photos cannot be copied. A Dutch couple operate it and he wrote me today with this fun message reminding me that my neighbors will include monkeys & iguanas:
  

Dear Charlie,

Thank you for your reply. One unit is reserve for you. We are working on our paypal reservation payment in our website. Might be done tomorrow then I will let you know. You can stay here upon arrival.

You will love Costa Rica since you are a nature lover. Atenas also has the best climate. We will have several  of mangos trees in the property and during mango season the monkeys visit here to eat the fruits. Iguana’s are just also in our premises. Right now, we have flowers in the garden so different kinds of butterflies is visible here. Good subject for photography. Here is one photo for you.

Regards,

Phons van der Bom

         Hacienda La Jacaranda
         Contiguo al Rio Cajon Atenas, Alajuela,Costa Rica

Phons’ photo of a butterfly in his garden
And in case you wondered about the name of the place, here is the Wikipedia definition:

Jacaranda is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Central America, South America, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and the Bahamas.  Wikipedia


And by the way, I’ve decided to continue blogging here since several people are following this blog and not my Adventures Blog. At least until I get there. Tomorrow will be the good and bad news about interim medical insurance. 

Mountain Rainforest Today

My 8:00 AM ride was early, not on “Tico Time” – a very pleasant young man named Alejandro for our 90 minute ride into the TalamancaMountains and Trogon Lodge. Upon arrival, the first thing I did was put on long pants and long-sleeve shirt! It is very cool here and they have already lit the gas heater in my rustic cabin. The rain is in the middle of the day here while always in afternoon in valley and coast. But I did get to hike a couple of hours in the rainforest with only a mist. Got only one bird, but several shots of him, I think some kind of thrush; I don’t have my CR Bird Book with me. I also saw several Tropical Kingbirds but couldn’t get a shot. The star of this hike was Catarata Falls on the Sevegre River (photo}. The lodge is right on this mountain river. The staff and food are fabulous! Only 3 guests during the day but 20 young adults from Germany came in this afternoon, so the dining room will be livelier for dinner! And already is in the bar! The only WiFi hot spot is in the bar where I’m posting now before dinner. Every moment of every day is an exciting adventure! I enjoy them all!
At 5:40 AM tomorrow I meet my guide to go find and photograph the Resplendent Quetzal before breakfast. Then I will hike around the cloud forest until Alejandro returns for me at 2:00 PM, my last day in Costa Rica this time. Enjoy my mountain rainforest photos. More will be in my online gallery later.
Catarata Falls on the Sevegre River

Trogon Lodge on Sevegre River in Talamanca Mountins

Black-billed Nightingale-thrush, Trogon Lodge
San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

My “Rainforest Selfie” On Best Part of the Trip!