Bannister vine

Bannister caapi gets thicker by the day. The vine is already at the top of the tree.

Orchid

Maxillaria amazonica in bloom.

Fungi 256

Click on image for enlargement.

Fungus 244

Fungi 402

Fungus 396

Insects 688, continued

Click on image for an enlargement.

Insects 688

Fungi 388

Ubaia fruit

Ubaia. Eugenia patrisii

Assassin bug

Insect 8209

Walking plants

Leaf cutter ants next to Jacaranda copaia seed pod.

Tree frog on dry leaf

Gurania

Gurania - Cucurbitaceae

Butterfly 461

Click on image for enlargement.

Butterfly 727

Streamlined and fast.

Fungi 398

Fungi ears

Leaf-footed Bugs

Peacock bass

Painting of peacock bass at a local fish restaurant.

Birds

Social flycatcher nest.

Tucumã vulgar, continued

Tucumã vulgar

Cup fungi

Dragonfly 92

Fungus 555

Butterfly 527

Brazil nut pod

Rain water in an opened Brazil nut pod.

Costus

Seedpod

Star Fungus

Bark mantis

Bark mantis says, "Find me if you can." Click on image for enlargement.

Wood borer

Etchings

Orchid seed pod

Seed capsule of the Epidendrum schomburgkii orchid.

Jarana

Holopyxidium jarans

Miconia

The genus Miconia, flowers and fruit. More than one-thousand species!

Paul Smith

Visitors often peek into my "Get-away" house on their way to see the manioc mill. Some are surprised to discover some oil paintings on the wall, like the one seen in the attached image. It's a self portrait of the painter, Paul Smith. Paul, originally from Canada, has lived in Monte Verde, Costa Rica more than 40 years. He's not only a painter, but also a violinist and a violin maker. His sons own and operate the Fondavela Hotel, located on what used to be the family's dairy farm. Paul and I became friends when we attended Berea College in Berea, Kentucky back in the Middle Ages.

Muddy road

Last Wednesday we were scheduled to receive three busloads of passengers from the cruise ship, Royal Princess. Unfortunately, it rained the night before leaving a layer of mud that was impossible to pass over. Normally this wouldn't have happened, but some politician decided to help us out by running a patrol over the road. The loose dirt hadn't been compacted by traffic, thus the mud following the rain. I got stuck in my car. Actually, I didn't get stuck. The rear wheels locked up because of the accumulated mud in the area around the tires. My Fiat wheels up front were turning, but the rear wheels were simply dragging. About an hour later two of the tour buses entered the dirt road, only to get stuck about half way to the Bosque. An emergency bus was sent in. It got stuck too. Finally, the tour was canceled and the passengers walked back to the highway, in the mud. Every vehicle entering the road got stuck. The road was open the next day because the sun had dried up the mud and some traffic had compacted it down. Image, a truck being towed into a wide spot in the road.

Plumeria pudica

Alamanda flower

Fly 924

Butterfly 896

Wasps

I wish I could zero in on the doorway. Look at all those little heads accumulated there! Click on image for an enlargement.

Bosque Reception Center

Only a stone's throw from my "get-away house" is the reception center for Bosque Santa Lucia. No big deal, it houses two bathrooms and a collection of wooding representing the Amazonian forest. The bathrooms are the favorites!

Get-away house

Some ship passengers visit my casa de caboclo (Hillbilly House) on their way to the manioc mill.