Cala Luna Resort for dinner

This is a view of approximately the same scene as yesterday. The Cala Luna Resort serves dinner at poolside.

The bright light by the bar area across the pool from the restaurant is a TV set. It was on because there was an important football (soccer) game at the time. The team from Liberia, which is the capital of the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica where Tamarindo is located, was playing in a crucial game in the capital of San Jose. We ate in the lounge over by the bar. Tomorrow I will show you what we had for dinner.

This week we are showing photos of the children and animals of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Cala Luna Resort pool

The pool provides an inviting backdrop for lunch at the Cala Luna Resort. Most of the tables are covered, but some are out by the pool. At the far end of the pool is the bar and lounge. At night, you can eat dinner either at the restaurant on the side of the pool shown here, or over at the bar.

This week we are showing photos of the children and animals of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Cala Luna Resort grounds

This is a walkway and driveway on the grounds of the Cala Luna Resort, which is about two blocks from our Langosta Beach condo. We walk down this lane to go to and from the resort for lunch or dinner. The driveways on each side of the lane lead to bungalows where guests stay.

We like having hotels and resorts nearby, as they provide very good dining choices and a variety of venues. The grounds of the Cala Luna are a lush tropical oasis, as you can see from this photo.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are showing photos of children and animals in Tanzania.

Squirrel, up close

This is a close view of the squirrel that I showed yesterday. The reason I think this is a variegated squirrel rather than a red squirrel is that his reddish color is on his belly, and red squirrels most widely have red tails and backs, which is the opposite of his coloration.

This squirrel was in a small tree about two blocks from our Langosta condo when we were walking back from lunch at the nearby Cala Luna Resort.

On our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week we are showing photos from a recent visit of mine to the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. Come take a look at the Victorian charm and ideal beach weather.

squirrel

There are two types of squirrels in Costa Rica, the red-tailed squirrel and the variegated squirrel, which means that they come in a variety of colors. In Spanish, they are known as ardilla.

That would be pronounced "ar-di-ya," of course, except in Argentina, where it would be pronounced "ar-di-zsha." (My older son lives in Buenos Aires, and when he visits me in Costa Rica people think he is Argentine rather than a Norte Americano, which makes me proud that his Spanish pronunciation must be very good if his Argentine accent is stronger than his American accent.)

On our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week we are showing photos from a recent visit of mine to the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. Come take a look at the Victorian charm and ideal beach weather.

Red flowers, up close

This is a closer view of the flowering bush that I showed yesterday. The Ixora flowers are only 4 cm (1.5 inches) long. They have four petals and are symmetrical.

I would like to share with you some news from Costa Rica. Last Saturday was the inauguration of the first woman President in the country's history, Laura Chinchilla. She won the election last year in a landslide. She was Vice President under the outgoing President Oscar Arias. Dr. Arias finished a second successful term as President, as he was also President in the 1980's, when he won the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a peace in Nicaragua.

Presidenta Chincilla is devoted to public service, as she is the daughter of a high government minister. She is a centrist. She is not a crusader on what some people consider to be women's social issues. She emphasizes economic issues and measures to combat crime, even though crime is not a particular problem.

On our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week we are showing photos from a recent visit of mine to the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. Come take a look at the Victorian charm and ideal beach weather.

Red flowers

This flowering shrub, ranging from one-half the 3 meters high (about 20 inches to 10 feet) is called a cruz de Malta, or flor de fuego, or jazmin rojo. Its scientific name is ixora coccinea.

We have these shrubs in the garden of our Langosta condo. This shrub is known to provide a good habitat for butterflies, and we do indeed have lots of butterflies around the garden.

There are two types of Ixora that are native to Costa Rica, but this type of plant is native to India, but widely cultivated from Mexico to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay, the West Indies, Africa, South Asia and some Pacific Islands.

On our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week we are showing photos from a recent visit of mine to the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. Come take a look at the Victorian charm and ideal beach weather.

Cattle in a pasture

Although the cattle chute shown during the last few days is no longer in use, that does not mean that cattle ranching no longer occurs in the area. This pasture was close to the location of the cattle chute that I showed during the past few days.

Cattle ranching is still a major part of the economic and cultural life of Guanacaste, the northwest region of Costa Rica where Tamarindo is located.

On our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week we are showing photos from a recent visit of mine to the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. Come take a look at the Victorian charm and ideal beach weather.

Cattle chute with termite mound and birds

I would not think that the rail of a cattle chute would be a good place for termites to build their mound, as it is quite exposed to the elements. Usually termite mounds are located in the shade of a dense forest.

Perhaps the termites like this location because it is so close to the rotting wood of the old cattle chute.

Perhaps the birds like to perch on the cattle chute rail because it would be easy to see and eat the termites as they enter or exit from their nest. At least I hope that the birds eat the termites. Someone needs to eat them.

On our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week we are showing photos from a recent visit of mine to the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. Come take a look at the Victorian charm and ideal beach weather.

Iguana living under the cattle chute

This iguana had a little burrow under the tire in the front of the cattle chute that I showed in the cattle chute in yesterday's photo.

I had stopped to take a photo of the cattle chute, walked up to take a closer look, and was startled when this iguana scurried by my feet to go into a hole under the tire.

In Costa Rica, it should not surprise me to see an iguana anywhere.

This cattle chute also provided habitat for other animals, as I will show tomorrow.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are showing photos from a recent visit of mine to the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California. Come take a look at the Victorian charm and ideal beach weather.

Cattle chute

I posted a photo of a cattle chute in the town square of Villareal a couple of weeks ago. Here is another cattle chute, but this is out in the country, not in a town square.

This cattle chute is obviously not being used any more either, just like the one in Villareal. At least it is not being used by cattle. It is being used by something else with four legs, as I will show tomorrow.

This week we are showing photos of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the wildlife on a photo safari. Come take a look.

Michelangelo's Pieta in Tamarindo

No series of photos about statues in Tamarindo would be complete without a photo of this marble copy of Michelangelo's Pieta. This is the only marble Pieta throughout all of Spanish speaking Latin American. (There is one on Brazil, which of course speaks Portugese.)

It is amazing to me that in a hemisphere with the grand architecture and boulevards of Buenos Aires (the Paris of Latin America), and the grandiose plazas and statues of Mexico City (the world's third largest metropolis), tiny Tamarindo, population about 3,000, alone, has a marble Pieta.

This is due to the generosity of Frank Barnyak and others from the USA and Canada who contributed the funds to build a church in Tamarindo. St. Mary's Church is only a year or so old, but they imported marble statues, granite tiles for the floors and walls, and mosaics.

I remember as a child my parents took me to the 1964 New York World's Fair and we saw Michelangelo's Pieta in the Vatican Pavilion. As an adult, I have seen it several times in St. Peter's in Rome, although it is now behind glass due to a deranged person's attack on the statue with a hammer. If you cannot go to the Vatican to see the original Pieta, come to Tamarindo and admire this reproduction.

This week we are showing photos of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the wildlife on a photo safari. Come take a look.

Shopping Center Horse Statue

I think these shopping center horses also qualify as a statue for my series on statues in Tamarindo. This is a little cafe at the entrance to the Plaza Conchal Shopping Center in the center of Tamarindo.

I never really thought of tiny Tamarindo as having very many statues until I started to think of photos for the May 1 theme day of statues. I now realize that Tamarindo has more statues than it does paved streets!

Tomorrow I will conclude my little series on statues with a statue that will amaze you, as it seems out of place for a small beach resort town.

This week we are showing photos of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the wildlife on a photo safari. Come take a look.

Fountain

This is another part of the entrance to the Tamarindo Heights housing development, in addition to the giant stone feature with Buddha statues that I showed yesterday. As you can see in this photo, the development is gated, so I have not been up the hill past the security guard house that is behind the fountain in this photo.

These statues look more pre-Columbian in imagery than the Buddha statues that are across the street, but I could be wrong.

By the way, I did not touch up, enhance or alter the color in this photo at all. Yes, it really is this lush and green in Tamarindo.

This week we are showing photos of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the wildlife on a photo safari. Come take a look.

Costa Rica Buddha Statues

While we are on a little series about statues, here is a puzzling bit of architecture to ponder. If you did not know this was a Daily Photo blog about Costa Rica, where would you think this photo was taken?

Probably the Far East, I would expect. What are giant stone Buddha statues doing in Tamarindo, a Costa Rican beach resort town?

The answer: helping to sell lots and houses. This is part of the entrance to the Tamarindo Heights development which, when finished will have a boutique resort and spa, and many other amenities. The lots are up the hill from the beach, rather than being right on the beach, which gives idyllic views overlooking the ocean, estuary and hills.

I presume that the developers believe that a huge, grandiose entrance like this projects an image of style, substance and stability behind the development. That is obviously a prime concern in the down market caused by the U.S. recession.

Tamarindo is on the Pacific, so I guess these Buddha statues do remind us of what lies on the other side of the ocean upon which we gaze at sunset.

The Garden Plaza Shopping Center, with the Auto Mercado Supermarket that I have shown in the past, is across from this entrance.

This week we are showing photos of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the wildlife on a photo safari. Come take a look.

Diria Resort pool

This is a wider view of yesterday's statue. As you can see today, it is on an island in the large, free-form pool next to the condo buildings and garden hotel units at the Tamarindo Diria Resort. The pool is 10,000 square feet (929 square meters) and has a swim-up bar.

The pool also has sides like a beach were you can just walk in, which is very popular with children, as they can wade into whatever depth is comfortable for them. The pool is also popular with adults, as it is large and has secluded coves so that you can find peace and quiet even if there are children down at the other end of the pool.

At the far right edge of this photo you can see a portion of the amphitheater where the Diria Resort sometimes has concerts, including a New Year's Eve Party that we attended on our first trip to Costa Rica in 2005 when we stayed at the Diria, fell in love with Tamarindo and bought the first of our two condos here.

This week we are showing photos of Tanzania on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the wildlife on a photo safari. Come take a look.

Statue by the pool

Here is my second choice for yesterday's monthly Daily Photo Theme of statues. It is another pre-Columbian figure on the grounds of the Tamarindo Diria Resort. I took this photo peeking between two palm trees in the vegetation surrounding the pool.

The Diria Resort has many statues of pre-Columbian figures on its grounds and it uses yesterday's statue as its logo.

Tomorrow I will show more of this scene of which I am giving you only a peek today.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos, this week of Tanzania, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Come take a look.

Monthly Theme - Statue

This first day of the month Daily Photo Theme is "statue." Tamarindo is a small resort town of only about 3,000 people. There are not grand boulevards and public buildings with statues.

I decided to show one of the outdoor statues right in front of my condo on the grounds of the Tamarindo Diria Resort, which is the largest resort in Tamarindo.

Because of today's theme, I want to tell a little story about statues -- or the lack of them -- in Costa Rica. Please bear with me, because Americans, in particular, need to learn the bit of history explained below.

Costa Rica is the only Latin American country where you will not find a statue -- usually equestrian -- of a great liberator who is considered the father of the country by winning freedom from Spain by bravery on the battlefield. Costa Rica never fought for its independence. Spain largely ignored Costa Rica, as there was no gold, and when Nicaragua obtained its independence, Spain simply abandoned Costa Rica also.

Costa Rica did not even know that it was no longer a Spanish colony until weeks later, when a messenger arrived from Nicaragua and informed the people that they were on their own.

Without a liberator to honor with statues, Costa Rica needed a national hero to develop its sense of national identity and pride. Its national hero is Juan Santamaria, an illegitimate son of a peasant who led a charge in 1856 to defeat an invading army of U.S. adventure seekers and mercenaries led by William Walker, who had conquered Nicaragua and who was attempting to establish a Central American nation that would be ruled by slave owners from the American South seeking a place to continue slavery. Juan Santamaria, who was just a teenager when he rushed the American position and set fire to it. The Costa Ricans rallied to win the battle, Walker retreated, and was later defeated and executed.

There are statues to Juan Santamaria in San Jose. Ironically, and I believe inappropriately and insensitively, there is a statue of William Walker in his native Nashville, Tennessee. The statue to him there honors him as the only resident of Nashville who has achieved the position of the ruler of a country. To me, this communicates that the people of Nashville regard the William Walker invasion as having established a legitimate Central American nation. As an American, I am saddened by such callousness and disrespect shown to the people of Costa Rica, who fortunately welcome Americans to their country with friendliness despite our past transgressions.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers interpreted the theme of statutes: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Our photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week are some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

Raccoon lounging around

Hotels in Tamarindo have open air lobbies, and the Capitan Suizo Resort invites raccoons into its lobby by putting food out for them on their balcony. The raccoons like to lounge around the lobby, like house cats, lying on the cool tile.

When we walk to dinner from our condo in Playa Langosta, we often see raccoons walking along beside the road, heading towards the Capitan Suizo Resort for dinner.

Yesterday several people left comments because I posted a golf photo on the same day that my wife posted a photo of a golf course on her Scottsdale (Arizona) Daily Photos site. They understandably wondered whether we coordinated our photos to post photos of similar subjects on the same day.

Julie and I do not discuss in advance the photos that we post on our sites, except for the monthly Daily Photo theme days about which we sometimes seek each other's opinion. We do not know which photos we have chosen to post until we wake up in the morning and check each other's site.

Sometimes, like the series of photos Julie is now posting on the Phoenecian Resort, I am familiar with her photos because I was with her when she took them. Many times, however, we post photos that we have not shown to each other so that the first time that we see the photos is on the website, just like the readers of our sites.

That may sound strange, but Julie has not been able to go with me the last three times I have gone down to Costa Rica, so I have a lot of photos she has not seen. And I do not have the patience to wait and watch her take macro photos of cactus flowers, as she will set up her tripod, and make lots of adjustments. I figure if the photo turns out well, I will see it when she posts it on her website.

Our photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week are some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

Golf course driving range

I showed some photos of the Tamarindo Airport a few days ago, and there is a golf course driving range right next to the airport. Both the airport and the driving range are on land owned by the Tamarindo Diria Resort. I think that they plan to add a golf course at some point, although I presume that they will have to wait until after

the economy improves before undertaking a major project such as that.

There are some other golf courses in the area, including the Hacienda Pinilla course just south of Tamarindo that I have shown in the past. The Papagayo course at the Four Seasons Resort about 45 minutes north of Tamarindo is a world class spectacular course.

Our photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week are some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

Tamarindo beach sunset

It has been a while since I have posted a sunset, so here is an example of a Tamarindo beach sunset.

In addition to the colors softly painted on the clouds, you can see the silhouette of the fishing boats moored in the bay, and the reflection of the colors in the slowly receding water on the gentle slope of the beach at low tide.

Our photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week are some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

Village square, soccer field & cattle chute

This is the town square, or football field, of Villareal, which I also showed yesterday. You can see the same Catholic Church in the background. In the foreground is a cattle chute.

This illustrates the ranching tradition of the area, as many villages in the northwestern region of Costa Rica, called Guanacaste, have cattle chutes for farmers and ranchers to be able to load their livestock onto trucks to take them to market.

You can also tell by the condition of this cattle chute and the height of the grass around it that it is not used very much anymore. The main industry in the area is now tourism and the services for the tourism industry, rather than cattle.

Our photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week are some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

Soccer (football) field

Most Costa Rican small towns have a football/soccer field in the middle of town. They are usually located in the place where a town square would be if the town were big enough to warrant a town square, but many villages have a football/soccer field instead of a town square.

This is the town square, or football/soccer field in the middle of Villareal. Villareal is the closest "Tico" town to Tamarindo. Tamarindo is a resort town where most of the residents are foreigners because the price of houses and condos has appreciated and they have been built to the style and standards that appeal to U.S. , Canadian and European markets.

Villareal is about 5 miles (8 km) inland from Tamarindo, and many people who work in Tamarindo live there. Our lawyer, who has his office in Tamarindo, has his house in Villareal because he says that he prefers "Tico prices."

At the far left of this photo, the "A" framed building with a tin roof is the Catholic Church, which is also customarily located on the main town square.

Our photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week are some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

A new soccer ball for the airport

The ground crew at the airport obviously agreed that the soccer ball shown yesterday was past its useful life and they also had a new soccer ball on the airport grounds to amuse themselves while waiting between flights.

Football is very popular in Costa Rica, as I will show in a few upcoming posts.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are showing some underwater close-up photos that I took of the inside of iridescent clams in Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. If you have not seen them, I respectfully submit that it is worth a visit, as they are unique.

Soccer/football at the airport

Tamarindo has a small airport about 2 minutes outside of town. This is the terminal. Tamarindo is served by commuter airlines from San Jose, a 4 1/2 drive or 45 minute flight away. Most people fly into the area at the international airport in Liberia, one hour away by car.

In between flights into or out of Tamarindo, things are pretty slow at the airport. The guys who handle tickets and luggage, and serve as the ground crew for the flights, have time to play a little football, or soccer as it is called in the USA.

As you can see by this soccer ball next to the terminal, they have had time to play a lot of soccer. They need a new ball, don't you think?

This week we are showing photos of one of our favorite cities, and certainly the most unique city on earth, Venice, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. It is a photographer's delight.

White-faced Capuchin monkeys accepting a handout

Here is a photo of how the white-faced Capuchin monkeys will hop on the excursion boats to take fruit being offered by delighted tourists. This was not the boat that my family was on, but another boat that pulled up to the shore of the river at a spot where the monkeys have trained the tourist boats to stop and feed them.

There is something satisfying about making contact with and communicating with a wild animal. The white-faced Capuchin monkeys will stare into your eyes to make an assessment of whether you are friendly, then they will approach and accept the gifts of fruit being handed out, as you see happening here.

JM, who does an outstanding and very popular Daily Photo site from Oerias, Portugal and who also has a Traveling photo site, has posted photos in the past from Costa Rica showing the white-faced Capuchin monkeys taking food leftover from lunch on the beach. Here is a link to those photos.

This week we are showing photos of one of our favorite cities, and certainly the most unique city on earth, Venice, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. It is a photographer's delight.

White faced Capuchin monkey hopping on the boat

After a few comparatively tame days of sea shells and dogs, let's return to some Costa Rica wild animals. I like white-faced Capuchin monkeys, although my wife does not.

Here you see one who has jumped onto the railing of a wildlife river excursion boat on the Tempisque River in Palo Verde National Park, a very popular trip from Tamarindo.

Julie does not like them because their faces are so expressive that they seem too human for her tastes. If they get impatient while seeking a handout of food, they furrow their brow and I think Julie believes they should have better manners and not beg for food.

This week we are showing photos of one of our favorite cities, and certainly the most unique city on earth, Venice, on our Viva la Voyagetravel photo site. It is a photographer's delight.

Dogs frolicking in the surf

After a couple of days of of rather tame beach scenes, e.g. tidepools and seashells, let's pick up the pace a little. Here are some dogs enjoying frolicking in the surf.

The personalities of dogs remind me a lot of children, and this is but one example. They play with such exuberance and enthusiasm, and they have no worries about what is happening back at the office, or what the upcoming work week will bring, or how their investments are doing and whether they have enough money saved for retirement, or the house payment, price of gas, or countless other challenges in life.

After thinking about the stressors of modern life, it is time to go jump in the surf or lounge on the beach and worry about the challenges of life in Tamarindo, such as how colorful will today's sunset be?

I will give a dedication of this dog photo to Jilly, one of most popular Daily Photo bloggers. She operates the Monte Carlo and Menton (France) Daily Photo sites, both of which are charming and at times dazzling, but she also operates Riviera Dogs, which shows delightful photos of dogs that she has a unique knack for photographing along her stretch of the Riviera.

This week we are showing photos of one of our favorite cities, and certainly the most unique city on earth, Venice, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. It is a photographer's delight.

Spiral shell

Yesterday I showed a tidepool scene, so today I am showing the most common shell that we have in Tamarindo and Langosta. These spiral shells at times will be deposited in droves all in the same stretch of beach. I do not know why they seem to collect in the same place rather than being scattered all over.

This week we are showing photos of one of our favorite cities, and certainly the most unique city on earth, Venice, on our Viva la Voyagetravel photo site. It is a photographer's delight.

Tidepools

It occurs to me that in more than one and one-half years of doing this Daily Photo site, I have not posted a photo of something that people enjoy doing every day in and around Tamarindo -- exploring tidepools. Children especially like discovering the clams, crabs, little fish, shells, and other gifts from mother nature that abound in the tidepools.

The beach at Playa Langosta where our condo is located and the San Francisco point that separates Tamarindo beach from Langosta are especially well suited for tide pool exploration. At low tide, a volcanic rock outcropping is exposed under the ocean. It is relatively flat to walk on and you can explore large areas that are under water at high tide.

This week we are showing photos of one of our favorite cities, and certainly the most unique city on earth, Venice, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. It is a photographer's delight.

Turtles basking in the sun

OK. I know this is cheating. Tamarindo is known for giant sea turtles and the nesting site for the endangered Pacific leatherback turtles on Playa Grande. So, where did I see these turtles stacked on top of one another to catch the warm rays of the sun?

Sorry, but they live in the water feature in the middle of the Garden Plaza Shopping Center. I hope you will forgive me for taking the easy way out and showing animals without the challenge of finding them in the wild. These turtles do have a large pond to swim around in, so their conditions in captivity are not much different than if they lived in the wild.

Fortunately, these turtles are only for decoration and are not part for sale. I have been in food markets in China and Africa where if you saw turtles like this in a shopping area, they would be for sale for food, not for people to look at for fun. Last year in Casablanca, Morocco my son and his girlfriend bought a turtle in a food market to save its life. They kept the turtle in her hat on a bus all the way to Rabat, where they let the turtle go free in the garden in the courtyard of the hotel where we stayed. The turtle was still alive several days later when we left.

This week we are showing photos of one of my favorite cities, Venice, on Viva la Voyage, our travel photo site.

Walking roots at night

A key question in animal behavior is whether particular species are nocturnal or diurnal. What about plants? Flowers are often diurnal, coming out in the day and closing up at night.

What about "walking tree roots?" The type of tree shown in today's photo is sometimes referred to as having walking roots because the roots seem to step out in new directions, and the tree is supported by the maze of legs of the roots.

Do the roots walk in the daytime or at night, or both? I don't know. It is probably a silly question as it probably does not make any difference to the roots.

I took this photo on the grounds of the Capitan Suizo Resort, which is why the tree is lighted at night.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site we are showing photos of Uxmal, a spectacular Mayan site in the Yucatan that is often overlooked because nearby Chichen Itza is better known. It is well worth a visit.

Nibbana beachfront restaurant

It has been awhile since I have posted photos of a restaurant, so today I am posting photos of Nibbana, one of the beach front restaurants on the main street of Tamarindo. This is the entrance to the restaurant, which is a sign on the side of a real estate office that leads diners along a walkway to the restaurant behind the real estate office.

Like most restaurants in Tamarindo, Nibbana is an open air restaurant, with a roof to provide shade and shelter if it rains, but no walls. Even in such casual surroundings, however, many of the restaurants serve excellent lunches and dinners.

The third photo shows one of the tables sitting right on the beach. One of the guests who stayed in one of our condos recently sent me an email describing how much they enjoyed their vacation and commented that Nibbana was their favorite of the restaurants that they tried. I leave a guest comment book in each of our condos and guests will leave comments about the restaurants for other guests to read.

My wife, particularly, enjoys the diversity and quality of restaurants in Tamarindo. We can walk to about 40 restaurants. That is one of the reasons we bought our condos in Tamarindo rather than in a master-planned community where people are limited to the restaurant at a resort on the grounds unless you get in a car and drive. We like to walk to dinner.

Here is a link to the Nibbana Restaurant's website.

We are showing photos of Uxmal, Mayan ruins in the Yucatan, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Dental Clinic in Tamarindo

While in Tamarindo for a vacation on the beach, why not get your teeth whitened? Right on the street by the beach in the center of Tamarindo is a dental clinic that advertises with this sign. No, I have not used it, nor do I have personal experience about it.

Medical/dental tourism has become a growing trend in recent years, as some people use vacations to get medical or dental procedures done at a fraction of the cost at home.

The health care system in Costa Rica ranks the same as the USA on international scales. Costa Rican health care received some publicity in the USA

recently because Rush Limbaugh stated that if health care reform legislation is enacted in the US, he would move to Costa Rica. That caused some commentators to point out that for 60 years Costa Rica has had the type of health care system that Limbaugh opposes.

Out of all of the countries in the world, I don't know why Rush Limbaugh mentioned Costa Rica, except maybe he has been here on a vacation and, like so many others, loved it. I do not think he would agree with the politics in Costa Rica. Costa Rica, despite the armed conflicts in its region, abolished its military in 1949 and put the money into public schools and health care instead.

In the 1980's, Costa Rica had one of the highest per capita debts in the world, yet it turned down financial aid offered by the Reagan Administration because in return the U.S. government wanted to use Costa Rican land as sanctuaries to train contra rebels to fight against the Sandinista government in neighboring Nicaragua. Instead of becoming involved in an armed conflict in the region, the President of Costa Rica, Dr. Oscar Arias, negotiated an end to the conflict and earned a Nobel Peace Prize.

We have photos of the Mayan ruins of Uxmal posted this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Spanish school in Tamarindo

Yesterday I showed typical pedestrians in Tamarindo, who were obviously tourists out to have fun. So today I will show that not everyone in Tamarindo is there just for tropical fun. It is possible to attend Spanish classes while staying or vacationing in Tamarindo, as this sign for the school announces. Here is a link to the website for the Wayra Spanish language school.

My son is fluent in Spanish, as he lives in Argentina. I wish I knew Spanish, but I took Russian as my language in high school and college. I will dedicate myself to learning Spanish one day.

In Tamarindo it is possible to get along just fine speaking English. Visitors do not need even to change their money, as stores and restaurant sprice their goods in dollars, they accept dollars, and even the ATM machines give an option of receiving your money in dollars

The unusual color of the sky through the trees is due to the fact that it was sunset time.

This week we are showing photos of Uxmal on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site In some respects it is more enjoyale than nearby Chichen Itza.

Tamarindo street scene

This is a departure from the normal photos of the ocean, beach, plants or wildlife that I typically show. This street scene was taken at one of the two main intersections in Tamarindo.

The traffic in Tamarindo includes people driving ATVs up to the hills to ride on trails and surfers walking to the beach.

The road from Tamarindo to Langosta, which starts at this intersection, is scheduled to be paved within the next few months, which will cause this intersection to be paved also.

There is one thing I will miss when all of the streets are paved. In Tamarindo every once in a while they will spray a molasses-like sealant on the unpaved streets. It is a by-product from the sugar can that is grown in the area. It keeps down the dust, but it also has a sweet aroma.

This week we are showing photos of Uxmal, a remarkable Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Tamarindo bay

I never tire of looking out at Tamarindo Bay, and Cabo Velas to the north. There is something soothing about the changing sea and sky.

I am particularly fond of the photos that we have posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week. We are showing Uxmal, a Mayan site that is not as well known as nearby Chichen Itza, but is well worth a visit.

Par course

If swimming in the ocean, surfing, walking or running along the beach, and other activities are not enough exercise for you, there is a par course in Tamarindo. I have seen par courses in park in the USA, and today I am showing Tamarindo's par course.

The concept is that you get more of a total body workout. than just by running or walking in the park by completing the par course. It has various outdoor equipment or obstacles to climb over or do some exercises on while running from station to station.

With such lush greenery all around, I think I would be distracted and would want to look for animals rather than do exercises. The par course is located along the road that connects Tamarindo with Playa Langosta.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are showing photos of Uxmal, a spectacular Mayan site in Mexico that is not as well known as nearby Chichen Itza.

Heron

This is a heron, although I am having a little difficulty identifying exactly what type of heron it is. There are 15 species of herons in Costa Rica, most of which are permanent residents, although some of them are North American herons who fly south to Costa Rica for the winter.

This looks like a green backed heron, except green backed herons and green herons have maroon necks, and it does not have a maroon neck. Maybe it is a juvenile and they do not develop their maroon neck until adulthood. I do not consider this a very attractive heron, although it s beady red eyes are rather striking.

The reason Costa Rica has such diversity of wildlife, including more bird species than the USA and Canada combined, is that its location between North and South America has placed it in migratory range for both North and South America. Its lush habitat also provides a welcome environment for birds.

Egrets have an unusual breeding behavior. They will lay more eggs than the number of chicks they can feed during normal times. If food is especially abundant, all of the chicks will survive. If food is not unusually plentiful, the smaller chicks will not be able to compete for food with the larger, more aggressive chicks in the nest. The larger chicks will even attack a smaller sibling, which is a behavior biologists call siblicide. The eggs are laid one or two days apart, so it is the youngest chick that most often does not make it.

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

Mangrove roots

Here is a closer view of a tangled thicket of mangrove roots. Monkeys can traverse them, crabs walk up them, but humans would find them impassable. Gliding past them on a boat or paddling by in a kayak is the only way to see them.

Several people left comments during the last few days that these views of the estuary from a boat reminded them of the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland or Disneyworld. That is similar to the experience of cruising through the Tamarindo Estuary or, particularly, the wildlife trips in Palo Verde National Park, except the animals are real, and the guide does not maintain a banter of corny jokes and puns.

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

Deeper into the estuary

I took this photo even farther into the reaches of the Tamarindo Estuary than the photo I posted yesterday. This part of the thick mangrove forest would be impassible on foot, as you would have to climb through the roots that extended in all directions from the trees to the swampy, muddy ground.

We glided through the forest by boat until the fingers of the estuary became too shallow, narrow, or were blocked by a fallen tree to prevent exploration deeper into the estuary.

Several people left comments yesterday wondering what wildlife we saw on this trip. We did get out of the boat at one point and the guide took us on a hike along a trail. We saw a howler monkey, iguanas, bats, lots of birds, but no crocodiles. The guide kept looking for crocodiles and I think they see them at other times, but not on our particular tour.

On our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week, we have posted photos from Dubrovnik, a charming town on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia.

Mangrove roots at low tide

Here is a section of a thicket of mangrove roots in the upper reaches of Tamarindo Estuary. You can see why mangrove forests are good for the environment, as they provide habitat for land and water critters and hold back the soil to prevent erosion.

Some fish like to hang out in the midst of the roots to be protected from larger fish, similar to the way some fish like to hide in coral reefs for protection from predators.

The tide looks like the water rises and falls about one meter, based on the height of these mangrove roots that are exposed at low tide.

This week we are showing photos of Dubrovnik on the coast of Croatia on Viva la Voyage, our travel photo site.

Upper reaches of Tamarindo Estuary

Contrast this scene with yesterday's post. This is the same Tamarindo Estuary. Yesterday's photo showed a broad expanse of open water. Today's photo is a narrow passageway with vines hanging down into the still water.

The broad estuary near the ocean narrows as it splits into countess fingers that snake inland into a mangrove forest that provides habitat for wildlife.

Tamarindo is bordered by the Tamarindo Estuary on the north and the Langosta Estuary on the south. Some people have proposed that a road be constructed along the beach, parallel to the ocean, to connect all of the beach towns in the area. to be known as the Ruta del Sol. Although it would be drive from town to town along the ocean, it would be very expensive and harmful to the environmental to try to build a road across the estuaries. I doubt that it will happen.

This week we are showing photos of Dubrovnik, Croatia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. If you have not been there, the photos are particularly worth a look.

Tamarindo Estuary

This is part of the lower portion of the Tamarindo Estuary. This shows how the estuary widens near the ocean and holds a large volume of water.

I hope this photo helps you visualize how strong the current would be for the volume of water flowing out of the mouth of the estuary when the tide is going out. The photo I showed a couple of days ago of two women and their little dogs where the estuary flows into the ocean was taken at low tide. There could not be much current for them to be playing and relaxing in the mouth of the estuary.

This week we are showing photos of Dubrovnik, Croatia, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Las Baulas National Park

Here is the sign announcing some of the visitor activities in Las Baulas National Park, which is the northern boundary of Tamarindo.

I have shown photos in the past of the estuary tour. There are other tours, as shown on this sign. I have done sports fishing and snorkeling, but did so from Tamarindo bay rather than from the national park.

I have mentioned the tours to watch the endangered leatherback turtles lay their eggs on Playa Grande, just across the Tamarindo Estuary from Tamarindo Beach. My wife and her brother and his wife have taken one of those tours. They are in the evening in the winter months, and the park guide led them out at night to wait for the turtles, who decided not to come ashore that night. If it had been called a beach fire fly tour, it would have been a success.

The environmental authorities oppose the development of homes near the beach at Playa Grande so that there will not be lights near the beach, as the lights confuse the turtles and interfere with their egg laying. They swim to Tamarindo all the way from the Galapagos Islands to bury their eggs in the sand.

Today is Sunday, so that means we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are featuring Dubrovnik, a gem on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Come take a look.

Dogs and swimmers at the mouth of Tamarindo Estuary

This is a telephoto shot of the same scene that I posted yesterday, which shows that are two ladies and their dogs relaxing in the water at the spot where the Tamarindo Estuary flows into the ocean.

About a week or two ago I posted some photos of my wife when she did not want to walk or swim across the mouth of the Langosta Estuary when it was high tide, and a lifeguard picked her up in a kayak. The Tamarindo Estuary is about 10 times larger than the Langosta Estuary. The most dangerous place to swim is at the mouth of the estuary because the current can flow like a river out to the ocean, yet here a two ladies and their dogs, one of them quite small, frolicking right in the mouth of the estuary.

This photo shows that if you pay attention to the tide, even the most dangerous place on Tamarindo beach can be safe to swim. The rest of Tamarindo beach is a wonderful place for swimming, with a gentle slope of a beach in a bay that is partly sheltered and partly exposed to the ocean waves for surfing.

We are showing photos of India this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. If you have not checked out the photos yet this week, I think you are in for a treat.

Mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary

This is the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary, looking from the estuary out to the ocean. A huge volume of water streams into and out of the estuary with each tide, as you can tell from the width of the estuary. The estuary snakes inland for a long ways, with many fingers extending into mangrove forests.

A week or so ago I posted a series of photos of my wife, Julie, not wanting to cross the mouth of the Langosta estuary at high tide. I thought I would show photos today and tomorrow of the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary at low tide, as you will see that it can be pleasant and calm at the mouth of the estuary. I will take a little closer look at this same subject tomorrow.

This week we are showing photos of India on Viva la Voyage, our travel photo site.

April Theme Day: Red Surfboards

Tamarindo is a surfing town, so my interpretation of the theme of "red" for the April 1 worldwide Daily Photo Theme Day is to show some varying shades of red surfboards.

These are rental surfboards at one of the surf shops in town. There are quite a few surfing shops that offer lessons, tours to popular surfing spots in the area if people want to try out a variety of the beaches, and rental surf boards.

I am not a surfer, and serious surfers may think that having condos in Tamarindo but not being a surfer makes about as much sense as living in Aspen and Vail and not being a skier. There is a lot to do besides surfing, of course, and we enjoy the ambiance of the beach even if I do not get out and try to ride the waves.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have presented the Theme Day of "red," Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

This week we are showing photos of India on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage. If you have not yet checked out those photos, I encourage you to do so.