Blogs from Heredia, Heredia, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

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Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia February 29th 2020

So...... I've been taking a lot of photos of sloths lately. But I've also been taking a lot of orchid photos. Apparently I am as intrigued by the emerging sloth as I am the emerging orchid. Sloths spend much of their day curled up in tree. They're not much to look at in this curled up state--head buried in their fur, limbs wrapped around body and tree. But then magic happens. When the time is right, the sloth unfurls. They untuck their heads, reveal their slothy expression, slowly unwind and spread their limbs, and explore their surroundings as only a sloth can--slowly, calculatedly. It is unique and mesmerizing--a sloth revealing itself. Orchid flowers spend what seems like an eternity wound up in a compact little bud. As the bud matures, it plumps up and expands, the ... read more
Baby Orchid

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia February 26th 2020

Hands fascinate me. Holding hands, hand-in-hand, "Take my hand", "Can you give me a hand?". Some say the eyes are the windows to the soul. For me it's the hands. When I was taking care of my parents, I used to hold my dad's hand whenever I needed to tell him something important. He was nearly blind, and could barely hear, but if I held his hand in mine while I spoke, we seemed more connected. I miss my father's hands--strong, calloused, knobby. Accomplished hands. There are stories, there is history, there is trauma engrained in hands. It's all, right there, in the lines, in the way each finger joint articulates, and in the way each of the fingers relaxes just a little bit differently from the one next to it. So......I don't want get all ... read more
Hands

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia February 6th 2020

It's 4:42am. We'll file this under Reasons I Do NOT Want To Be Awakened At Four In The Morning Normally, I could have a lot of fun with this one: 1. Nudged by a partner to have sex; 2. Nudged by a stranger to have sex; 3. Your child calling you from the next room; 4. Any child calling anyone from the next room; 5. Earthquake, hurricane, lightning strike, torrential downpour; 6. Falling out of bed; 7. Falling in your dream, but still in your bed. None of those happened to me forty-five minutes ago. They have all happened to me at other times in my life, but never here, in Costa Rica, where, as luck would have it, scorpions (yes, scorpions) are quite common, at night, apparently especially around 4am. As of forty-five minutes ago, ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia February 6th 2020

So......since I was so rudely awakened this morning at 4am by the human-eating, plate-sized scorpion that schemed its way into my bed to purposely disturb my solemn slumber (See what happened there with the passing of time? By tomorrow, my little 4 inch intruder will be the size of a tyrannosaurus.), I decided to turn lemons into lemonade and took a video and a few photos as morning made itself known. Also, the view from where I sit in the apartment, tapping away on the laptop. And finally, I decided to take a walk to the store and the view from the front entrance of MasXMenos was breathtaking this morning, so there's a photo of that too.... read more
View from the laptop.
View from MasXMenos

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia January 11th 2020

I'm a fairly quiet person. I treasure silence and, given the choice, always prefer listening and watching to talking. Toucan Rescue Ranch is home to many, many parrots and toucans--all rescued for a variety of reasons, mostly confiscated because they were pets. Sadly they can't be released; TRR is their permanent home. These beautiful birds are all cared for with unwavering compassion by the staff and volunteers. I am now one of those volunteers, and the first thing we do every morning, is feed the parrots and toucans. Our day begins at 7am. It ends, in theory, at 3pm. In between, food trays and water trays are cleaned and replenished, living enclosures are raked and scrubbed, and pools are cleaned. When I arrive in the early morning, we volunteers are tasked with cleaning and feeding the ... read more
Amazon Parrots
Great Green Macaws
Great Green Macaws

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia February 5th 2017

Kävelin katsomaan Keskuspankin museot. Oli pilvinen päivä ja jokin pyöräilytapahtuma. Päätin lähteä käymään Herediassa. Sinne meni taajaan busseja ja matka kesti reilun puoli tuntia. San Josén kerrostalot näkyivät sinne. Löysin ruokapaikan ja palasin pimeän tultua.... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia November 16th 2015

This was my writing spot for most of the trip. Every day there were kids at the school next door yelling and playing outside. The garden was full of all kinds of birds.... read more

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia November 15th 2015

What a lovely hotel! The grounds are covered with tropical gardens that attract a wide variety of tropical birds. There is also a pool under some enormous trees and an amazing view of the surrounding mountains.... read more
Hotel Bougainvillea Restaurant
Hotel Bougainvillea Lobby
Hotel Bougainvillea Entryway

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia » Heredia August 14th 2013

1. Use buses. They are cheap. It may take a little while to figure out the bus system, but once you figure it out you will save lots of money. 2. If you use a taxi, only hire the red ones. You will see tons of them, and they all have a number on the back. These taxis are official and much less likely to rip you off. Make sure that they turn their meter on so that they can’t try charging you a lucrative sum of money. Don’t tip them; the tip is included in the cost. 3. Travel light and travel cheap. The cheaper you travel the safer you are. You won’t be a mugging target and heavy rain won’t be an issue (as it would be if you were carrying, say, a laptop.) ... read more


This past weekend our group traveled to Manuel Antonio National Park. On our way to the beach, we had to take a 30-minute walk through the rainforest. There were nearly 300 species of animals in the park. We first came upon a two-toed sloth. We had the rare chance of seeing a mother sloth traveling across the tree-tops with her baby attached to her underside. Next, we encountered the white-faced monkeys when we neared the beach. Seemingly cute, everyone was excited to see them. As we found out later, the monkeys know how to snoop into our bags and retrieve the snacks we bought earlier. One member of our group (Jonathan) had his banana stolen right in front of him. Also looking for a free meal, there were raccoons. On the rocks sunning himself was a ... read more
Mother Sloth and Baby
A Rare Sighting of a Baby Sloth
Moving Through the Tree-Tops




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