I was able to experience my first Bull event this past March. I captured some of the excitement with my HD video camera and wanted to share it with you.
This is the Nuevo Arenal arena used annually for the festival.
This is one of the cowboys who uses his lasso to steer the Bull back into the gate after each ride.
From our doorstop, we were able to watch our neighbors practice during the weeks that lead up to the event. They were a little camera shy at first, but enjoyed the exposure!
The Lucky Bug B&B, restaurant, and art gallery is one of my favorite stops on the main road to Nuevo Arenal. http://luckybugcr.net/
The Lucky Bug Gallery offers a variety of handmade arts, crafts, decorative ceramics, and paintings. For more info visit http://luckybugcr.net/
The Restaurante Caballo Negro has an astonishing array of international vegetarian dishes made with organic ingredients. Many German favorites are also on the menu. http://luckybugcr.net/
Collared Aracari
The Bed & Breakfast is housed in the backdrop of the lake. http://luckybugcr.net/
The dining patio overlooks a private lake where the tropical birds such as toucans, aricaris, tanagers, woodpackers, hummingbirds, and magpie jays regularly feast at the feeders. This hummer I captured in action as it hovered to sip the sweet liquid in the feeder.
Jo Jo is a white faced capuchin who is part of the animal rescue. He likes to eat fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
My friend, Gloria who started the animal rescue is a zoologist living in the tropical paradise of Costa Rica. She has the medical expertise to work with both domestic and wild animals. When Gloria arrived to Nuevo Arenal in 2000 there were no veterinarians in the community. When she learned that some people in the area were being inhumane in their treatment of street animals by poisoning them for population control, she took over and started a low cost spraying and neutering operation.
Learn more at Gloria’s Jungle Animal Rescue and see how you can make a difference for innocent animals who need treatment. http://www.gloriasjar.com/?page_id=8
Gloria has been working with parrots for about 25 years. Above are the cages the rescued birds call home. The custom designed cages are easy to clean when necessary. Basically a spray from the hose does the job. You can find Gloria on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001174449802 . She has a lot of info and photos there. She is also the author of many articles for welovecostarica.com : http://tinyurl.com/3c6tkxw
Above is a blue and gold macaw. They are found in the wild in Brazil. His name is "Pasha". He was "raised in captivity" as a baby bird to be sold as a pet. Thankfully they breed well in captivity and are thus far plentiful. Gloria has had him since he was 9 weeks old.
The little brown-hooded parrot is "Nikki". She was almost killed by children with slingshots. It took a major effort (almost 2 months) to save her severely fractured wing. She has her beautiful wing, now completely well, but will never fly because the bones were too damaged.
This is "Lorita", a Red Loried Amazon. She most likely was a pet that escaped because she could talk, but evidently suffered a broken leg which had healed a bit crooked. Other than that, she is completely healthy and happy like all Gloria’s parrots.
Costa Rica Flower Album
Oropendola nests last one season. They look much like woven baskets swaying in the wind. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oropendola
Though this screen has been replaced many times, Gloria’s Golden Retriever always finds a way to be one with nature!
Elizabeth’s Secret Garden: When around caged animals do not stand too close unless they have no arms!
The town of Nuevo Arenal does not have a community playground for the children to play, so I decided to make a difference.
My family has a non-profit called SHAPE International. We are raising $3000 to provide the children with a playground. SHAPE International will match all donations that come in for the play ground!! No amount is too small.
Below, I am teaching English. I lived in Nuevo Arenal for seven weeks and volunteered in the school.
This is the playground at the school where I volunteered. We want to provide the children with a better place where they can play with swings, a see saw and a slide.
These are some of the children in the local school who will be playing on the new play set. My sister Andrea (standing in photo) enjoyed meeting the children.
Above is the site of the future playground. This area is located in the center of town and has been donated by the community to build a play ground (picture below) for all the children in the area.
The children of Nuevo Arenal are always smiling and happy. They spend most of their days outside playing and walking freely around town. There are so many students that half of them come in the morning to classes and the other half come in the afternoon.
Please join me to make a difference for my new friends in Nuevo by contributing to the fundraiser for a new play set.
Thank you,
Elizabeth Mann
