Tour de Costa Rica support vehicles

Support vehicles for bicycle racers are critical. Yesterday I showed the Tour de Costa Rica bicycle racers speeding down the roadway. After the racers passed, there was a stream of support vehicles for the racers that were following the bicyclists.

When I see TV reports of cycling races, it amazes me that there are not more accidents because of the congestion of riders, support vehicles, camera crews and spectators on narrow and sometimes mountainous roads.

On our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage, this week we are showing photos of the animals of Monterrey, California.

Tour de Costa Rica bicycle race

The day before yesterday was the first day of the Tour de Costa Rica bicycle race, which runs from December 16 - 28. The official name of the race is the Vuelta a Costa Rica.

I am not at the location of this year's race, so I am today posting a photo of the Tour de Costa Rica from several years ago, when I happened to be on a bus that pulled over as the stream of riders sped past. I reached for my camera to take a quick shot.

Costa Rica is the location of several international bicycle races, including a race that is billed as the toughest mountain bike race in the world. There is another bicycle race that goes from the Atlantic to the Pacific. There are not many locations where you could ride a bike all the way across a continent in just a few days.

Some of the top bicycle racers in the world, including the winner and top contenders of the Tour de France, have come to Costa Rica for races.

I apologize for the reflection and framing of this photo, but this was the best I could do in an instant.

On our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage, this week we are showing photos of the animals of Monterrey, California.

Shopping Center Rest Room

OK. I know this is a little strange. Or a lot strange. In 18 months of this blog, I am addressing a new subject today.

I have shown several photos recently from the Garden Plaza Shopping Center in Tamarindo, so here is the washroom area of the rest room at the shopping center. From having travelled in foreign countries with groups of Americans, I know some Americans are concerned about the availability, the facilities, and the cleanliness of public restrooms in foreign countries, particularly in the developing world.

Although rare in the USA, it is not unusual in other countries to have one sink area that serves both men and women, and that is the design of the rest room at the Garden Plaza Shopping Center. There are separate areas for men and women at the restroom, and then there is this atrium area where the sinks are located, with lounge chairs for sitting.

Costa Rica is the most prosperous country in Central America. It is the only country in Central America with more than 50 years (actually, 60) of uninterrupted democracy. Its health care and literacy are comparable to the USA. Nevertheless, it is still a developing country in some respects. When it comes to public rest rooms, it is adequate, although not as plentiful as you would find in the USA or Canada because there are not fast food chain restaurants located all over the place. (The nearest McDonald's to Tamarindo is more than an hour away, although we have a Subway and Pizza Hut). But I am sure you will agree that the Garden Plaza Shopping Center in Tamarindo has provided well for its visitors.

Store Shark

Believe it or not, this mural greets customers when they walk into the little cafeteria that is part of the Papagayo Do It Center, the large store that I showed yesterday.

I confess that I am not sure about this painting. I love art, so it is a good thing to have a mural in a store cafeteria. A mural of an ocean scene is appropriate for Costa Rica, as the Pacific Ocean is nearby.

But what is with the expression on this fish? He is smiling, so perhaps he is supposed to be friendly, but look at all those teeth. Maybe he is smiling because he is about to devour any small children who walk nearby.

And, those eyes! He looks like he is a little cross-eyed, and his eyes are rather menacing.

On our travel photos site, Viva la Voyage, this week we are showing photos of the animals of Monterrey, California.

Home furnishing store

Yesterday I showed home furnishing store that has closed. Here is one that is still open. This is located about 40 minutes from Tamarindo, on the main road to Liberia, the capital of the Guanacaste province.

As you can see, even though Costa Rica is a developing country, "big box" retailing has come to Costa Rica. This is the furniture section of the Papagayo Do It Center. The same store sells electronic appliances, hardware, housewares, and more. The store is about twice the size of what you can see in this photo.

Tomorrow I will show you something about this store that reflects a tropical touch.

On our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage, this week we are showing photos of the animals of Monterrey, California.

A sign of the recession

I have been showing some photos from the Garden Plaza Shopping Center, so I am sharing this photo of a home furnishing store at the shopping center. There is a sad story behind this photo, however.

I took this photo about 18 months ago. I thought it would surprise some people, as such contemporary interior design and a large, modern home furnishing store is not what you would expect to find in a small Costa Rican beach town that has only recently graduated from a fishing village, to a surfing town, and now to a resort catering to international visitors and residents.

I never got around to posting the photo, as I usually show pictures of the beach, wildlife, etc., and not stores. Sadly, this store is now closed. It is a victim of the recession. Most of the customers for a store such as this would be the owners of new homes and new condos being built in the area, as they would obviously need to furnish their entire residence. Tamarindo has only a few thousand residents, so without new housing there would not be the population to support a store such as this.

Because nearly all of the new homes and condos in the area are built (and priced) to sell to Canadians and Americans, the recession in the USA has hurt the market in Costa Rica. Visitors are not as likely to have enough equity in their homes in the USA or value in their investment portfolios to decide to buy a second home or vacation home in Tamarindo or other nearby beach communities. As a result, the construction boom has slowed, not as many new houses and condos are being built, and not as many people need new furniture.

The tourist market has not been as affected as the new home and condo building market, although world wide tourism is also down. There has been some softening in the tourist businesses in Costa Rica. One of the steps the country is taking is trying to market Costa Rica vacations more to Europeans, including increasing direct flights from Europe, which will make Costa Rica less dependent on the US economy.

My own experience is that the rental occupancy of my two condos has remained very high, but I have reduced my prices during 2009 to achieve the high occupancy. About one-third of my guests are Canadians, the balance are Americans, except this past summer I had my first European guests, a delightful couple from Barcelona.

On our travel photos site, Viva la Voyage, this week we are showing photos of the animals of Monterrey, California.

Shopping Center Maintenance

Here is a worker performing some maintenance high on a ladder at the Garden Plaza Shopping Center. There is a shade structure with a canvas stretched across the central atrium of the shopping center to shelter the shopping center from the direct rays of the sun.

Yesterday I wrote about the Apple computer dealer located in this same shopping center. Here you see a computer store that carries Dell and other products.

This gives me a chance to talk about one other technology item that was the subject of a recent newspaper article. Microsoft has donated funds and computers, with the assistance of the U.S. State Department, to create a computer learning center for disabled people in Santa Cruz, which is the municipal town that governs Tamarindo. (Tamarindo is not incorporated as a separate town, so the city government is located in Santa Cruz, about 20 minutes inland.)

The new computer center will teach computer skills to disabled people both for their own enrichment and to enhance their job skills. Obviously such programs are extremely worthwhile and the support of U.S. companies and the government are appreciated.

Today is Sunday, so we have posted new photos on Viva la Voyage. This week we are showing photos of the animals of Monterrey, California.

High tech in Costa Rica; Tamarindo has an Apple dealer

Although Tamarindo is a Costa Rican beach resort, the Garden Plaza Shopping Center now has an Apple computer dealer. It is not an Apple store like you would see in the USA, but it is an authorized Apple dealer that carries Apple desktop and laptop computers and accessories. Over the last few years my wife and I have switched to Apple computers, so we are pleased to have a dealer in town.

The San Jose area in the Central Valley of Costa Rica is a high technology center. Intel, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Abbott Laboratories, and other high technology companies have major facilities there. Western Union has its Latin America regional operations center in Costa Rica. Boston Scientific has recently announced that during the next year it will double the number of its 1,700 workers in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is sometimes called the "Silicon Valley of Latin America." It is attractive to high tech companies because it has the highest literacy and most educated workforce in the region, thanks to Costa Rica having abolished its military in the late 1940's and investing its military budget in education and health care. Costa Rica has an initiative underway to increase English education.

Costa Rica's laws are also favorable to foreign investment. Costa Rica is the only country in the world to have approved a free trade agreement by a vote of its people. Because of its democratic traditions, opponents of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) were able to cause the treaty to be submitted to a popular election. Although many farmers and labor unions feared a flood of imports, particularly from the giant economy of the USA, the public voted in favor of free trade.

While I am on the subject of free trade, I should mention that Costa Rica is currently trying to conclude 16 years of negotiation of a revised trade agreement with Europe that would equalize the import duties between Costa Rican and African bananas. Costa Rica is the world's third largest banana exporting country, but Europe charges higher tariffs on Costa Rican bananas than it does for African bananas. This makes no sense and is unfair.

Our photos this week on Viva la Voyage show Xcaret, an eco-park with a dinner show extravaganza on the Riviera Maya south of Cancun, Mexico.

Supermarket produce section

I apologize. Yesterday I showed the supermarket dairy section, but my wife said that I should have shown the produce section because people would be more interested in the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables than the dairy section.

That was news to me. I figured people would be most interested in the wine section, which is why I showed it more than a year ago. I do have guests renting our condos who ask me in advance about the wine selection in the area, but I don't recall anyone sending me an email to seek reassurance that they will be able to buy lots of fresh vegetables while on vacation at the beach.

Oh, well. I have learned that when my wife (Julie of Scottsdale Daily Photo) makes a suggestion, it is usually either (1) a good idea, or (2) I should probably follow the suggestion regardless of whether the suggestion is a good idea. So, here is a photo of the produce section of the Auto Mercado supermarket in the Garden Plaza Shopping Center in Tamarindo. If you think it was boring to share this photo showing the availability of fresh vegetables and fruit in our small beach resort town, please blame Julie rather than me.

Our photos this week on Viva la Voyage show Xcaret, an eco-park with a dinner show extravaganza on the Riviera Maya south of Cancun, Mexico.

Supermarket dairy section

I have shown some of the dairy country in Costa Rica's highlands during the last two days and also about a week or so ago. Here is the dairy section of the Auto Mercado supermarket in the Garden Plaza Shopping Center in Tamarindo. It carries Costa Rican brands, such as Monteverde cheese, and imported products familiar to Canadian and American visitors and foreign residents.

I frequently get questions about the availability of grocery stores from people who are inquiring about vacationing in Tamarindo and considering renting one of our two condos. The supermarket is comparable to modern supermarkets in the USA and Canada, as you should be able to see in this photo.

Our photos this week on Viva la Voyage show Xcaret, an eco-park with a dinner show extravaganza on the Riviera Maya south of Cancun, Mexico.

Horses grazing in a football (soccer) field

Here is another rural, pastoral scene. These horses are grazing next to a football or soccer field. It looks like the horses are free to graze on the football field. While that could be useful in keeping the grass cut, I hope someone cleans up after the horses before the children start playing.

Our photos this week on Viva la Voyage show Xcaret, an eco-park with a dinner show extravaganza on the Riviera Maya south of Cancun, Mexico.

Typical tico farm house

This is a typical "tico" farm house in the central mountains and valleys of Costa Rica.

Small family farms are the backbone of the Costa Rican economy. Land ownership is more widely distributed in Costa Rica than in other Latin American countries. Coffee is cultivated in small family farms. There is a proud, agrarian cultural tradition even though 63% of Costa Ricans now live in the urban areas and one-third of the country's population of 4.5 million live in or around San Jose.

In the Guanacaste area of Northwest Costa Rica, where Tamarindo is located, there are some large cattle ranches with thousands of acres under the same ownership, tracing to the Spanish colonial land grants. In the Caribbean area there are huge banana plantations, but in most of the rest of the country small family farms are the mainstay.

This week we are showing photos from Xcaret, an eco-park with a dinner show extravaganza on the RIviera Maya south of Cancun, Mexico on Viva la Voyage.

The dog's friend heads home

The gray dog we have been showing the last few days was distracted by the surfer girl coming out of the water. Why? Because that meant that the gray dog's play session with the light brown dog would come to an end, as the brown dog would be following the surfer girl home.

The brown dog lingered for just a little while to say goodbye to the gray dog, so he had to run to catch up to the departing surfer girl, as you can see by this photo in which the dog is kicking up a little sand and three of his legs are off the ground.


The dogs will have to hope that their surfing masters will surf again at the same time on another day so that they can romp in the surf together again.


My guess is that the surfers might like that, too.

This week we are showing photos of Xcaret, an eco-park with a spectacular dinner show on the Riviera Maya, south of Cancun, Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

The brown dog leaves the surf

The dog we have been watching initially stared at the girl as she emerged from the surf and walked up on the beach. The brown dog walked from the surf up onto the beach, just as the surfer girl had done. The gray dog was equally intent on watching the brown dog leave the surf as he had been in watching the girl walk up onto the beach.

Why is the brown dog walking past the gray dog? Would the surfer girl's emergence from the ocean affect the gray dog and brown dog playing with each other in the surf? What would be next for the dogs? As usual, answers will be evident from tomorrow's photo.

By the way, if you notice the wave in the background, you can see that the spray from the crest of the wave is blowing out to sea. I have heard that surfers prefer that condition, but I don't know why.

Today is Sunday, so we have posted new photos on Viva la Voyage. This week we are showing pictures of Xcaret, an eco-park with a dinner show extravaganza on the Riviera Maya, south of Cancun, Yucatan, Mexico.

The dog is distracted

The dog we have been watching had his attention distracted from the other dog with whom he had been playing in the surf. Why do you think that he was distracted?

You probably think that is a stupid question. If you think you know the answer by looking at today's photo, I should remind you that our dog is a dog, not a man. But this photo clearly showed that the gray dog has his attention distracted from playing with the brown dog by the surfer girl walking from the water up onto the beach. The dog stopped, stared, and turned his head as his eyes followed the surfer girl. Would the dog be capable of a whistle or a "cat call?"

As usual, answers will be forthcoming in the photos to be posted in the days ahead.

This week we are showing photos of Ek Balam, a unique but lesser-known Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage site.

A surfer girl joins the dog story

My little series of photos this week is a dog story, and I promise that today's photo will fit in with the rest of the dog story, but today I am introducing a new character to go with the grey dog that looks like an Alaskan malamut and the brown dog.

Meet surfer girl. She emerged from riding the waves and headed towards the beach. How would this affect the dogs? Would she disrupt the dogs from playing in the surf? Would the dogs be distracted from playing with each other by her arrival at the scene?

As ususal, the answers will unfold tomorrow and the couple of days that follow.

This week we are showing photos of Ek Balam, a unique but lesser-known Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage site.

The dog has a friend

The dog we have been watching has made a friend. I guess it should not be a surprise that dogs seem more interested in checking out and spending time with other dogs they encounter than they do about people they encounter. The dogs on the beach in Tamarindo always seem to get along with each other.

Unfortunately, the meeting shown in today's photo was a brief encounter, for reasons that I will show tomorrow and the next day.

This week we are showing photos of Ek Balam, a unique but lesser-known Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage site.

Dog cooling off in the ocean

Yesterday I showed this dog waiting and commented that with his long hair in the warm Costa Rican sun, he may want to take a dip in the ocean to cool off. Here he is doing exactly that.

During the next few days I will post a little photo series to show what else happened while he was passing the time when his master was out surfing.

This week we are showing photos of Ek Balam, a unique but lesser-known Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage site.

A dog waiting for his surfer's return

I thought a Costa Rica version of a dog waiting for his master would be a good choice for the worldwide Daily Photo theme of "waiting." There are few things better than the patience of a waiting dog and the excitement, affection and joy that a dog shows upon his master's return.

In Tamarindo, you would not expect a dog to be waiting with a newspaper and slippers for the master to return from a busy day at the office. Here is a more typical pose for a waiting dog in Tamarindo -- a dog waiting for his master to finish surfing!

The patience of this dog is even more admirable when you consider that this dog would not seem to be the most suited to the climate along the warm Pacific coast of Costa Rican. I am sure that he enjoys the breeze off the ocean, and of course he can take a dip in the ocean to cool off, but in the warm weather 12 months of the year in our area of Costa Rican he will never experience the temperatures for which his thick coat was intended.

Maybe his owner is on vacation in Tamarindo from the central highlands that I have shown in my photos during the last few days. This photo was taken very close to our Langosta Beach condo.

We are showing photos this week of the unique Mayan pyramid of Ek Balam in the Yucatan, Mexico at Viva la Voyage.

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

Pasture lands

This is another pastoral scene of the mountains and valleys of central Costa Rica. I took this photo between Monteverde and Arenal. You can see why Monteverde is known for its cheese, as this is excellent territory for dairy cows.

If you didn't know that this was from Costa Rica, I bet you would not look at this photo and think it was taken in Central America.

As I have mentioned in my posts a long time ago, Monteverde was settled by American Quakers who fled the USA in the late 1940's because they feared that they were going to be drafted for the Korean War, which was against their religion. They were attracted to Costa Rica because Costa Rica abolished its military. They settled in Monteverde and went into the business of making cheese, which is sold throughout Costa Rica.

Cheese was good product because it could be transported over the mountainous terrain. When they first started the business, they used for cheese molds the round cardboard Quaker Oats containers.

This week we are showing photos of Ek Balam, a unique but lesser-known Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage site.

Mountains and valleys

Much of Costa Rica is mountainous. A spine of mountains runs the length of this narrow country, dividing the Caribbean and Pacific sides of the country. This is a photo that shows typical terrain of the mountains and valleys that form the central part of Costa Rica.

Although in Costa Rica you are never far from the ocean -- in fact, never far from two oceans -- elevations reach as high as 3,820 meters (12,532 ft.). The mountains that run the length of the country make road construction difficult. For those of us on the Pacific Coast, such as Tamarindo, we are grateful for the mountains because they keep any hurricanes over on the Caribbean side, as the hurricanes cannot cross the high mountains.

The higher elevations of the central highlands makes for pleasant temperatures all year around. As you can see from the green mountains and valleys, this area gets abundant rainfall. The combination of mountains, valleys and adequate rainfall also combines to provide terrain suitable for dams and hydroelectric power. Costa Rica gets almost all of its electricity from dams. This helps make possible Costa Rica's goal of being the world's first carbon neutral nation by 2021.

We are showing photos of Ek Balam, a unique but lesser-known Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, on our Viva la Voyage site.

Hummingbird and his wings

I like this hummingbird photo because the camera was fast enough and the hummer's wings were slowing down to land, so that the wings were partially captured in the photo.

I have mentioned the exceptionally high metabolism of hummingbirds, their lack of storage capacity for calories, and their very frequent feeding. That raises a question. What do they do at night? How do they store enough calories to keep their little hearts beating so fast?

The answer is that at night they lower their body temperatures as much as 17 to 28 degrees C. (30 to 50 degrees F.) and go into a very deep sleep to conserve energy. Like bears in the winter up north, in essence they hibernate each night!

Hummingbird feathers were of special importance to the Aztecs, who used them in wedding ornaments.

25 species of hummingbirds are considered threatened. One of those, the mangrove hummingbird, is found only in the mangrove forest patches of Costa Rica's Pacific coast, such as the Tamarindo and Langosta estuaries that I have shown on the past on this website. It is critical to protect such habitats.

This week we are showing nighttime photos of Budapest on Viva la Voyage. Budapest is beautiful at night, even if it does not have any hibernating hummingbirds.

Hummingbird's back

Hummingbirds are classified according to their color, and their colors are often irridescent. They are native to the Americas. I wonder if they have spread to Europe, Asia, Africa or Australia.

I selected this photo because it is unusual to see the back of a hummingbird. In flight, the usual view of a hummingbird is a profile, not his back, because by the time you could see his back, he would be gone. Hummingbird's are naturally curious, and they will dart around people to check them out, then dart off when their curiosity is satisfied. They can hover in place and can even fly backwards, which makes them unique.

This appears to be a female green-crowned brilliant hummingbird, known locally as brillante frentiverde, and its scientific name is heliodox jacula.

This week we are showing nighttime photos of Budapest on Viva la Voyage.

Hummingbirds at the feeder

Today is the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA, where most of the readers of this blog are located. Rather than showing a large turkey, I am showing tiny hummingbirds this week. Hummingbirds need to feed often because of their high metabolism. They move fast, their hearts beat 10 times faster than ours, and they store so few calories that they weigh about the same as a large paper clip.

These two birds are likely not a pair. Male hummingbirds mate with females, but otherwise are not involved with the females, who nest and raise the children alone.

Hummingbirds can be territorial and scare off other birds, including other hummingbirds, from the flowers they frequent. In this shot the birds are sharing the feeder nicely, and evidently must share the nectar with a bee.

This week we are showing nighttime photos of Budapest on Viva la Voyage.

Hummingbird

Costa Rica has more than 50 species of hummingbirds. They must eat several times per day to support their hyper-active metabolism, which includes a heart rate that beats 600 - 1,000 times per minute. They get all of their food through nectar from flowers or, such as this photo, from a hummingbird feeder.

Hummingbirds are difficult to photograph because they move so quickly. The feeder makes it easier, as it provides a spot on which to focus and provides a place where you know hummingbirds will come. Photographing a hummingbird in flight in a garden or forest is extraordinarily difficult for me.

This week we are showing nighttime photos of Budapest on Viva la Voyage.

Female Golden-browed Chlorophonia

Most restaurants in Costa Rica are open air, like the restaurant that I showed yesterday. In one restaurant that we went to in Monteverde, a small injured bird was found and was being nursed back to health by the workers in the restaurant. Here is the bird, sitting in a milk carton that the restaurant staff used to hold the bird.

This looks like a female golden-browed chlorophonia, which is a member of the tanager family. A male golden-browed chlorophonia differs from because it has a yellow streak on his forehead and over his eye, and his coloration is a little brighter.

Tanagers are native to the Western Hemisphere. There are 230 different species of tanagers. They will flock with other birds and will inhabit areas close to man. They particularly like fruit trees.

Costa Rica is home to more species of birds than the USA and Canada combined, so I feel fortunate when I can find a bird with which I was not familiar in a guidebook in order to share the information for this website. I confess that I was not familiar with the name of golden-browed chlorophonias until I looked up this bird photo.

This week we are showing nighttime photos of Budapest on Viva la Voyage.

Beach at the Barcelo Resort

This is the beach at the Barcelo Langosta Resort, which I showed yesterday. The Pacific Ocean is to the right, and the mouth of the Langosta Estuary is in the center of this photo. Across the mouth of the estuary you can walk for miles along Langosta Beach. This beach is very popular with surfers. One person who stayed in our Langosta Beach condo described it as "epic surfing."

Our condo is about 50 meters behind the spot where this photo was taken. We do not surf, but we love to go for walks along the beach.

Saddle up to the bar

If someone wants to "saddle up to the bar," what better way than to sit on a real saddle and to look out at a forest while listening to the rushing water of a river?

This is a roadside cafe on the way from San Jose to Monteverde. It was the morning when we stopped by, so it was too early for customers to be lounging on the patio and the outdoor bar overlooking a river and forest. This struck me as a unique setting for a restaurant, but if there every was a place where a bar with saddle seats positioned to overlook a river and forest seems in place, Costa Rica would be it.

This week we are showing nighttime photos of Budapest on Viva la Voyage.

Pinuela

Pinuelas plants are relatives of the pineapple, as is apparent from this photo of the fruit. The fruit is edible, but it is sour.

They grown in the wild, and are planted in places as a natural barrier. The leaves are thick, sharp blades more than one meter long, with thorns on the edges of the leaves. No one could walk through a thicket of pinuelas plants, as they would slice up your legs and tear your clothes.

Our condo on the beach in Playa Langosta has a barrier of pinuelas plants on the back of the building to separate the building from the beach. The dense thicket of spikes and leaves keeps people from the beach from wandering up to the pool area, as we certainly would not want strangers in the pool. The plants are a little less than one meter (3 ft.) tall, allowing views of the ocean over the plants.

It is a more attractive barrier than a fence.

Today is Sunday, so we have posted new photos on Viva la Voyage.

This week we are featuring night-time photos of Budapest, Hungary.

Heliconia

Here is yet another heliconia. This variety is a heliconia wagneriana. I mentioned yesterday that some heliconia flowers, such as yesterday's, hang down and some others, such as today's photo, grow upwards.

This type of heliconia grows 2 - 4 meters tall (6 - 13 ft.) , and is native to an area from Belize and Guatamala south through Costa Rica to Ecuador.

Heliconia

This is a heliconia rostrata, known locally as a platanilla. Some heliconias have flowers that hang down, while others have flowers that grow up. This plant's flowers hang down.

Heliconias are widely planted in gardens in Costa Rica. They are popular in part because their flowers bloom all year round. We have heliconias in the gardens around our condos in Tamarindo, although this is another of the photos that I took in the Lankester Botanical Garden near San Jose.

Check out photos of Murano, Italy at Viva la Voyage!

Flower at Lankester Gardens

Here is another flower of the thousands of species of plants growing at the Lenkester Botanical Garden. I am sorry that I do not know the type of flower that is shown in this photo. Perhaps a reader will know and will leave a comment educating me.

Orchids

This is a sample of just a few more of the 800 species of orchids in the Lankester Botanical Garden near San Jose.

The garden feature a trail that allows an easy walk through areas that feature bromeliads, heliconias, palms, bamboo, cacti and succulents, and more.

For visitors to Costa Rica who begin their trip in San Jose, the gardens are a nice way to get oriented to the different types of plant species in Costa Rica so that visitors will recognize and appreciate the plants that they will see in the wild for the remainder of their trip.

By the way, speaking of visitors, I should mention that an article in one of the Costa Rica newspapers recently said that although tourism is down a little bit due to the worldwide recession, it is not down very much in Costa Rica compared with other places. In 2008, there were more than 2 million foreign visitors to Costa Rica, which is very good for a country with a little more than 4 million people. Think about what the visitor traffic would be like in your country if the number of visitors over the course of a year equalled one-half of the number of residents.

Orchid

I have not posted flowers in quite some time, so here is an orchid. 1,500 species of native orchids grow in the wild in Costa Rica, and you can see them on hikes in the forest.

The easiest way to admire orchids, of course, is in gardens where varieties are displayed in plain view, without having to go on a hike in the forest for an occasional specimen. I took this photo in Lankester Botanical Gardens near San Jose. It cultivates more than 800 varieties of orchids, and more than 3,000 different plant species.

Lankester Gardens was founded in 1973 to carry on the work of a British amateur orchidologist, Charles Lankester, who planted an extensive garden of orchids and epiphytes on his farm. When he passed away, the American Orchid Society and the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust recognized the importance of preserving his garden and took the lead in donating the 11-hectares (28 acres) garden to the University of Costa Rica, which maintains it for public visits.

Sunset

This is a closer view of the same sunset as yesterday. As the sun descends closer to the ocean, the marine layer of clouds start to give a marble texture to the color of the sun.

Sunset

It has been quite a while since I showed a sunset photo. Here is another sunset over the Pacific Ocean shown from the balcony of our condo on the beach in the Playa Langosta area of Tamarindo.

Today is Sunday, so we have again posted new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week, we are following up last week's photos from Venice by showing photos from Murano, Italy, one of the islands in the Venetian lagoon, famous for its centuries-old tradition of glass blowing.

Dog retrieving stick

Here is a closer photo of yesterday's dog. The enthusiasm and joy of the dog is evident in the splash of the water as the dog runs back to shore to return the stick to his master.

I have a soft spot for Yellow Labrador retrievers, as this dog appears to be. While my two boys were growing up we had a Yellow Lab named Tortilla, as she was the color of a flour tortilla..

Dog playing on the beach

Some dogs have trained their masters quite well to throw sticks for the dogs to retrieve. What better place to play and retrieve sticks than the beach? If either the dog or master get hot, there is the refreshing Pacific Ocean to splash around in to cool off.

I don't know who was having more fun, the dog or his master.

Playing ball on the beach

This appears to be a father and son paying ball on Tamarindo beach. They were having as much fun as the dogs playing in the surf behind them.

The beach appeared to be a good place to kick the ball around. The beach was like an automatic ball return. If they kicked it to the right, the slope of the beach would bring the ball back down. If they kicked the ball too far to the left, the waves would bring the ball back up.

And if they got hot and sweaty playing ball, well, there's the refreshing Pacific Ocean for a dip to cool down.

Surfer celebrating

An instant after the photo I showed yesterday this surfer struck this pose. His clenched fist pump looks to be a gesture similar to Tiger Woods when Tiger sinks a long or crucial putt. I will certainly not diminish his sense of satisfaction with his surfing accomplishments. It looks to me like he has reason to celebrate.

Surfer riding the crest of a wave

This surfer is riding the crest of a wave. He is extending his arms either to help his balance or to draw attention to his exciting form and adventuresome approach to surfing.

Tomorrow I will show you what happened to him next. Do you think he fell down and wiped out, or do you think he continued to ride this wave, surfing with a flourish?

Tamarindo Beach

This is a view down the main part of Tamarindo beach.

I have been showing a lot of wildlife photos recently, so now it is time to spend some time at the beach in my upcoming photos.

Sometimes people who are inquiring about renting one of our condos will ask the beach is crowded. Here is the answer. There is plenty of room on the beach, even in the main part of town. Although Tamarindo is a popular beach resort, in Costa Rica there are so many beaches and not very many people. Even during the peak time of the year, which is the Christmas and New Year's holiday season, there is plenty of room to set up a spot to enjoy the beach and to swim without being bothered by other people too close. It is nothing like the crowds that you see on beaches in the USA.

On the 7th day, we rest

Today is Sunday, and for many people that is a day of rest. What better place to rest than on a hammock, in the shade, next to the ocean.

I took this photo on the grounds of the Capitan Suizo hotel. The southern end of Tamarindo beach and bay are in the background, with San Francisco point in the distance. Langosta beach is around the corner to the left.

Today is Sunday, so we have posted new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week, we are taking you to one of our favorite cities -- Venice, Italy.

Leaf cutter ant stumbles

I have posted leaf cutter ants previously out in the forest, but these attracted my attention for several reasons. They were carrying bright red leaves rather than the typical green leaves. This trail of leaf cutter ants was not in the forest, but was in a parking lot in Playa Langosta.

It appears to me to be a challenge for tiny ants to carry leaves much larger than they are, but the gravel added to the challenge, in comparison to walking across the smooth forest floor. In fact, in this photo it appears that there are two ants and one of them has taken a tumble off the higher gravel stone and is on his back struggling with the leaf as the ant right behind him has walked up to the scene of the accident.

A village boy ready to help with serving lunch

We had lunch in a little village after our wildlife boat trip in Palo Verde National Park. The grandchild of the family that operated the boat tour and a village restaurant was on hand and curious about our lunch. He looks like he is ready to help set the table.

The best way to do a wildlife boat cruise in Palo Verde National Park is to make arrangements with a tour operator in Tamarindo and to have them take you. They will make arrangements with a boat operator and a little family run place in a village afterwards for lunch. The road to the boat landings in Palo Verde National Park is a country road that has many turnoffs as it goes past farms, villages and through the woods and jungle. It would be virtually impossible to find the boat landings in the river without a local guide.

Jungle

The coatis that I showed yesterday quickly disappeared into this jungle. A group of about 15 - 20 coatis darted across the road and within a couple of seconds they were gone. We walked in a little ways to look for them, but without any luck. As you can see, there are lots of places for an animal to hide in the jungle. We then returned to the comfort of our car and decided it was time for lunch.

I am sorry I could not get more and better photos of them. I did get some photos as they scurried across the road, but the photos were too blurry to show on this website, as the coatis were moving quickly. I will try to be more prepared and do better next time.

White nosed Coati family in the woods

This is a larger view of the same photo that I showed yesterday. Yesterday I showed a cropped version of just the baby on the rock in the center. He was the focus of my photo.

But look above him and to the left. It will help if you enlarge the photo. You can see part of his much larger mother. The mother's head is patially hidden behind the tree, but she is looking back at me and her baby. There is also an animal darting away at the left edge of the photo.

We saw about 15 coatis running across the road in front of our vehicle, so I stopped and hopped out to try to get their picture. They were scurrying about and quickly disappearing into the jungle. I did not have enough time to frame my photos well, and in my haste to get a photo of the baby coati, I did not even see the mother. I apologize for not getting a good photo of his mother.

How do I know that the large coati nearby was the baby's mother and not the father? Coatis are raised by their mothers, without participation of their fathers. They are born in nests in trees in litters of 1 to 5. Female coatis travel in groups. Coatis are 45 - 70 cm long (18 - 27 in.), plus a long bushy tail that they usually hold upright when they walk.

The term coatimundi is sometimes incorrectly used. It is not a synonym for coati. Coati is an indigenous word for the species. Coatimundi was the indigenous term to refer to a male coati traveling alone.

Baby white nosed coati

This baby white nosed coati was part of a group of about 15 coatis that ran across the road near our vehicle as we drove from Palo Verde National Park back to Tamarindo. Although coatis are classified as carnivores, like many Costa Rican carnivores, they actually prefer fruit to meat.

Coatis are part of the family of mammals knows as procyonidae. There are three species commonly seen in Costa Rica, white nosed coatis, kinkajous, and northern raccoons, which I have shown in the past on this website.

The white nosed coati's scientific name is nasua narica. In Spanish they are called pizote.

Costa Rica is unusual because it is one of the few areas of the Western Hemisphere where the mammal species living in the area today are the same as when Europeans first arrived.

Tropical mammals differ from mammals in temperate climates because they do not hibernate. It is too warm and they would expend far more energy sleeping than a mammal's body could store. Also, their predators and bothersome insects are active all year, unlike in colder climates.

Crocodile thrashing

The crocodiles that I have shown on this website have generally been rather still. I therefore decided today to show a crocodile in motion. I realize that you can't see very much of him, as he has kicked up a splash that has obscured the view of him as he lunged and spun in the water. A portion of his back is visible to the side of the splash. I stayed safely in the boat.

I once leaned over the edge of the boat so I could get an angle shooting up at a crocodile on the river bank and he darted into the water so close that he spattered me with mud. He surprised me with how fast he moved. The splash of the water in this photo gives an indication of the speed and force of crocodiles when the move in the water.

Our front doorway

Today's Monthly Daily Photo Theme Day theme is doorways. This is the front doorway of our condo building on the beach in Playa Langosta. The tree that you see through the doorway is actually on the beach.

What is missing from this doorway? How about the door? Like many buildings in Costa Rica, there is no door and the entranceway and corridors are open to the weather because the weather is always warm. Most hotels and restaurants in Tamarindo do not have doors or walls.

Our condo is directly through this doorway towards the ocean, on the left side of the central corridor. Yes, we do have a front door to our condo unit.

The condo building has a distinctive mustard and pumpkin color. A friend of ours, Tim Keneipp, liked the colors and view of the end of this corridor, with ocean and trees framed by the archway and he gave us a painting that he painted of the scene. Tim is a talented architect and artist whose works can be seen on this link to LeafDogArt.com.

Today is Sunday, so we have posted more photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site This week, we are sharing some photos of one of the world's most remarkable, modern buildings -- the Sydney Opera House.

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