Iguana tongue

Have you seen an iguana's tongue? Have you ever wanted to see an iguana's tongue? We tossed a banana peel to this iguana and he rewarded us with the opportunity for this photo of an iguana's tongue.

At the risk of getting too contemplative regarding evolution, please indulge the following observation. Iguanas seem so pre-historic in the evolutionary chain, with scales rather than skin, and other features that seem so different than ours, yet their tongue seems rather similar to the tongues of humans and other mammals.

We are showing photos of Chichen Itza this week on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage.

Diria Resort Gardens and Condos

This is a photo of condos at the Tamarindo Diria Resort. One of our two condos in Tamarindo is located just above the condos on the lower floors that are shown in this photo.

The gardens around the pool in the middle of the Diria Resort complex are beautiful. They are a lush oasis in the middle of town. The serenity of this scene is a contrast to the fact that the beach a walk through the resort of only about 100 meters and the resort and condos are right in the middle of town, with dozens of restaurants and shops next to the resort and within 2 or 3 blocks.

The condos here on the higher floors, such as ours, have a view of the beach, ocean and the tree tops. The condos on the lower floors have a view of the gardens. I was talking to a real estate agent recently and she said that she had a client who insisted that she would only consider condos with a view of the ocean. The agent encouraged her to take a look at a condo looking out on the garden on a lower floor of the Diria resort. When the client saw the gardens, the client bought the condo and said she was fine looking out at the gardens from her condo and walking out to the beach nearby when she wants to see the ocean.

If you have not done so already, come take a look at the photos of Chichen Itza, which we are showing this week on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage.

Surfer

After showing a young woman with a swim suit top during the last few days, I thought I should have some gender equality on this site.

What struck me about this young man is how he is carrying his surf board. Most people carry surfboards cradled under their arm, extending up to their arm pit. Not this guy, He has a strong enough grip and arm to hold the surfboard in his hand, arched away from his body.

He is walking towards the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary. Across the estuary mouth is Playa Grande. The area where the estuary flows into the ocean is a popular surf break.

We are showing photos of Chichen Itza this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Puppies on the beach -- the kiss

What could be more adorable than yesterday's photo of the woman and her puppies? Well, how about today's photo of the two puppies kissing each other.

This photo also shows that there is plenty of room on Tamarindo Beach. This is a very different scene than the crowds that I have encountered on beaches in California, Florida, or the Atlantic coast of the USA.

This week we are showing photos of Chichen Itza, the largest of the Mayan cities in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Puppies on the beach

What could be better than puppies on a beach? I took this photo about two weeks ago on Tamarindo Beach, not too far from the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary. I took a few photos as this woman walked by with her puppies, but of course the puppies were running around her ankles and not staying still for a photo.

The woman cooperated in stopping for a moment and in getting the attention of her puppies to cause them to stand still for their photo.

This week we are showing photos of the large Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Surf for the surf fisherman

Here is another photo of the surf fisherman that I showed yesterday. It is a good thing that the Pacific Ocean at Tamarindo is warm, otherwise this fishing does not look like it would be pleasant.

I think surf fishing is the opposite of ice fishing. Rather than sitting in one spot, motionless, with a fishing line dropped through the ice, surf fisherman burn lots of calories as they withstand the buffeting of the waves and cast their lines out to the ocean.

On Viva la Voyage, our travel photo site, we are showing photos of Chichen Itza, the large Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

Fishing on a cloudy day

I confess that most of the photos I show of the beach are taken on sunny days. Here is an exception. I took this photo of a man fishing in the surf of Playa Langosta in the late afternoon after some tropical storm clouds had rolled over the sea. During this time of year in Tamarindo, you can have weather such as sunny, blue skies in the morning and in the afternoon weather as you see here might occur.

The man doing the surf fishing is a Canadian who has a condo a couple of blocks from the beach and who is building a house on the beach. I guess in the future it will be easier for him to dash into the house if one of the clouds brings some rain to the beach.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on Viva la Voyage, our travel photo site. We are showing photos of Chichen Itza, the large Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

Bikini horseback rider

Yesterday I showed a photo of Tamarindo beach with a woman in a white bikini sitting out in a beach chair. Kate of Visual St. Paul and My Santa Fe Daily Photo blogs left a comment asking if I took a closer photo of the woman in the bikini. Well, here it is, except, as you can see, she got out of her chair and took a turn riding a horse on the beach.

A man who hires out his horses for horseback rides takes a horse around town and on the beach and allows people to take short rides to try out his horse. He hopes that people will then make arrangements for longer horseback rides. It is sort of like taking a car for a test drive. Horseback riding is allowed for only a short distance on the beach in order to keep the beach clean.

It was a sacrifice of being a Daily Photo blogger. but I got up from having a drink at a beach club to take some photos when I saw the woman in the white bikini get on the horse. Yes, I did get some more photos as she rode down the beach and back on the horse. I will show them some time in the future.

My thanks to Kate for her comment, and for the many insightful comments that she has left on this and other Daily Photo blogs, as well as for her own very sophisticated Daily Photo blogs.

This week we are showing aerial photos of active volcanos and other scenes on the Big Island of Hawaii on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Tamarindo Beach, from south to north

Here is the scene to the right of photo that I took yesterday. This photo was taken near the southern end of Tamarindo beach. Across Tamarindo Bay to the right is Cabo Velas. Visible on the left is a small island that shelters this southern end of Tamarindo beach from the force of the waves that roll in to the central part of Tamarindo Beach and Langosta Beach that make Tamarindo a favorite destination for surfers.

At low tide, there is enough room on the beach to pay soccer, as I showed yesterday, or for the woman in a white bikini in this photo to take a beach chair out to the beach and have plenty of room to relax while positioning herself towards land to catch the best angle for morning sun. You can see from this photo that during medium and high tide, you can walk and swim in delightful waist deep water for a long distance out into the ocean.

We are showing photos of the Big Island of Hawaii this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

World Cup practice, Tamarindo style

With the recent World Cup fever across the globe, it is not surprising that people are playing soccer even on the beach in Tamarindo, as I saw this group doing last week.

They placed a couple of sticks in the sand to mark the goal.

There are probably not many beaches with such a gradual slope that there is enough room to set up a soccer game on the beach. This photo was taken near low tide at the southern end of Tamarindo beach, looking out towards San Francisco point. At this same spot during high tide in a few hours, this group might try to play a beach version of water polo in this location.

We are showing photos of Hawaii this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Gulf of Papagayo, from the air

This is a photo of the Gulf of Papagayo as the airplane was on its approach for a landing at the international airport near Liberia. The Gulf of Papagayo is an ambitious tourism development project that has located hotels and resorts in the area.

The Papagayo Peninsula is on the left of this photo, and I will show some more photos of it in the future. It is the location of the Four Seasons Resort, a very exclusive and expensive resort.

My opinion of Papagayo is that it has been helpful in enhancing the reputation and putting Guanacaste, the northwest Pacific area of Costa Rica, "on the map" for upscale tourism visitors and development. After all, if a Four Seasons, and now a J.W. Marriott very close to Tamarindo, have located here, people will know that it must be a very nice place to visit.

Papagayo is very scenic, as you can see here, but my wife and I prefer the Tamarindo area because we like a long stretch of beach for long walks along the beach.

We are showing photos of the Big Island of Hawaii this week on Viva la Voyage, our travel photo site.

Longboards Restaurant Logo

Here is the sign with the logo for the new Longboards Restaurant. I love it. it captures the spirit of Tamarindo, with a wave and surfboard, a monkey, and birds flying off into the sunset.

Stephanie and Brian, the owners, even added the Costa Rican national slogan, "Pura Vida," to the design. Pura Vida means, literally, "pure life" and is used in a way similar to the way Hawaiians use Aloha. It can be a greeting to say hello, or goodbye, or thank you, or to say that you are fine or all is well, or best wishes.

This week we are showing photos from the birthplace of surfing, Hawaii, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, particularly aerial photos of an active volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Longboards Restaurant

Here is another photo of Longboards Restaurant, which I showed with the happy owners, Stephanie and Brian, yesterday. The restaurant has been open exactly two weeks, today.

I don't know who the couple is in the foreground. I got up from my table with my camera, tried to unobtrusively take a photo without a flash, and these complete strangers turned around, smiled, and he gave me the thumbs up sign. They must be enjoying their dinner and their vacation in Tamarindo.

I showed a photo and talked about Brahman cattle the day before yesterday. Here is what I learned talking to Stephanie and Brian. I asked them if it was a challenge to get all the food products that they need for a barbeque restaurant in a beach town like Tamarindo. They told me that they get excellent chicken and pork with no problem. But the barbeque beef brisket is a challenge because the beef in Costa Rica is very lean because it comes from the Brahman cattle adapted to the Costa Rican climate. They said that the Costa Rican cattle industry is experimenting with a hybrid of Brahman and Angus cattle to diversify the local beef supply.

Judging from the dinner that Lonnie and I enjoyed, we would say that Stephanie and Brian are up to the challenge of making excellent barbeque from the local beef.

Here is a little mental challenge for you. If you were going to open a restaurant called Longboards in a Costa Rican surfing town like Tamarindo, what would you choose for your logo? I will show you the answer tomorrow.

We are showing photos of the Big Island of Hawaii, especially aerial photos of an active volcano, this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Stephanie and Brian's Dream

When I flew back down to Costa Rica last Saturday, I was standing in line at passport control at the international airport in Liberia and Stephanie, who you see pictured her, was in line behind me. So, we started up a conversation.

Stephanie and her husband, Brian, own a restaurant in Denver, but they have dreamed about living and owning a restaurant in a tropical paradise. Brian opened their restaurant in Tamarindo the previous Monday, and Stephanie flew down to join him for the first weekend. She will divide her time between Tamarindo and Denver until they sell their Denver restaurant.

My brother-in-law and I stopped by to enjoy dinner at their restaurant last Sunday. It was very good. Barbeque is their specialty. The restaurant is called Longboards. (Tamarindo is a surfing town, after all.)

As you can see in this photo, Stephanie and Brian are obviously very happy pursuing their dream of owning a restaurant in a tropical paradise. I will tell you more about their restaurant and give you a little creative challenge tomorrow.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage. This week we will take you to another tropical paradise, the Big Island of Hawaii, featuring aerial photos of an active volcano.

Cattle

This is a photo of a Brahman cow grazing on a small patch of grass in Tamarindo. This gives me an opportunity to share something that I just learned about Costa Rica cattle.

The most common type of cattle in Costa Rica is Brahman cattle. Why? Because they have sweat glands. They originated in India and they are better adapted to the tropical climate of Costa Rica.

The wall behind this cow is the edge of a condo development. It is common to see cows grazing in the fields in the area, but unusual to find won who has been brought in to cut the grass of a small plot of land in town.

I will share some more information about Costa Rica cattle the day after tomorrow because it ties in with the post that I am showing tomorrow.

This week we are showing photos of the island of Hvar, off the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Using your head to feed a monkey

Why feed a monkey with your hand when you can use your head?

My brother-in-law and I went on a wildlife boat trip in Palo Verde National Park last Sunday. The white-faced Capuchin monkeys were hopping on our boat to get some banana pieces. Lonnie decided to add a little extra style to handing the banana pieces to the monkeys. Here you see a monkey reaching for a piece of banana that was on his head.

I am sure that when my wife and Lonnie's brother, Julie, sees this photo, she will disapprove. She is not a fan of the white-faced Capuchin monkeys because she thinks their facial expressions are too human. White-faced Capuchins are the type of monkeys that organ grinders used. The easily become accustomed to interacting with people.

This week we are showing photos of Hvar, an island off the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Last evening's sunset

Because my wife was not able to come down to Tamarindo with me on this trip, as she is back home in Scottsdale working, I am posting this photo to show the sunset that she missed last evening. This is the view from the balcony of our Langosta Beach condo that Julie's brother and I enjoyed yesterday.

Perhaps she had a vibrant desert sunset in Arizona yesterday, also, but it is not the same as seeing the sun drop into the Pacific Ocean and paint the sky.

This week we are showing photos of the island of Hvar, on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Monkey table manners

This monkey was happy to grab a piece of banana, but his mother never taught him table manners. He was happy to hold and dash away with the banana piece in his mouth, rather than in his hand.

This week we are showing photos of the scenic island of Hvar off the Dalmatian coast of Croatia on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Feeding a monkey

I mentioned in my post a couple of days ago that my brother-in-law was coming to Tamarindo for a visit. On Sunday we went on a wildlife boat trip in Palo Verde National Park, which I often recommend to the guests who rent our condos when we are not in Tamarindo.

This is a photo of my brother-in-law's hand (the one on the bottom) feeding a banana piece to a white-faced Capuchin monkey who had hopped on the roof of our boat.

Part of the fun of feeding the monkeys is to interact with a wild animal. The monkeys will first look you right in the eye to size up whether you are safe. They will then come close and take the banana. After a while my brother-in-law, having a playful and teasing sense of humor, started clenching his fist to hold the banana pieces. The monkeys would furrow their brow in very human-like expression of annoyance and then pry his fingers open, one by one, to get access to the banana.

This week we are showing photos of the island of Hvar, off the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Surfer

It is time for another surfing photo, as Tamarindo is, after all, a surfing resort town. I am not a surfer, but my brother-in-law does surf, and he has just arrived in Tamarindo to stay here with me for a week. This is not a photo of him, but perhaps I will be able to take some photos of him surfing.

For some photos of a very different type of coast, please check out the photos of the Island of Hvar on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, which we are showing this week on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage.

Subtle sunset

Here is a photo of a different type of sunset than we usually see and that I usually post.

Even sunsets that do not bathe the entire sky in pink light are nevertheless beautiful to watch.

This sunset is rather subtle. The sun is hiding behind a marine layer of clouds, but the colors of the sunset highlight the clouds that are positioned to catch the rays of the sun.

Th ocean is visible a the bottom of the photo. I took this photo from the balcony of our Langosta Beach condo.

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 island of Hvar, off the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. If you have not been there, it is worth taking a look.

Village Rodeo Grounds

Northwest Costa Rica, called Guanacaste, has a long and proud ranching tradition, as I have mentioned previously. In addition to the village cattle chutes that I have shown in the past, some villages have little rodeo grounds.

This is a photo of a typical rodeo grandstand and fencing in a typical Costa Rican village. This is located in a small village east of the town of Nicoya. A few cows graze in the middle of town.

In Guanacast e, there were large cattle ranches or haciendas that evolved from the original Spanish colonial land grants. In the rest of the country, there are generally small family farms, many growing coffee, and large corporate banana plantations. The number one export crop of Costa Rica is not coffee, bananas or beef, but computer chips.

I hope the ranching tradition continues, even as Costa Rica develops its economy. The new President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, has declared that it is her goal for Costa Rica to achieve the status of the first "developed" nation in Central America. Costa Rica is well on its way to achieving that goal.

Please log on to our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage, where we are this week showing photos of the Maasi and Ngorongoro Crater of Tanzania.

Sunset over tidepools

I showed a rather unattractive photo yesterday, so I thought I should show something easier on the eyes today. Here is a photo of the early stages of sunset during very low tide at San Francisco Point, which divides Tamarindo Bay from Playa Langosta.

During low tide, there are lots of tidepools to explore, trapped by the volcanic outcropping that forms the bottom of the beach at the point. These rocks shelter the bay from the waves.

During high tide, the area where I was standing when I took this photo is completely under water, with waves crashing over these rocks. Obviously there is no swimming or surfing right at this spot. Excellent areas for swimming and surfing are located a little down the beach on each side of where this photo was taken.

If you have not yet checked out the photos of the Maasi this week on our
Viva la Voyage travel photo site, please do so.

Vulture

OK. I admit these guys are ugly. But I post lots of photos of iguanas, and some of them are ugly, too. So, I don't think I should discriminate against ugly birds.

During a morning drive near Nicoya, which is southeast of Tamarindo, I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and took this photo of vultures spreading their wings to dry them in the morning sun. In additon to these birds on the fence posts, there was another group of them filling the branches of a nearby tree.

Costa Rica is described in one of my guide books as "nirvana for bird watchers." I am sure that the birders who travel to Costa Rica come for our unparalleled variety of species (more than the USA and Canada combined), but not for the vultures.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site we are showing pictures of the Maasi and Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. I think you will find them of interest.

Raccoon in a tree

This is a photo of a raccoon coming down out of a tree. He He is getting ready to walk to dinner.

When we walk to dinner from our condo in the Playa Langosta area of Tamarindo, we often find ourselves walking along side raccoons who are walking to their dinner in the lobby of the nearby Capitan Suizo Resort. I have previously shown photos of the raccoons lounging around the hotel lobby, where food is set out for them. I had not shown a photo of a raccoon in more of his natural environment.

The raccoons leave people alone. I am fine with the Capitan Suizo putting our food for them in dog dishes. It satisfies the raccoons and they do not need to forage for food in trash when they get all they want of much better food. I was initially surprised to see raccoons in Costa Rica, as I think of them as northern, woodsy animals, but they do very well even in tropical forests.

The species most common in Costa Rica is called the Northern Raccoon. Males travel alone, leaving the child rearing responsibilities to females, who will travel with their offspring.

This week we are showing photos of the Maasi and Ngorongoro Crater on out travel photo site, Viva la Voyage.

Butterfly on lantana flower

Here is a butterfly landing on a lantana plant on the grounds of our Langosta Beach condo. To display the coloration on both sides of its wings, I caught its wings while they were in mid motion between their normal position resting upright and their fully extended, more horizontal position.

This week we have photos of Tanazania's Ngorongoro Crater and Maasi people on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

White-faced Capuchin monkey profile

This is a photo of the profile of a white faced capuchin monkey who jumped on our boat the take a piece of banana from us. I took this photo during a wildlife boat cruise on the Tempisque River in Palo Verde National Park.

The monkeys know to expect tour boats to stop at a particular spot along the river bank, and they will emerge from the forest to hop on the boats, and take banana pieces from tourists.

This week we have photos of Tanazania's Ngorongoro Crater and Maasi people on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Happy Dog Story

Two days ago I posted a photo of a dog who had been missing for several days. I am pleased to report that the owner, who lives in Playa Grande, yesterday was reunited with her dog, Cooper. A friend who lives in Matapalo found the dog.

Since I already posted photos of Cooper the day before yesterday, I am posting another dog photo today. This German shepherd hangs out at the El Crocodilo Restaurant.

Besides having very good food and being located at the far end of Tamarindo Beach, near the estuary, El Crocodilo is a remarkable restaurant because there is a little pond behind the restaurant and, as the name implies, there is a crocodile in the pond. The crocodile must be tame, or as tame as a crocodile can be, because he does not bother anyone. After a meal, you can walk behind the restaurant to the edge of the pond and look out and often see the crocodile floating at the far side of the pond. Obviously this dog is not worried about the crocodile either. He has his back to the pond.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we have a special treat -- a view of Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater and portraits of the Maasi. My wife likes to take "people pictures" when we travel to exotic lands. This week's photos illustrate why.

Afternoon Reflections

This is a photo of Tamarindo beach in the late afternoon. This is a contrast to the photo I showed the day before yesterday for the July 1 theme day of "reflections," which was the same scene at sunset.

I think it is amazing that the ocean can at the right time of the tide tenderly cover the gently sloping beach with a smooth layer of the sea to produce a glassy reflection. This is not a lake, this is the Pacific Ocean at a world-class surfing beach.

This photo illustrates that the southern end of Tamarindo Bay is protected from the full force of the waves by a reef and island that extends from San Francisco Point, which you see in this photo.

Down the beach to the right of this photo is the main part of Tamarindo Beach, which is very popular for surfers and for surfing lessons. That is where our Diria Resort condo is located. Around the point to the left of this photo is Langosta Beach, where our other condo is located, right on the beach. One guest from Spain who stayed in my condo described it as "epic surfing."

I intended to post this photo the day after the sunset reflection shot on July 1, but changed the date of the post so I could insert the lost dog photo yesterday.

Lost Dog

I received an email from a woman who lives in Playa Grande who has lost her dog. Here are two photos of her dog that she sent to me. She said that she likes to read this Daily Photo blog and asked if I had seen her dog in Tamarindo, which is across the estuary from Playa Grande.

I am in Scottsdale right now at my permanent home and will not be back in Tamarindo until next week, so I am not in a position to help her find her dog in Tamarindo, but I thought that perhaps I could help her by posting the photos that she sent to me. If any reader of this blog in Tamarindo sees this dog, please email me (my email link can be found in my profile in the margin of this website), and I will put you in touch with the dog's owner.

A lost dog would be a very distressing event, and this dog is obviously loved and well cared for. I know that many Daily Photo blogers and readers are dog lovers, some of them incredibly so such as Jilly, Kate, Glenda, and my wife, Julie. (Julie will stop and help any dog that appears in distress in the Arizona heat. She rescued two kittens and cared for them for 20 years even though she is allergic to cats and they made her skin break out in welts.)

I trust you will not mind my departure from the typical photos I post to try to help find this beautiful dog.

If you have not checked out the photos of the architecture of Spain this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Monthly Theme - Reflections

Today's worldwide Daily Photo theme for the first day of the month is "reflections." I chose this photo of the reflection in the water of Tamarindo beach. The point of land at hte left is San Francisco point, with Playa Langosta around the point to the left.

The fact that there is so much reflection in the water on the beach shows how gently sloping the beach is in Tamarindo. This photo was taken near low tide. At high tide the area of the beach shown here would be under the surf, and people can easily wade out long distances before the ocean becomes deep.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the "reflections" theme, Click here to view thumbnails for all participants