Paddle boarder in the surf

I have never tried surfing or paddle boarding.  Paddle boarding looks intriguing to me, and I would be more inclined to give it a try.

This photo shows a paddle boarder heading out to sea through the surf.

This week we are showing photos of Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It was a wonderful mix of native cultures, South Pacific scenery, a total solar eclipse, a volcano erupting at night, and colorful coral reefs.

A girl playing in the sand on the beach

This girl is a little older than the girl on the beach that I showed yesterday. She has chosen a spot closer to the ocean, and she will need to be on the watch for waves coming in.

This week we are showing photos of Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It was a wonderful mix of native cultures, South Pacific scenery, a total solar eclipse, a volcano erupting at night, and colorful coral reefs.

Little girl on the beach

This little girl seems to have found a sandy spot of the beach amidst a large area of volcanic rock that is exposed and forms tide pools at low tide, such as when this photo was taken, but is covered by the wavs breaking during high tide.

This week we are showing photos of Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  We returned about one week ago.  It was a wonderful mix of native cultures, South Pacific scenery, a total solar eclipse, a volcano erupting at night, and colorful coral reefs.

Power washing

I noticed this worker doing a power wash on the parking lot of some shops across the street from our Langosta condo.

This may be leaping to a conclusion, but I think power washing parking lots is a sign that Costa Rica is advancing beyond what people would consider to be a typical developing country.  I have travelled in a lot in what people consider to be the "third world."  I don't think I have seen other people in developing countries power washing a parking lot.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Close up of brown iguana

I like green iguanas better than brown iguanas.  This photo, in comparison with yesterday's photo, shows why.

The scales on on brown iguanas make them look like their ancestors, the dinosaurs.

This week we are showing photos of Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  We returned about one week ago.  It was a wonderful mix of native cultures, South Pacific scenery, a total solar eclipse, a volcano erupting at night, and colorful coral reefs.

Green iguana

It has been awhile since I have posted an iguana photo.  This green iguana would be much better camouflaged in some green branches and leaves, rather than a thicket of branches.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  We returned about one week ago.  It was a wonderful mix of native cultures, South Pacific scenery, a total solar eclipse, a volcano erupting at night, and colorful coral reefs.

Cowboys driving cattle through town

This photo shows the cowboys who were ushering the cattle through town. I don't know what the official rules are, but I am sure that as a practical matter the cattle have the right of way.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Cattle drive through the village

It is not unusual to see a cattle drive right through town in Costa Rican villages.  Northwest Costa Rica, which is Guanacaste province, has cattle ranches dating back to Spanish colonial land grant days.

Ranchers often live in villages and take their cattle out to pasture in the morning and bring them back in the evening.

The man in this photo is not the rancher.  He is a villager who was riding a bicycle faster than the cattle were walking down the street.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Typical Costa Rican Village Scene

This is a typical Sunday afternoon scene in a typical rural Costa Rican village.  There are children who have ridden their bicycles down to the corner convenience store.  They are looking down towards the football (soccer) field in the town square.

This village is about a half hour east or inland from Tamarindo.  Tomorrow I will show a photo of something that happens in small towns in our area that is a scene that I doubt that many people in North Amreica or Europe see.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Tide pool clams

This photo shows that the photos of the last two days are a colony of tiny clams at the edge of the water in one of the countless tide pools along Langosta Beach.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Countless patterns

This is a wider view of the same scene that I showed in the detailed shot that I showed yesterday.  I like this view better, although it is hard to tell what it is.  I will show a photo yesterday that will place this into perspective and make sense of yesterday's and today's photos.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Patterns

This is a rather odd shot.  It is the type of photo I would not take, except for the fact that I have this Daily Photo blog for which I need new and different photos.

This looks a little like a bunch of coffee beans, which would make sense because coffee is a major crop in Costa Rica, but it is not coffee.

I will show a wider photo tomorrow that will place this scene into context.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Delicate purple flower

These purple flowers caught my eye during a walk in Tamarindo. The structure of the flower appears somewhat similar to an orchid, but I do not think that they are orchids.  Orchids do grow wild in Costa Rica, and I will have some orchid photos coming up in the future.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Cambodia, beginning with one of my favorite photos of a monk in Angkor Wat with perfect backlighting.

Yellow berries

I usually show flowers and leaves in my photos of plants, but here is a collection of berries.  I have no idea what type of berries these are or whether they are edible.  I am sure that the birds, raccoons, coatis, squirrels, and monkeys know more than me about what types of berries are safe to eat.

This week we are showing photos of the folk art of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Spotted plant

Here is the rest of the plant that I showed yesterday.  It appears that the older, larger leaves, have more of the yellow spots than the newer leaves.

In hindsight, I wish I had removed the dead leaves and branches from the front of this photo.  Although that would have been altering nature, it would have improved the composition of this photo that I took too quickly.

I am not a purist about altering the work of Mother Nature before photographing it, as long as it does not involve harm to an animal or plant, and the leaves in front were already dead.  If God know I wanted to photograph this plant, I am sure that He or She would have arranged for a gust of wind to blow the dead leaves away to improve the composition of my photo.

This week we are showing photos of the folk art of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Spotted leaves

Add caption

These yellow spotted leaves caught my eye.  I don't know what kind of plant this is or why they have such unusual leaves.

It looks like a sloppy painter was working above the plant while painting a ceiling or wall yellow.

This week we are showing photos of the folk art of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Flower and ant

This closer photo of the type of flower I showed yesterday revealed that ants evidently are attracted to the flowers, as this photo shows.

We have photos of the folk art of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Flower

I think that this is a type of heliconia, although it also resembles a bird of paradise.  I confess and apologize that my knowledge of specific plant types is limited, so please don't take my word for it.

This week we are showing photos of the folk art of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Late sunset silhouette

Similar to yesterday's photo, here is another view of Julie taking photos.  She is silhouetted during the last moments of a sunset.

This week we are showing photos of the folk art of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Julie taking a photo of the ocean

Here is another one of my photos of Julie taking photos.  If I finish taking my photos more quickly than her, there is often an opportunity to see if an interesting angle can be composed to combine a view of her taking photos with a perspective on the scene that she is shooting.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we have  photos of the folk art of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.  These are different than the type of scenic photos that we normally post.

Beach front sand lounge

This is a view down onto the grounds of the Crystal Sands condo from the balcony of a penthouse condo seven stories high.

The patch of sand looks like a sand trap on a golf course, but it is a little area where residents can sit in a lounge chair near the beach.  They put sand there, I guess because people want to have their feet in the sand while listening to the ocean, or maybe some people want to bring down a beach towel or mat and lay out on the warm, soft sand.

This week we are showing photos of Julie's trip through the bottom of the Grand Canyon on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

A family walking dogs on the beach

Here is another photo from the top of the Crystal Sands condo building on Langosta beach.  A family consisting of a mother, father, and two dogs is enjoying a quiet walk on the beach.

This week we are showing photos of Julie's trip through the bottom of the Grand Canyon on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Ocean view on Langosta beach

This is a view of a little outcropping of rocks that extends into the ocean near the beginning of Langosta beach. There is a wide spot in the sand, which is hidden behind the trees on the left, that is a popular spot for people to have weddings on the beach, especially at sunset.

This week we are showing some additional photos from Julie's raft trip through the Grand Canyon a few months ago on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

San Francisco Point, Capitan Island and Tamarindo Bay

San Francisco Point is the dividing point between Langosta Beach in the foreground of this photo and Tamarindo Bay in the background.

This photo was taken at high tide, and Isla Capitan is barely above the water line.  Cabo Velas across Tamarindo Bay is in the distance.  The beach, hotels, condos, shops and restaurants of Tamarindo are to the right of this photo.

This week we are showing some additional photos from Julie's raft trip through the Grand Canyon a few months ago on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

A view down Langoista beach

In contrast to the high rises shown in yesterday's photo, this is a view down Langosta beach.  There are no high rises  penetrating above the trees.  You can see the ocean on the right.

This is the area where there are large beach front mansions, which I have shown in the past.  Our Langosta condo is also on the beach in this area.

This week we are showing some additional photos from Julie's raft trip through the Grand Canyon a few months ago on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

High Rise Condos

I will show a few photos in the days ahead of the views from the Crystal Sands condo, which is a high rise
on Playa Langosta.  For Tamarindo, high rise means about 7 stories, as there is nothing higher than that.

Seven stories is plenty high to tower above the trees, which condo developers like to build so that they can charge the premium ocean view prices for the units on the higher floors.  This is the view across the top of the Cala Luna Resort to the Naxos and Peninsula condos.

This week we are showing some additional photos from Julie's raft trip through the Grand Canyon a few months ago on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Ferns

This is a more conventional photo of a fern, lacking the flower of the Lady Gaga fern that I showed yesterday.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing some more photos Julie's trip through the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Lady Gaga Fern

Today Lady Gaga is giving a concert in the National Stadium in San Jose.   Scientists recently named a new species of fern after Lady Gaga.  Gaga Germanotta is the name for a type of fern discovered recently in Costa Rica.  Translated, it means "little monster."

The name was chosen by scientists at Duke University.  I do not know why they are the ones with responsibility to name the new species.  I am using this photo to illustrate the new fern on this day of the concert, although this is a common fern in Tamarindo and is not a Lady Gaga fern.

This post about the Lady Gaga fern and concert does not mean that I am a fan of her music.  I am unfamiliar with her music, as my musical tastes stop developing around the time of Woodstock.   I know that she has mastered the ability to draw media attention, as even I have heard of her and have seen her on the TV news, etc.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Cambodia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Bright red leaves

Part of the appeal of Costa Rica is the are the tropical plants, especially as the cold and gray of winter settles in on North America.  I will begin a little series today and the next few days to show some of the tropical plants around our Langosta condo, beginning with this photo of bright red leaves.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Cambodia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Theme Day: Water's Edge

Today's worldwide Daily Photo Theme is "Water's Edge."  This was an easy theme for me, as Tamarindo is a beach town on the Pacific Ocean, with much of the community at the water's edge.

To show the edge of the water, I selected this photo that shows the point of contact between the ocean and shore, and with some of that contact being redirected up into the air.

This week we are showing photos of the ancient Khmer temples of Cambodia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.