Colorful patterns on poison dart frog

This little poison dart frog is tiny.  about the size of a nickel.  His colorful patterns would be good camouflage if he were in some leaves, but exposed him on the rocks.

This week we have photos of Grenada, Nicaragua posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Wok 'N Roll Restaurant

This is a photo of the Wok 'N Roll restaurant, whose sign I showed yesterday.  Although their sign features a red star, which of course is a Chinese symbol, the exterior of the restaurant promotes Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisine, plus sushi.

The restaurant has open air dining, which is typical of Tamarindo.

This week we are showing photos of Grenada, Nicaragua, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is about 5 hours north of Tamarindo.

Wok 'N Roll

There is a wide variety of restaurants in Tamarindo, ranging from beach food to gourmet, fine dining.  This is the sign for Wok 'N Roll, which is an Asian seafood restaurant.  The red star is an element from the flag of the People's Republic of China, of course, which is something one does not see too often in logos in the Western Hemisphere.

I will show the restaurant tomorrow.

This week we are showing photos of Grenada, Nicaragua, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is about 5 hours north of Tamarindo.

Interior of Zen Design Store

This is the interior of the second story area of the Zen showroom.  The selection reflects North American tastes, as these home furnishing stores cater to the foreigners who own vacation property along the beaches or who stay in the vacation properties.

The statistics for foreign visitors during 2013 were just released, and 40% of the tourists in Costa Rica come from the USA.  12% are from Europe.

There were nearly 2.5 million foreign  visitors to Costa Rica last year, an increase of 3.6% from 2012 and a 16% increase form 4 years ago.

This week we are showing photos of Raboul, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions.

Interior of Zen Design

This is a view of part of the interior furnishings for sale at Zen Design in the Solarium project across from the Liberia Airport.  They have a store in the front of the development, with a warehouse a short distance away.  This is the loft level of the warehouse.

It is good to have a large selection of furnishings available only an hour away from Tamarindo, rather than having to go to the Capitol of San Jose 4 or so hours away to find home furnishings.

This week we are showing photos of Grenada, Nicaragua, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is about 5 hours north of Tamarindo.

Zen Home Furnishings and Accessories

After shopping at La Artistica, we stopped by Zen, a home furnishing store at Solarium that carries Asian-inspired furniture and decorative items.

Zen's main store is located in San Jose, but has a branch store at Solarium outside Liberia.  We were pleased to not have to go to San Jose for the type of items that it carries.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of Grenada, Nicaragua.  It is a charming Spanish Colonial city.

Solarium Bicyclist

I mentioned that Solarium is a mixed-use development, with both commercial and residential areas.  While we were shopping a bicyclist, who I assume is a local resident, appeared to be enjoying a late afternoon ride.

Bob of St. Louis Daily Photo is finishing up staying in one of our condos for  a week.  His post today, which you can find at the link above, shows photos of students at a music school in Liberia, not far from the Solarium photos I have been showing for the past week.

I really like it when Bob comes to stay in our condo, which he has done for about 4 years now.  It is refreshing to see how a photographer as talented and industrious as Bob views our area.

This week we are showing photos of Raboul, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions.

Solarium Tree and Sky

This photo will give some perspective on the large size of the Solarium development.  The building in the distance is also part of the same project as the location of the stores from which I took this photo.  It is about 250 acres (100 has.).

The building in the distance is part of the residential portion of the development, which includes apartments, condominiums and houses.  The main part of Liberia, the largest town in Northwest Costa Rica, with a population more than 60,000, is about 10 minutes away to the east.  The Pacific Ocean is about 15 minutes away to the west.

This week we are showing photos of Raboul, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions.

La Artistica Interior

This is the interior of the La Artistica store at Solarium, which I also showed yesterday.  My guess is that it does not match what you would expect to see of a store that carries home furnishings in Costa Rica.

When we purchased our two condos in Tamarindo, our interior decorators had to go to San Jose, the capitol and a city of more than 1 million, to find and select furniture.

My wife and I wanted to get a new bedspread, patio dining table, and a few other odds and ends for our two condos, so we headed up to several stores at Solarium across from the Liberia Airport, about an hour away.  We found a good selection.

This week we are showing photos of Raboul, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions.

La Artistica

The buildings in the Logistics Center of Solarium are well designed for a variety of commercial uses.  The buildings are tall enough to have second floor or loft if the occupants prefer.  There is natural light through the windows in the roof, which face north to limit the direct sun.

We sent to Solarium to buy some things for our two condos, and tomorrow I will show the interior of the La Artistica store, the exterior of which is shown in today's photo.

This week we are showing photos of Raboul, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions.

Solarium Logistics Center

This is one of the rows of commercial buildings in what Solarium calls its logistics center.  Most of the units in the row appeared to be unoccupied, as Solarium has been developed during the recession.

Hopefully, the market will absorb the new facilities, as a master-planned mixed-use community is a good concept.  

I will show some more scenes from solarium, including some of the businesses that are located there, in the days ahead.

This week we are showing photos of Raboul, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions.

Solarium Entrance

This is the entrance to what is called the Solarium Logistics Center, just across the road from the international airport a few miles west of Liberia.

For a commercial area, it is well landscaped and has the feel of a master-planned development, as distinguished from a commercial district in a regular town that developed at different times, without any architectural unity.

This week we are showing photos of Raboul, Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions several times.

A Wider View of Solarium

This is a wider view of the entrance to Solarium from the main road.  The landscaping lines the road, and across the road to the left is the entrance is the international airport just west of Liberia, the largest town in Northwest Costa Rica.

The proximity to the airport was a major reason for the location of Solarium.  The mixed use project includes a Hilton Garden Inn that is the most convenient place to stay for people who arrive late at night or are leaving on early morning flights.  All of the flight crews stay there as well.

Tomorrow we will go to the entrance of Solarium, and I will show a few of the businesses that are located there.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.  It is the former capitol, but has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions several times.

Solarium

Today I will start a little series that is different than the photos of nature and the beach that I usually show.  I will show some photos of Solarium, a multi-purpose commercial, industrial and residential development that is located right across the street from the international airport outside Liberia, about an hour northeast of Tamarindo.

The expansion of the airport to add non-stop international flights a little more than a decade ago created the real estate and resort boom in Northwest Costa Rica.  It also led to development opportunities such as Solarium, which unfortunately came onto the market just as the 2008 recession hit.

I will show more of this during the coming week.

This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Diria Statue

This is a wider view of the statue that I showed yesterday.  The grounds of the Tamarindo Diria Resort are landscaped beautifully and are accented by reproductions of pre-Columbian statuary.

This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Welcome Home Statue

When walking home to our condo at the Diria Resort, this statute greets us, welcoming us home and, I presume, keeping away any evil spirits.

This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

"Exterior" of Patagonia Restaurant

I put the word "exterior" in quotes in the title of this post, because, every restaurant in Tamarindo, the Patagonia restaurant does not really have an exterior. There are no walls, except around the kitchen.

All of the restaurants in Tamarindo are open air on the sides because it is warm, but not too hot, all year around.

This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Patagonia Argentinian Grill and Restaurant

The restaurant I sbowed yesterday was the interior of Patagonia, an Argentine restaurant that is only about 1/4 of a block from our condo at the Tamarindo Diria Resort.

When you think of Argentine food, of course you think of steak, and perhaps empanadas.

Kate correctly guessed that the restaurant was an Argentine steak place, based on the fact that they featured Malbec wine, which pairs well with steak.  Although Malbec is best known for being produced in the Mendoza region of Argentina, which Sharon of Phoenix Daily Photo, Julie and I visited several years ago), we have noticed Malbec now being featured by some California wineries also.

This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

What type of restaurant do you think this is?

This is one of the many fine restaurants in Tamarindo.  A major reason that my wife and I decided to buy a condo (and later a second condo) in Tamarindo was the choice of many excellent restaurants.

I will reveal the type of restaurant that this is tomorrow.

A big hint is that if you enlarge the photo you will be able to read that the sign above the bar advertises the availability of wine by the glass, and most of the wines featured are Malbec.


This week we have underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Frog with big red eyes

The colorful frogs of Costa Rica are a delight to find in the rain and cloud forests.

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 undersea life of the Galapagos Islands.  We took a trip there during the holidays two weeks ago.

A waterfall through the jungle

Here is another glimpse of a waterfall in the jungle.

This week we have photos of a very old section of Rabat, Morocco posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Downstream through the jungle

This is another view of the stream as it cascades through the jungle in La Paz Waterfall Gardens in the mountains above San Jose.

This week we have photos of a very old section of Rabat, Morocco posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Fuscia Orchid

Wild orchids add color to the rain forest, which is welcome on cloudy, misty or rainy days, such as the scenes that I have been showing the last few weeks.

Of course if it were not for the cloudy, misty, rainy weather, there would not be wild orchids.

This week we are showing some photos of a very old district of Rabat, Morocco on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Water finding a way to slice through the jungle

As its name implies, La Paz Waterfall Gardens has a lot of scenes in which water cascades down the ravine and through the jungle.

This week we are showing some photos of a very old district of Rabat, Morocco on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Who has been eating this leaf, and why are they so neat about it?

The straight lines of these holes evidently made by insects struck me a s strange.  It looks like someone took the leaf, folded it over a bunch of times, then used a hole puncher.

Somewhere there is a mother insect who has taught her children to be very neat and careful when eating.

This week we are showing some photos of a very old district of Rabat, Morocco on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Jungle through the mist

Although the rain was a bother at the time, I think I liked photographing La Paz Waterfall Gardens in the mist more than if we had a bright sunny day.

This week we are showing some photos of a very old district of Rabat, Morocco on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Coati

As we strolled along the walkways of La Paz Waterfall Gardens, we noted that this coati was walking along side us as well.

He was not in an enclosure.  He must live in the jungle near the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and then drifts in during the day to forage for feed.

He is a relative of the raccoon.

Today is Sunday, wo we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week are showing photos of a very old district in Rabat, Morocco.

Ox Cart

After the photos of the oxen that I have shown the last two days, it should not be a surprise that I am today posting a photo of yet another elaborately painted traditional Costa Rica ox cart.

On one of our trips that takes us to the San Jose area, we would like to make a side trip to Sarchi, which is the town where the tradition of highly stylized ox cart painting remains an art form today.

This week we are showing some additional photos from Ethiopia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Detail of Ox Yolk

This is a close photo of the yolk of the oxen that I sowed yesterday.

The ox cart is pulled by two oxen who have the yolk lashed to heir horns.  My guess is that this method works for oxen who are pulling an empty load.  If the ox cart were full of coffee beans or other agriculture produce, I would think that it would give the oxen a headache to have to pull an ox cart from the head or neck rather than their shoulders.

This week we are showing some additional photos from Ethiopia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Oxen

Ox carts are very traditional in Costa Rica, as I have shown in the past.  It wa therefore no surprise that they had a farmer with an ox cart walking around the grounds of the La Paz Waterfall Gardens

This week we are showing some additional photos from Ethiopia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

New Year's Eve Party

This is an even closer view of one of the dancers at last year's New Year'sEve party at the Tamarindo Diria Resort.

It looks like some girls from the audience have joined the dancer on stage.

This week we are showing some additional photos from Ethiopia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.