Birthday Lunch - La Ceiba Restaurante, Naranjo

April 27th was my birthday and we went to La Ceiba Restaurant. I had read a very favourable review and we decided to try it out. 

It is a bit tricky to find so use Waze (Plus Code 3HMG+R7) or Google Maps. After you exit Highway 1, the short road to the restaurant (about 100 m.) is not paved and is quite rough. Here is the route we took:

This restaurant is a gem. A beautiful setting with the eating area under cover with open sides.

Orchids growing on tree limbs.

It was just so pleasant sitting there enjoying the view, the breezes and the music. There are orchids everywhere, some for sale. They also sell coffee.

The restaurant grows its own lettuce.

My lunch selection - catch of the day, mahi-mahi. Note the orchid flower.

Lance’s choice - chicken breast stuffed with three cheeses. Salad loaded with lots of different bits.

The dishes were excellent. I thought I would have room for dessert but it was not to be.

We bought some organic coffee, produced by Lum. This coffee was grown in Palmares.

A perfect birthday! To top it off, I had ordered myself a Wallaroo sun hat and it arrived.

Click on images to enlarge.

Doves in Costa Rica

According to my book “The Birds of Costa Rica, a Field Guide” by Richard Garrigues and illustrated by Robert Dean, there are eleven species of doves in this country - not including quail-doves.

We are visited daily by white-winged doves and common ground doves.

White-winged on left and ground dove on the right.

A pair of white-winged doves raised a family of two under our eaves. Here are the fledglings:

I put seed out for them:

This may not be the best of ideas because word got around in the neighbourhood that grub can be had at such and such a house. So we have moved from a pair of white-winged doves and a pair of ground doves visiting to more than double that number!

They can be quite inquisitive. One dove in particular has strolled into our house a couple of times to snoop around.

Doves are the symbol of peace but when our gang is together, it can be anything but peaceful. They can be quite aggressive, fighting over who is going to get the seed, threatening each other with raised wing displays, and chasing the small ground doves away.

I made a short video that demonstrates their behaviour:

Click on images to enlarge. 

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - March 2023

During February, visits to this blog were received from the following 12 countries:

From the time I started to keep track, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent (e.g. Greenland from which 1 visit has been received).

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The following is a summary of weather for the month in the area where we live:

Over a period of about 8 days in mid-March, and then 2 days later in the month, we received a premature sampling of the "green season" which normally does not begin until late April or May. Compared to March in previous years, the rainfall was significant - sometimes very heavy over a short period of time and accompanied by thunder and lightning. From 2018 to 2020, we measured no rainfall in March. In 2021, we measured a mere 0.07 inches (1.8 mm).

On rainy days, daytime high temperatures were kept down. Thus the average daytime high temperature for the month is less than the year to date average.

Click on images to enlarge.