Blogs from 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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(3:45) I am gently swinging in a hammock on the porch of my chalet, happy to be warm and dry. My shoes and hat are with me on the porch in the hope that they will become dry before tomorrow morning’s horse ride. Today I wore my sandals, but that won’t work on a horse. Our morning consisted of a country drive, first on the highway - a two-lane asphalt road with no shoulders and a speed limit of 80 kilometres. (3:49) It has just started raining – so much for drying! Oh well! After I finish drinking tea, I will go the mineral hot spring pools where dry isn’t important. This morning we drove into farming country – lots of pineapples, plus small-farm produce. We stopped for a break in Upala, a small city. In ... read more
Groceries
Orange trees
Pleasant school building


To our terror, our destination today was white water rafting on the Sarapiqi River. None of us had done this in recent history. We needed lots of reassurance that it was doable without mishap by sixty-something ladies. On arrival, the rafting guide gave us a very serious safety briefing, which rather emphasized our fears. Nevertheless, we donned helmets and life-vests, tightened to fit snugly. We grasped our paddles as instructed (hand over the top), and approached the inflated raft. Even though we had imagined we would be sitting in the raft, the correct position was sitting on the side with feet anchored on the bottom. Lise and I volunteered to sit at the front, which I appreciated because it meant that my left foot was anchored under a very tight strap. After a mild warning, we ... read more
Drenched!
Triumphant!
Super Moon


(3:50 p.m.) I am sitting in a traditional rocking chair on the wide balcony of my room facing a drenching downpour accentuated by noise of water bombarding the roof and the garden plants. About ten metres from my balcony in the middle of the small lake on the edge of the garden is a medium-sized tree where lots of birds have gathered to wait out the storm. Some are fairly large black birds, some Turkey vultures and some cattle egrets. The tree is not at all protective, but since they all are perched on its outermost and barest branches, I presume they feel safe from predators there. Our journey to the Sueno Azul (Blue Dream) Hacienda began with leaving Tortuguero Evergreen Resort on the boats, going down the river and the can... read more
Banana flower
Glassblower
View from my room




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