My goldfish pond

[CountryEscape]

Keith, the web page wouldn't open. But, thanks for your descriptions Keith and Larkin. I'm always interested in trying to learn, although I sure don't seem to be "getting it" very quickly with any of the fish descriptions. I do well with "pretty" and descriptions like that. LOL
Costa Rica sounds wonderful, Keith! Have a super time! I'll be heading on a cruise on Sunday for a week with my kids and doesn't matter where we are going, just that both of my kids will be there is enough for me!
Oh, I searched Watonai and came up with the same web page you posted, Keith, so I saw the fish. I have one that I absolutely love. She (I hope a she LOL) is red and white, and she has black streaks in her tails. VERY pretty! I sure didn't pay the prices they are asking at that website, but I'm sure those are some specially bred fish, too.
The fish I'm referring to is on the right of this picture. This is the goldfish pond this past spring, after water went crystal clear!

 

[CometKeith]

CE, I hope you are having a great time on your trip. Thanks for the well wishes JW and Colleen. It was a great trip. Larkin, You should find away to go. Most of our airline tickets were paid with frequent flier miles and the hotels we stayed at were actually pretty cheap compared to nice hotels you might stay at in other places. This was my first time to Costa Rica. It is an amazing place in a lot of ways. Basically they have written the book on ecology and preserving their natural environment. The population there learns about the importance of maintaining their ecosystems very early on in their educational system and it is evident that people there feel it is really important.They are the only country in the world that have an an increase in their natural forests every year. The government collects a tax and then pays farmers to reconvert farmland into wildlife protected areas. Now many farmers can live on smaller pieces of land because they collect income for the land that was converted. The major industry there is tourism. We stayed close to the Arenal Volcano which is still active and also Manuel Antonio. There were many more places we could have visited but these two places are very popular for their natural beauty. I'm attaching a few pics here.
The first is a pic in the park called hanging bridges. We encountered some moneys when we first walked into the park. it was late in the day and we didn't see anyone else in the park so it was really nice to be able to explore the park by ourselves.
The next few ones are pics of birds that were enjoying themselves right next to where we ate breakfast in the first hotel. there were also a lot of humming birds and black birds with bright red markings on their bodies. The last picture is of the Arenal Volcano. It's last major eruption was in 1993, but it actually has a small amount of lava that comes out every night that some tourist go to lookouts to see. In 1963 it had a major eruption and the lava from it wiped out one of the small towns there.

 

[CometKeith]

The first picture is one of the natural rivers that ran next to our hotel. We were able to hike all over the area with a lot of climbing so it was a good workout! The next two pictures are at a hotel we visited for the day called Tobacon. It was very beautifully designed and had areas all over to enjoy the natural hot mineral baths from the volcano streams that fed it's bathing areas. There are a few pics of goldfish ponds they had on their grounds. The last pic is of some crocodiles that were relaxing in a river that we saw on our way to Manuel Antonio.

 

[CometKeith]

These are pics from Manuel Antonio Park. A three toed sloth. A deer that came right up to us. Monkeys were all over the place. One is of our daughter trying to get a picture of them. Some raccoons they had in the park and one stole someones food. Sound familiar? A tree frog in two pics, A great conquistador bird and the last of a small horned owl.

 

[CometKeith]

The first pic is of one of the iguanas that were all over the last hotel we stayed at. The sat under the chairs and you had to be careful not to step on them. Also we took a catamaran ride and dolphins came over to us and raced our boat just staying slightly ahead and then they would shoot forward for a few seconds and jump out of the water. There were also a lot of amazing plants and trees that we learned about. A lot of their trees are protected and there are big fines for anyone found cutting them down.

 

[addy1]

What a neat trip! My honey and I are planning a trip there for diving when he retires, his retirement celebration.

 

[j.w]

Thanks for sharing those neat pix Keith and glad you all had a great time! Looks like a place where we might like to visit in the future.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes those pictures are just amazing! I really enjoyed them Keith! How was the pond while you were away?

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks, Enjoyed sharing them. We have hundreds of more pics but did not want to go crazy. I've been to most of the Caribbean Islands and Mexico, but this place stuck out to me as being really special. I think because in most places you need to go to a certain location to find a spot that is really interesting and beautiful and here it was everywhere you turned. JW, I would definitely recommend it. The best advice we got from people that have gone there is not to go to too many places otherwise you spend too much time traveling. Just to go from San Jose to the Arenal - La Fortuna area took 3 hours by car, then it was 6 hours by car to Manuel Antonio and another 3 hours back to San Jose, and we really only went to two places other than landing in the airport by San Jose. Of course that doesn't include the time it takes to get there and the tours you want to take once you get there. Addy, we snorkeled there and it was nice. I don't know about scuba diving other than the water there is warm and you have your pick of the Caribbean side or Pacific side of the country. The list of things you can do there are endless. My wife and daughter went zip lining and I wanted to go rafting in one of the rivers but didn't have time to fit it in. Colleen, We came back the other night and it was 50 degrees and there was a big lump of ice on my waterfall, but the pump was still running and the water was still flowing from the pump. It still has been "hot" and all the ice has since melted. It looks like we might get some winter weather next week. I should probably move the hose on the waterfall to a lower position so it doesn't ice up so much again.

 

[addy1]

A guy that is fixing my husbands "new" Subaru, ie bought on craigs list, is a dive master. He said he will get us to the right resort for the good diving. He has run a lot of trips there.
Knows a lot about costa rico.

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, That sounds good. There are so many things to do there. The hiking trails there are unbelievable. Our daughter surfed and they have an annual surfing competition there. I'm sure you will have a great time but don't wait until he retires!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Keith sounds like it was a really good time, glad you had a nice trip with the family, good to hear the pond was OK too. Next year I may take the hubby back to Cuba as we really liked the people and the quite beaches their, without all the speed boats. Would have to get a "live in puppy sitter", maybe my mom or sister.... like to have a vacation, just hate to leave the house, pond and puppies most of all!!

 

[sissy]

Keith sounds like it was a really good time, glad you had a nice trip with the family, good to hear the pond was OK too. Next year I may take the hubby back to Cuba as we really liked the people and the quite beaches their, without all the speed boats. Would have to get a "live in puppy sitter", maybe my mom or sister.... like to have a vacation, just hate to leave the house, pond and puppies most of all!!

know what you mean colleen you get on a vacation and when there is down time you worry about home and puppies and you miss them and then sometimes you come home from a vacation and need a vacation .I am trying to see the good ole U.S.A for now .I had plans to to go to Virginia beach this winter while it the nice peaceful time before the crowds hit but hubby has to many doctors to see .Oh well .I have friends there and I want to see there new house

 

[CountryEscape]

Wow, Keith, those are some amazing photos! I had to look twice at many of them to see if they were your pics, or a postcard. I can't imagine staying at a hotel or resort and being right next to an ecosystem as that. It was amazing, like nothing I have ever seen in my life.
The beautiful black and yellow birds, with the very large beak, are they called "toucans"? I remember either a cereal or commercial when I was a kid with "Toucan Sam" and he was like that, only black and red. LOL OK, I looked up toucan bird, and sure enough, that's a variety of that type of bird. And, believe it or not, the search also came up with "Toucan Sam". He was the Fruit Loops mascot way back when ... Haha

 

[CometKeith]

Hey CE, yes they were toucans. Thanks for the compliments on the photos. It was pretty cool watching them as we ate breakfast at our hotel. There were also some really neat black and red birds I have never seen before and a lot of hummingbirds. Ever watch the big bang theory? Raj Cooper Poly figures out all the cartoon characters on breakfast cereals are males on one of the episodes.... hence toucan sam and not toucan samantha!