Birds!

Len's photos of Costa Rican birds and wildlife are now available on his Flickr page!

Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/len2000/

Kitchen Gardens in Costa Rica

We visited two herb and vegetable gardens as we toured Costa Rica.
At the hotel where we stayed in San Jose, a gardener named Chuse
grew herbs for the two restaurants. Birds like this mott-mott loved
these gardens,, and we loved watching them perch there.

Raised beds for herbs and vegetables.

The garden had tables in the middle for outdoor activities and dining.
While we were there, it was not in use.

As part of our cruise, we took a bus tour to a national park, with lunch at a resort hotel
in the mountains.. First we visited the much more extensive greenhouses and raised beds
of herbs and vegetables, where three gardeners work to supply the hotel.

Some of the herbs grown at this hotel.

Inside the greenhouse.

These “farm to table” gardens seem to me to show a general attitude of deep interest in the environment and sustainable agriculture, that we also experienced in our tour of the coffee cooperative. The growing methods are very responsible, in keeping with the national attitude. The salads we ate were delicious; I didn’t hesitate to eat lettuce, and it was highly reassuring that all the drinking water is safe. 

All photos copyright © 2019 by mae sander for maefood dot blogspot dot com.

                                                                 If you read this elsewhere, it’s been pirated.

Costa Rica Critters

Birdwatching was our main focus throughout our trip to Costa Rica, but we also saw many mammals, reptiles, insects, and a few fish. I've already posted pictures of monkeys. Sloths weren't nearly as frequent on this trip as on our trips to Panama and the upper Amazon (we only saw one). I won't bore you with photos of the deer that are pretty common here.

A few of the most unusual critters we saw this trip:

A crocodile on a log, which we saw while taking a river boat tour.

A porcupine hiding in a tree, spotted on a different river boat tour. I think this was an unusual sighting.

A species of crab-eating raccoons live on the beach. They have learned to look
for discards from human picnics, so they showed no fear of us. 

The coati is a member of the raccoon family.
This one was picking up scraps at the side of the road,
also evidently tamed by the presence of many humans.

An emerald basilisk, one of several types of basilisk lizard found in Costa Rica.

A little green snake. Poisonous? Yes.

On this leaf: a tiny poisonous toad. Don't touch!

We constantly noticed the fluttering motion of butterflies, mostly the
famous blue morpho. But I particularly liked this very white one,
about which I know nothing at all. 

A blue morpho just as it emerged from its cocoon.

The jungle is full of big spiders!

Another big spider.

This seemed like a pretty strange caterpiller. 

The forest was full of interesting plants and trees, as well as creatures.
We and our fellow-hikers were intrigued by this cluster of fungus.

All photos copyright © 2019 mae sander for maefood dot blogspot dot com.

“Pura Vida”

Throughout our visit to Costa Rica, we took bus tours and boat tours in cloud forests, rain forests, dry forests, and farmers' fields growing sugar cane, coffee, and fruit. We drove past many farmhouses and villages, with shop fronts and houses often painted with vivid murals depicting rural life. An important image is that of the beloved ox-drawn cart, a century-old (or more) tradition in the Costa Rican countryside. While motorized transport is now the principal way, some of these carts are still in use as they work well on rough back-country roads, with solid wheels that are effective in rutted muddy terrain. I saw several of these carts stored on porches near farmhouses, and also saw some in tourist places such as hotels and souvenir shops. A few images:

Each cart is hand-painted with unique designs.

A toy ox-cart decorating a salad bar.

Farm-cart magnets for sale at a souvenir stand. (I didn't buy any.)

Another decorated cart -- in the background is a modern version, not painted and with rubber tires.

An oxcart in use from a mural at the coffee plant we toured.

Also at the coffee plant -- you can see the bags of coffee being readied for shipment.

Costa Rican Spanish, we are told, doesn't differ much from the Spanish spoken in the rest of Central and South America -- except for one thing. "Pura Vida" is an expression that summarizes the upbeat way that people think here. When everything is ok and you want to end a sentence on a positive note,
you end with "Pura Vida." Literally it means "pure life" but that's not a good translation. I think “Pura Vida” is especially appropriate as a summary of the Costa Rican love of their traditional farm carts.

This post is copyright © 2019 by mae sander for maefood dot blogspot dot com. If you read this blog at a different location, it is a pirated version. For a more complete history of Costa Rican ox cart traditions, see: https://www.guachipelin.com/blog/en/story-behind-tradition-oxcarts-costa-rica/

Visiting a Coffee Processing Plant

Costa Rican shade-grown coffee has a global reputation for quality.
Our last activity with the National Geographic trip was a visit to a coffee
cooperative where 300 farmers bring their harvest to be processed.
From the time it’s picked to the time it’s roasted, coffee undergoes a number
of processing steps, including hulling, drying, and fermenting.

Our guide began by describing the process of planting and cultivating coffee bushes, which are productive for up to 20 years.

The coffee is shade-grown, which protects the plants from too much sun.
The shade trees are also nitrogen-fixing plants, improving the coffee.

The raw coffee beans (or “cherries”) are sun-dried and then kiln-dried.
The surrounding seed-pods and fruit are made into mulch or burned
in the kiln to produce heat. Little is wasted! 

A farm truck delivering the coffee beans. 

One of many murals in the coffee processing plant — this explains the steps in the process, as we saw it.

Now that we are home again, I have lots of photos from our stay in Costa Rica to share.  It was really quite a wonderful trip to a beautiful and productive country. As one of our guides said — their agriculture mainly produces breakfast! The principal products of their farms are bananas, coffee, sugar, pineapple, and other fruits and vegetables. We saw many cattle farms, as they also produce beef and dairy products.

Costa Rica Experiences

Our ship, the National Geographic Sea Lion at sunset.

We cruised the northern part of the Costa Rican coast for 5 nights and 4 days.
Onshore we sometimes did beach activities like kayaking and snorkeling.  

One of many beautiful birds: the black-headed trogon.

A beautiful hike included walking through several little streams of water. In this wooded area we saw the trogon.

We loved the birds: these are oyster catchers that we saw from the Zodiac boats. 

This is Carlos, a naturalist, who was our bird guide on a number of walks
and on one Zodiac cruise as shown here.

A howler monkey in the forest. 

A capuchin monkey.

Sunrise from the bridge deck of the Sea Lion.