A reason to smile

No, the horseman who I showed yesterday was not smiling at me.  He probably did not even notice that I was taking his photo.  He was undoubtedly looking at someone who was walking down the main street of Tamarindo, after getting a cool drink and doing a little shopping.

Bob of St. Louis Daily Photo
left a comment yesterday that correctly guessed why he was smiling.  Bob also left a later comment saying that yesterday he saw this same guy with his horses in the middle of Tamarindo.

Bob is staying at our condo in Playa Langosta this week, and a friend of his has rented the condo for next week.  Bob is posting some superb photos of Tamarindo and Langosta on his site.  I highly recommend that you check it out.

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

Why is the horseman smiling?

This is the same guy with 3 horses that I showed yesterday.  It looks like he has 3 different sized horses.  The smaller horses are probably for rides for children.

But why does he have such a wide grin?  Is he smiling at me?  Does he think I will rent a horse to go riding?

As usual, the answer will be shown tomorrow.  It might make you smile.

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

Horses in traffic

Here is another photo of horses sharing the road with vehicular traffic in Tamarindo.  This is right in the middle of town.  I assume that the horses are for rides by tourists.  

I will show a few more pleasant photos of these horses and the rider in the next two days.

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

Horses and truck traffic share the road

This photo is the same scene as yesterday, but the cowboy and his horses have to share the road with trucks.  A scene like this is sad, but inevitable.  It is not possible to have the shops, restaurants and commerce in Tamarindo with trucks driving there.

Another example of the contrasts in Costa Rica was evident from a recent article in the newspaper.  The police will now expect every driver in Costa Rica to have an email address. Notices of the amount of fines for violations will not be mailed to violators, but will b e sent by email only. If someone does not use email, they will have to watch for the publication of legal notices in the newspaper.

This week we are showing photos featuring the people of Papua New Guinea on our  Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

A rural scene

Our area of Costa Rica is a land of contrasts.  Tamarindo is a growing international beach resort, yet nearby are villages where people enjoy a rural farming and ranching lifestyle.

Tomorrow I will show a wider view of this scene of a cowboy and horses on the side of the road that illustrates the contrast and changes in rural Costa Rica.

On an unrelated subject, the Costa Rican newspaper had an article the other day that Cirque du Soleil is coming to do one of their shows in Costa Rica for the first time.  I am sure it will be in San Jose.  Julie and I love Cirque du Soleil.   We have seen 5 of their Vegas shows (Mystere, O, Ka, Beatles' Love, and Zarkana) and their show at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, as well as Cavalia, their traveling horse show.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our  Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing some more photos from our November trip to Papua New Guinea, featuring the people of Papua New Guinea.

The rider and horses scurry off

After the tourist and the horseback rider shook hands on whastever deal they made, the rider and the two horses scurried off, heading down the street past people sitting and waiting for a bus.

This week we have photos of the ancient Khmer temples around Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia posted  on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Sharing hands on a deal for a horseback ride

The tourist and the man with a horse, evidently closed  deal for the arrangements for the man to go horseback riding.   They shook hands on their deal, as shown in this photo.

The man did not immediately hop on the white horse.  I suspect that they made arrangements to meet at a later time for the man, and perhaps his wife, to go horseback riding.

This week we have photos of the ancient Khmer temples around Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia posted  on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

The horse transaction continues, and a comment about streets

The conversation between the horse rider and the tourist continued, with the rider dismounting.  I will show the conclusion of this encounter tomorrow.

Although the road to Tamarindo is paved, this photo shows that some of the streets in Tamarindo are still not paved.  The beach front road is paved.  The main road that leads from the beach to the rest of town is supposed to be paved in part starting this month.

The community continues to pressure the local government, which is located 20 minutes away in Santa Cruz, to pave more streets.  A political problem is that most of the residents of Tamarindo are foreigners, and the local politicians obviously place a higher priority on their voters, not foreign residents, and there are many other priorities.

In the meantime, they periodically spread a coating on the dirt streets to keep down the dust.  The coating is derived from the local sugar cane industry and causes a mild and pleasant odor of molasses.  When the streets are paved, I will miss the aroma.

This week we have photos of the ancient Khmer temples around Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia posted  on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Maybe the shirt was simply to be used as a hat

It is often warm in Tamarindo, and it appears that the horseback rider removed his shirt for the simple reason that he apparently forgot his hat and wanted some sun protection for his head.

At least it did not appear that the horseback rider said that he would take off his shirt if the tourist took of his.

It also looks like the horseback rider is pointing out directions the tourist.  My guess is that the horseback rider sells horseback riding to visitors and he is pointing out suggested areas fort the visitor to ride the horse.

People are not supposed to ride horses on the beach in Tamarindo, although every once in a while people do at the far south end of the beach where there are not many people.  In the past I posted some photos of a woman in a white bikini horseback riding on the beach, and those posts remain frequent places where readers land on my site based on Google searches that people evidently do for photos of women in bikinis horseback riding on a beach.

The search terms that cause people to land on my site are diverse.  Another post that people keep landing on is one I did about three years ago that showed the late Michael Landon's former house in a valley near San Jose.  People searching for information on Michael Landon apparently find a reference to my post showing his former house.

This week we have photos of the ancient Khmer temples around Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia posted  on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Pastoral scene of a horse

I hope this pastoral scene sets a tranquil theme for the beginning of the year.

This week we have photos of an African photo safari posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Horse pasture

This is a closer view of the pasture that I showed yesterday.  It was used primarily by horses, although there were a few cows in the pasture also.

I assume that the farmers or ranchers whould only need enough horses to ride around their farm or ranch while doing chores.   I don't know why farmers would need to have a pasture full of horses, unless they are raising and selling horses, or unless they simply like having horses because they enjoy the ir companionship and they respect their magnificence.

This week we have photos of Bhutan, featuring Buddhist festivals, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Horses evading road grader

After I passed the horses that I showed yesterday, a road grader came rolling up.  The driver is supposed to be smoothing out the shoulder of the road, but as you can see in this photo he detoured to the center of the road to avoid getting too close to the horses.

Naturally the horses scampered from the road up to the grass to keep a safe distance.  I guess the driver will smooth over that section of the road on his return trip, perhaps when the horses have moved.

Today is Earth Day, and we should take note of the importance of man living in sustainable harmony with plants, animals, and our natural resources of water and air.   Costa Rica and Bhutan compete for being rated as the happiest places on earth, and they are the two countries closest to being carbon neutral.  Is that a coincidence, or is living in harmony with nature an essential component of human happiness?

Today is Sunday so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos from our trip last month to Bhutan in the Himalayas.   We have wanted to go there for years, and it was well worth traveling such a long way.

Horses grazing by a billboard

I have shown a lot of photos of the beach lately, so let's take a change of pace and go inland for a few posts.  This photo shows a contrast between life at the beach and the rural, farming and ranching lifestyle in the countryside.

This is a photo of a billboard advertising "Life at Hacienda Pinilla," a 5,000 acre master planned, gated resort community immediately south of Playa Langosta and Tamarindo.  To reach there, one must drive on country roads, such as this scene of a group of horses grazing on the side of the road.

I have shown some photos in the past of the J. W. Marriott Guanacaste Resort, which is located at Hacienda Pinilla.  There has been some news recently that at Ritz-Carleton Hotel is also planned for this development.

This week we have photos of Angkor Wat and other temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Woman horseback riding on the beach in a bikini

OK.  I admit it.  This photo of a woman in a bikini horseback riding on the beach is a crass attempt to boost viewership on this website.  I like to check the search terms that causes people to land on my site after Google searches.  Consistently, one of the most popular search terms is people looking for photos of bikini horseback riders.

I hope I am not insulting anyone by saying that this is a sad commentary about the male gender of our species.  Nevertheless, I am not above trying to take advantage of this phenomena by dipping into my archives to show another photo of this woman who I showed in the past.

One of the other popular search terms is "Michael Landon," the late actor.  Several years ago I showed a photo of his former house in Costa Rica, and people are still landing on my site when looking up information on Michael Landon.

As usual, I will post a photo tomorrow to restore gender balance to this website.

We are showing photos of Egypt this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the experiences that await tourists visiting the country might enjoy.

Horses, corral and ranch house

This is a nice view of two of the ranch horses in the corral, with the ranch house in the background. You can see the porch that I showed in photos earlier in this series.

This ranch had a couple of tractors parked under a roof. I did not think until after we left that we took photos of the horses, cows and other animals, but neglected to take any photos of the tractors. Sorry, but I much prefer animals to machines.

We have photos of the Villa Balbianello on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Iy is a delightful Villa that straddles the tip of a peninsula in Lake Como, Italy.

Working horse, without a rider

Today I will begin a series on a typical Costa Rican ranch near Tamarindo. As we arrive, we find this horse tied to a a fence post out front. This is a working ranch horse, not a horse for trail rides for tourists.

A horse tied to a fence post without a rider should be a clue to what the cowboy was doing, which I will show during the next couple of days.

Judging from the comments that readers left regarding the village woman that I showed a few days ago, it seems that people are interested in seeing more of the everyday, rural life of Costa Ricans. This series that I am starting today will give a close view of the ranch, house, livestock and the way of life of a rural ranching family who opened their ranch and home to Julie and me. We took advantage of the opportunity

We are showing photos of the village of Cernobbi on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

The village restaurant's white horse

The magnificent white horse in this photo belongs to the family that operates the restaurant that I showed during the last two days, and that has a boat for wildlife river trips.

I have mentioned before that Costa Ricans are proud of their agrarian roots. They have a stable for the horse in their back yard in the village, although here they have the horse out in front, by the road so the horse can watch life go by in the village.

This week we are showing photos of the architecture of the old town of Stockholm, Sweden on our Viva la Voyage travel photos site.

Villager on his horse

Here is a closer photo of the villager with his horse. He did not feel quite right when I first took his photo, as I showed yesterday, because his hat came off when he mounted his horse to pose for my photo. He was content with this second pose.

This little episode with the villager and his horse and house illustrates the friendliness of the Costa Rican people. I think there are a lot of countries where people would resent or view with suspicion a foreigner like me stopping and taking a photo of their house. This gentleman came out of his house to add to the photo. He felt that if I was taking a photo of his horse and his house, then he should be on his horse.

We have photos of Dubrovnik, a gem on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, posted this week on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage. Come take a look.

Man and his horse and house

The villager who saw me taking a photo of his horse and house came outside because he evidently felt that if there was a photo to be taken of his horse and house, he should be in the photo.

He mounted his horse and posed for me, without me even asking him. There was one problem, however. There is something wrong with this photo. This gives me an excuse to stretch this series out to tomorrow.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage. This week we are showing photos of Dubrovnik on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. It is a charming place. Please come take a look.

Tico horse and house

Continuing with a little photo series about a drive in the countryside near Tamarindo, I noticed this beautiful palomino horse waiting in front of a small house. I decided to stop and take a photo.

Costa Ricans, commonly called Ticos, are proud of their tradition of small family farms. People who have jobs in the tourism industry may still live in a rural village and still have some farm animals.

That pride was demonstrated in what happened after I took this photo, but of course you will have to log in tomorrow for the rest of the story.

This week we have posted photos of Norway on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site