Information about planning and experiencing the sabbatical in Costa Rica.
This morning, some vultures started circling low around the open patch next to our house. Something was going on. This is a sad story about the violent death of a dog. Not a fun story. … More Death is a part of wildlife too
Hace un par de semanas escribí acerca de los animalillos nocturnos que vienen a visitarnos por las noches. En la versión inglesa del blog, terminaba el texto con algunas reflexiones sobre qué hacer para prevenir encuentros desafortunados (es decir que el animal te muerda, pique o escupa) y qué hacer cuando el encuentro es inevitable. El problema es que mi consciencia ecológica reside en mi cerebro y éste último necesita café para activarse. … More La chancleta asesina
Oops! Have we been here already for a month?
After 10 hectic days in Alajuela and more than two weeks doing nada on the beach, I finally have the need to start doing something. I am basically getting anxious because I see the days passing by without accomplishing anything, apart from resting and blogging. I realize that part of the problem is that I am so used to do something and moreover to have to do something that the mere fact of having days without plans is scary. This is a bad sign.
… More Why ‘doing nothing’ feels so alien. A reflection on the first 30 days of the sabbatical.
Earlier, we settled for an understanding of ‘doing nothing’ of not having to do anything that is somehow externally forced upon us. Now that I am writing this, I finally realize that we ended up in the ironic and frustrating situation where ‘doing nothing’ is actually forced upon us. … More When ‘doing nothing’ is frustrating
We have been seeing and hearing this bird since day one. It is big, noisy and travels in groups of two or three. They seem to be chasing each other all the time. It might be playing, it might be serious business. … More White-throated Magpie Jay – Cyanolyca cucullata
Only when I started writing these posts about our bird-watching gear, I realized that our smartphones are definitely part of it. Because we never leave the house without the smartphone, it is the natural last resort to take a picture of a bird. But it is also useful to make sound recordings and, together with a so-called clip-on, it can be used to make pictures through binoculars or telescopes … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 4 : Smartphone and clip-on
Het is wéér mislukt om een week niks te doen. Niets ernstigs dit keer. We wilden graag natuurreservaten in de omgeving bekijken tijdens onze maand hier, dus het werd tijd om daaraan te beginnen. Afgelopen zondag en maandag zijn we naar het nationale park van de Tenorio Vulkaan (Parque National Volcán Tenorio) gegaan. … More Week 4. Strand en een excursie naar de Rio Celeste
Our purchase of the telescope was a bit of a haste job. Because scopes do not come cheap, virtually all birdwatchers that we know or met or read on-line, advise buying a second-hand scope if you are a beginner. We followed the Swedish go-to second-hand website (called blocket.se) for a while but nothing in our price range showed up. … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 3 : Celestron Ultima 80 telescope
Some years ago, when our interest in bird-watching started, I bought a pair of Kite Forster 10 x 50 binoculars. At that time, it was a well-reviewed model for bird watching. Very good value for money, also for experienced birdwatchers. … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 2 : Kite Forster 10 x 50 binoculars
If you look around the internet a bit for beginners tips for bird watching, you will find the tip not to gear up too much at the beginning. The equipment such as binoculars, cameras, and telescopes are available in a great price range, starting from not cheap to insanely expensive. If you ask me, the very cheap equipment is not worth your money because the quality simply does not suffice. So we have a mix of equipment with various qualities for wildlife observation. … More Our birdwatching gear. Part 1 : Eyes, books, binos, scopes and cameras
THE FLIP FLOP LIFE 