Bassackwards!

Tags

Costa Rica, Ecuador, Latin America, Nature, Nicaragua, playamart, Zeebra Designs

“Who’s Calling?”

Playamart and Zeebra Designs & Destinations switched places!  Like strong-willed children, they refuse to go to their rightful corner!

If you’re searching for Zeebra Designs, please visit the sibling site, www.playamart.wordpress.

Thanks, Dale!

Tags

Leibster Award

(Ecuador) Rubbing Elbows With The Cuenca Tourist Police!

How great it feels when someone reaches out and pulls you into their circle!  On a recent whirlwind trip through the Ecuadorian Andes, I asked these tourist police if I could take their photo.  They immediately made room for me while their superior volunteered for camera duty!  Hank and Marie emerged from the cathedral just in time for a chuckle!  We managed to coax Hank to join in the fun!

Dale Cooper, author of  Diary of an Internet Nobody, pulled me into his winner’s circle and passed an award to this blog!   Visit his website and enjoy this post about the Leibster Award!  Thanks, Dale!  Forgive me for being quite tardy in responding!

Coming Back To Life!

Tags

mangrove destruction, miranda gibson, miranda gibson tasmania, nature's rights

WISTFUL TO FLY

Three musuem shows in three cities in four  months depleted my energies, and I am not surprised that my body waved a huge flag and demanded, “BASTA! DESPACIO! STOP!  SLOW DOWN!”   Aside from the random case of dengue fever, loss of vision, reaction to msg, and allergic reaction to scorpion’s venom,  I stay healthy and active.   On retrospect, I was not surprised that my body kicked me to bed for the entire month of October for an all-but strangling mystery cough.  Six weeks later I am 100% well, strong, and cough free, but wow, did that experience ever make me thankful for good health!

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE

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Destruction of mangroves, Ecuador, Rio Jama

The loss of mangroves is an adjustment.  I am working through it, but it’s been hard.  What follows are a few images and random thoughts.

MAJOR TOM TO GROUND CONTROL

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Cruzita Ecuador, Cruzita lodging, El Matal Ecuador, Hostal Cruzita, Jama Ecuador, Manta Ecuador, Parapente Ecuador, Parasailing Ecuador, Tarqui Ecuador, The Mola Series

This is Major Tom(boy) checking in with all of you out there at Ground Control.  My circuits are not dead;  the world is blue, orange, green, yellow, orange and a billion other wonderful colors, and life is great!

The opening reception for The Mola Series was well received  at the Museo Cancebi in Manta, and many people participated in the I Can Do This” hands-on experiment!    The “impromptu’ painting later earned the name: “Ceibo Loco”

My friends Barbara and Laura traveled from the Republic of Panama while Marta came from Quito via bus so that they could help with last-minute details before the opening. Wow, were they incredible helpers, and the show would not have gone as well without their help.  “I get by with a little help from my friends!”

The Red-Light District

Tags

Costa Rica Outdoors, Olive Ridley Sea Turtle, Playa San Miguel Costa Rica, playamart, Pretoma, the zeebra, Zeebra Designs

(Originally published in Costa Rica Outdoors )

  　 　

“Do you think we’re going to get more rain?” Kim asked with a touch of dread in her voice.

From my bright-blue plastic chair in the open-air palapa, I turned and peered into the soggy evening before answering her question. “I’ve been told that lightning bugs are reliable indicators of rain; the closer they are to the ground, the sooner we’ll be getting rain.”

With keen attention, we eyed the twinkling fireflies that – to our collective discontent – hovered inches from the grass line. “When I walked here fifteen minutes ago, they were three or four feet higher,” I added. Kim Tomczak and Nick Dodrill, volunteers for Pretoma’s 2009 sea turtle project,  studied the ground-level placement of the lightning bugs.

GONE FISHIN’

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ecuador fishing, fishing

Snowy egret & little blue heron - all images copyright/Lisa Brunetti

My childhood years spent along the muddy Mississippi River prepped me for an easy transition to life along a lazy river in Ecuador, where I now live.  After losing power for five days during this rain-soaked February, I refrained from throwing away the preseasoned “lomo fino” filet of beef that was in the freezer.   It presented a good excuse to clock out from painting and see if this river girl could catch a catfish or two!

I traded paintbrushes for my trusted Ambassadeur 5500C fishing reel to see what species might sample the gourmet bait!  The herons and egrets made room for me,  and I trekked across the large river-stabilizing boulders and cast into the main channel.   Within a minute, the first ‘tap-tap-tap’ began on the line, and to my amusement,

A FRAGILE BALANCE – The Decline of the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

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Olive Ridley Sea Turtle, Playa San Miguel Costa Rica

The Olive Ridleys of Playa San Miguel-

Who isn’t instantly smitten by those miniature gray tanks,  better known as olive ridley hatchlings?  These sea turtles face increasing odds for survival as an eclectic handful of concerned people fight for the turtles’ rightful place along the pristine Playa San Miguel, Costa Rica.

The following video summarizes the olive ridleys’ story.

(The link isn’t working – try here: http://vimeo.com/36334615  )

More soon about the olive ridleys,

Z

Hermit Crab B&B

Tags

beach trash, hermit crab, olive ridley, playamart, sea turtle

Dawn – Playa San Miguel Costa Rica –

“The morning, which is  the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour… and for an hour at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers the rest of the day and night.”  Thoreau

A primal alertness often awakens me in the pre-dawn hours, and I am drawn to the beach.  My almost-empty shoulder bag cradles my camera and  has reserve space for treasures I might find along the way.   Locking the door, I step into the darkness.  A primal serenity cloaks the darkened beach, and the barreling waves glow with foamy phosphorescence.   My eyes adjust to the low light as a gauzy veil of delicate mist caresses my skin;  walking briskly, I cross over the floatsam and set a brisk pace to catch the first light of the day.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle –

At times the lone trail of a sea turtle instantly diverts my attention, and I scan to see if she has returned to the sea.

Ecuador

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Cameronera, Crucita, Cruzita, Cuenca, Ecuador, Ingapirca, Jama, Manabi, Punta Ballena, Rycardo Aclivar, Shrimp Farming, Travel

Ecuador has many faces, but the most special ones belong to the people who make the fabric of the country.  This pictorial tour gives samples of several sections of the country, but the majority of the images capture the pastoral life in Manabi.    Coming soon is the first Zeebra Map for Ecuador.

Sample ZeebraMap     The images below capture a tiny sliver of the many facets of Ecuador.  More will follow soon, I hope!

(All photos © Lisa Brunetti)
Waiting on high tide –  Cruzita

(Above:  Late afternoon)

NICARAGUA

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Buena Onda, Casa Rosada, Hacienda Iguana, Limon, Nica Waves, Ometepe, Rancho Santana, San Juan Del Sur

This gallery contains 17 photos.

If a fast pace is important to your vacation criteria, you’d best not venture to the tranquil area of “Limon …

Continue reading →

COSTA RICA

Classic Morning at Playa San Miguel – copyright/Lisa Brunetti
(High tides claimed these lovely trees about one month after this image was taken.)

For a handful of years, I lived immersed in Costa Rica’s natural beauty.  Classic rainforest trees towered over my studio, and a quiet stream meandered through the quiet section of the Garden of Eden where I lived.  A troop of howler monkeys befriended me, and over the years they became my loyal guardians!  I mastered howler language much faster than I did Spanish!