Hard one to get

Ever since we have been here we have been trying to get a shot of the blue morpho that comes visiting.  The problem is it never sits still and when it lands it always has it wings folded up hiding the blue, that is until today.  We just had an inch of rain this morning and the morpho seems to have gotten its wings a little damp.  As I looked outside our kitchen window I spotted this one drying its wings and took advantage of it sitting still.

A Trip to the Garden of Eden

Yesterday we called up the owner of the Botanical Garden which sits just right across the river from us.  Peter, the owner, has been here since 1987 and now has 45 acres of unbelievable plants.  It is quite the stroll thru all of these different kinds of plants that grow here in Costa Rica, some native some not.  We wanted to get an idea of what sort of plants we would like to get to put in our newly cleared lot.

Peter showed us a large variety of things, from eatable plants, fruiting plants and decorative plants.  For our first go-round we came away with a Traveler's Palm, Black Pepper vine, a Bromeliad from Panama, Argentine Rose and an eatable plant that we can use the leaves in salads. 

Here are some of the plants that are eatable, the one in the foreground is the one we got.

This is part of the nursery where Peter grows his own variety of Bromeliads.

Here are some heliconia that are native to Costa Rica that we have never seen before but will be adding a few of these to the back lot.

This is called a bottle palm.

This is the Ylang-ylang plant that produces fragrant flowers during various times of the year. Maybe next time we are there it will have owers.fl

This bromeliad comes from Panama and was discovered only a few years ago.  This will be joined by others once I make a place to let them grow.  They need to attach themselves to a host in order to grow.

So that was our first attempt, but that we know what we want we will be going back for more until we have all the perfect plants in their perfect places.

One of those days

I have been recalcitrant in my postings on the blog.  Over the last couple of months we have had visitors from Spokane, Washington DC and Gunnison, so needless to say we have been busying showing people how Costa Rica works and doesn’t work.

I guess most people are surprised by the abundant nature that surrounds this place.  Why just yesterday we had miss iguana come by for a visit.  I am not sure where her mate is, they live in the big tree behind our house.

The day before that we had mama and baby sloth cruse by as they were moving from one part of the area to another.  We thought that the mother had been hurt with blood on its mouth, but after calling the rescue center they said it was probably left over fruit they had been eating.  The fruit has a red skin that covers it and the color is almost blood red.  Go figure, but know at least we know.

Then just yesterday since the ocean was so clam and the sun was shinning so bright we decided to go to Punta Uva for some snorkeling, at least Jana did.

So as you can see paradise can happen any day of the week, you just have to be ready for it and take full advantage.

A Little Moisture

For the past couple of days we have been getting rain during the night time hours, so light so not so light.  So this morning we have our lake back.  It usually appears if we have heavy rains around five or six inches.  This is what one might call a toad strangler rain because the water is deeper than most toads.

We cut down our banana plant to clear the lot and salvaged a stalk of bananas which got freshly washed with the rain.  They may make it to an eatable stage since we had to cut them early.

Clearing the Way

The last few days have been spent clearing the other lot next to the house. When we got the lot it was full of Cacao trees that had seen their better days and provided a resort for the local mosquito population which allowed them much free time to feast on the local human population, us!  The other reason for this clearing was to create space for plants we want to grow such as fruit trees and flowering plants to attract the birds and other fauna.

  

This is what the lot looked like before, very over grown with Cacao that really did not produce  anything worth while.

Here is the work in progress, if you notice I am not the one doing this work, Pedro, who does our garden is along with his helper.

So after a couple of days of hard work, the cacao are gone and now we can start to plant the plants we want.

Here is our first lot resident, she is taking a nap after eating leaves all night.

This will be our first real bunch of bananas in about a couple of more days, I hope Clive and Lori like bananas!

Side Trip

Well we had our first official visitors from back home since we have moved down, not counting last August.  Bill and Betty came down from Spokane and they were glad they did.  The weather has been perfecto and yesterday was amazing,  about 83 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  We took a side trip to Cahuita  National Park just a few Km’s down the road.

Here is the arrival of our guests as they drove all the way from San Jose by themselves.  Way to go!!! 

Here is a shot of the park where we stopped to look at the sights.

These guys where hanging out high above us.

There seemed to be a lot of resting going on with the animals that day since it was nice and warm.

Here is a picture of the trail.

Here is the end of the trail.

We ended up in Manzanillo to has have lunch and passed this house along the way.

It’s Official

Mother Nature gave us the sign yesterday that the dry season is finally here.  How do we know that, you might ask?  Well in a tree behind our house we saw two iguana mating and they only mate at the beginning of the dry season.

I do believe it is true since it really has not rained hard like it was in December and most of January.  So thank you Mother Nature for providing us with this sign.  Hopefully many more sunny days to follow.