Going For A CT Scan

 Recently one of my doctors ordered a CT scan. The reason why is not important for this post, which is just to provide what I hope is useful information for others in this situation.

My doctor said there are no clinics in Grecia that offer this service but there are in Alajuela city or San Jose. Lance did an on line search for me and found this clinic, Desconocido Centro Médico, City Mall, Alajuela, which is closer to us than San Jose. I contacted them and received a prompt reply via WhatsApp. My appointment was for the next day at 11:00 am.

They Whatsapp’d me a form to fill out detailing my medical history, etc.

Although City Mall is only 33 km from our house, the traffic can be heavy and slow. We didn’t want to be late so we decided to hire our friend Alec to drive us. He drives a taxi and a bus and knows all the shortcuts. He picked us up in good time. Away we went, with a short stop for water bottles. 

Centro Médico is on the parking level, where all the medical clinics are located. We arrived in good time and checked in. Because Alec is Spanish speaking, he was a great help with translating for us. In due time, we were called into the patient waiting area. Normally only one patient assistant is allowed in but I got to bring in both my guys!

Then I had my BP taken and handed over my CT scan requisition that detailed what my doctor wanted done. Again Alec was very helpful. It wasn’t long before I was ushered into the scan room. A very nice bilingual technician assisted me onto the table, told me what I would experience and exited.

I thought the CT scanner might be scary but it wasn’t. During the process, a voice came on (in English) telling me when to hold my breath and when to release it. The whole process took maybe 10 minutes.

Back to the patient waiting area where Lance and Alec were both drinking cups of freshly brewed coffee! The clinic has a coffee machine that will make whatever sort of brew you want. They also offer tea bag varieties and water bottles. Alec made me a cup of excellent coffee.

Time to head home. The clinic will send me the results in one or two days via Whatsapp.

Cost: 170,000 colones, approximately $470.00 CAD.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - August 2025

During August, visits to this blog were received from the following 22 countries:

Each country is followed in brackets by the total number of visits received since records first started to be kept in November 2012.

From the time I started to keep track, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received has risen to 138. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - for example the U.S. Virgin Islands - an unincorporated territory of the United States from which 1 visit has been received.

The latest country is Mongolia, a country in East Asia bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south:

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The following is a summary of the weather for August in the area where we live in Costa Rica:

The average daytime high and overnight low temperatures were close to those measured in August last year. But, the amount of rainfall was significantly higher (about 40% higher).

The rainy or green season carries on. But, it appears that the "little or mini summer" (veranito in Spanish) interruption which began prematurely in early July ended in July and that we should now expect significantly more rainfall in September (all of which may be subject to worldwide climate change issues).

ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica) has recently published the 2025 September-October issue of its EL RESIDENTE magazine. The headline article in this issue is focused on the rainy season in Costa Rica:

From that article, it may be discerned that the timing and nature of the rainy season in the Central Valley of Costa Rica (where Lance and I live) differs from that on the Caribbean side of the country.

The ARCR magazine contains many other articles and references which may be of general interest or to those planning a visit or move to Costa Rica.

Information on current and recent weather conditions, climate change and more in various parts of Costa Rica can be obtained from the website of IMN: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional de Costa Rica (Spanish) or National Institute of Meteorology (English). IMN also has a Facebook page which may be of interest.

Avocados

Luis, our landlord, lives in Guanacaste province. He has a brother who lives on Prince Edward Island, Canada.

We are renting his mother’s house in San Roque de Grecia, Alajuela province. We live in sort of a Tico compound - we are the last house at the end of a lane. Luis has aunties and uncles who live in some of the other houses. It seems that everyone looks out for us!

We have a large avocado tree:

This year it is loaded with avocados. I picked as many as I could by hand and also using a fruit picking pole. Luis contacted me and asked if his two uncles could come by and pick as many as they could. Of course we said yes - there’s more than enough for everyone.

Duque (neighbour’s dog) came by for a visit:

We ended up with a good supply of avocados and the uncles had lots to take home with them.

Some of our haul:

We’ve already eaten quite a few of them. Avocados don’t start ripening until after they are picked  and they don’t all ripen at the same time so we have a continuing supply of ripe avocados.

The Tico Times has this interesting article about avocados in Costa Rica.

We also have a mango tree, two different species of orange trees and lots of limes:

There are still lots of avocados left on the tree.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - July 2025

During July, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries:

Each country is followed in brackets by the total number of visits received since records first started to be kept in November 2012.

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 137. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - for example Puerto Rico - an unincorporated territory of the United States from which 1 visit has been received.

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

There is a so-called rainy or green season which generally runs from May to November. However, the season is typically interrupted for a few weeks in July and/or August by a so-called little or mini summer (veranito in Spanish).

This year, the little summer began in early July and carried on throughout the month. On several of the days without rain, otherwise calm air was periodically broken by sudden short lived gusts of wind. On days with rain, the rainfall was minimal. The amount was about 1/5 to 1/3 of that measured in July of the previous 3 years. 

During July, there was a fair amount of dust which travelled from the Sahara Desert across the Atlantic Ocean and over Costa Rica. This not only had an adverse effect on air quality but may have suppressed the build up of humidity needed for rainfall.

Information on current and recent weather conditions, climate change and more in various parts of Costa Rica can be obtained from the website of IMN: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional de Costa Rica (Spanish) or National Institute of Meteorology (English). IMN also has a Facebook page which may be of interest.

Breakfast

Recently we had breakfast at Victoria Cafeteria, a 5 minute drive from our house. We’ve eaten here numerous times, both for breakfast and lunch. Everything we have ordered has been delicious. 

The house it is in is a typical older wooden building with a wrap around covered porch, indoor and outdoor seating, and many different kinds of greenery. Staff remembers us every time. Service is excellent.

I ordered a mocha cappuccino:

This is my food order - breakfast speciality of the house. Two fried eggs atop potatoes. Not just any potatoes …. these ones were filled with onions, bacon, cheese, red peppers …. excellent. Those are plantains to the left of the dish.

Lance’s order - loaded omelette, and I do mean loaded. It even had chicken in it. It too included plantains and also toast.

As usual, portions were quite  large and we took half of each dish home. The omelette was so large that we got two more servings from it.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - June 2025

Click on images to enlarge.

During June, visits to this blog were received from the following 6 countries and unidentified locations:

Each country is followed in brackets by the total number of visits received since records first started to be kept in November 2012.

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 137. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions; for example Martinique - an Overseas Department and Region of France from which 1 visit has been received.

** Any single one of the Unidentified Locations could be a device that uses an IP address that is not registered to any country, region, or place or that is hidden by a proxy or VPN service. It could also be a device that is not connected to the internet directly, but through a satellite or cellular network that does not provide location information. It is also possible that a ship or aircraft, or even the ISS, could use such a device and appear as an unknown location.

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

The rainy (or "green") season continued during June with at least some rain on all but 3 days. During one period of 4 days and nights, the rain was an almost continuous light drizzle (reminiscent of our wintertimes in Vancouver, Canada when it was snowing everywhere else). Otherwise, on most days, rainfall did not begin until the early or late afternoons.

Overall, the amount of rainfall was almost the same as that in June 2024. As well, the average daytime high temperature and average overnight low temperature were almost the same as June 2024.

As a point of clarity for perfectionists, I should note that when I record an "overnight" low temperature it is not necessarily a nighttime temperature - it can be an early morning daytime temperature. Our experience in Costa Rica has been that the temperature can actually drop as the sun rises.

With the advent of AI and chatGPT, I now have the following explanation:

"The air temperature often drops after sunrise due to a phenomenon called radiational cooling and the angle of the sun's rays. While it might seem counterintuitive, the coldest part of the day is typically shortly after sunrise, not just before." 

That was part of chatGPT's response to the question: "Why does the air temperature drop as the sun rises".

Information on current and recent weather conditions, climate change and more in various parts of Costa Rica can be obtained from the website of IMN: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional de Costa Rica (Spanish) or National Institute of Meteorology (English). IMN also has a Facebook page which may be of interest.

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Off topic

ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica) has recently published the 2025 July-August issue of its EL RESIDENTE magazine. Lance and I are members of ARCR.

The magazine contains many articles and references which may be of general interest or to those planning a visit or move to Costa Rica.

Off To The Vet

Click on images to enlarge.

As I wrote on April 3rd of this year, a tabby cat had decided to take up residence in our house - totally uninvited. That’s the CDS (Cat Distribution System) at work.

Knowing nothing about his background, we knew we had to eventually take him to a vet for an exam. When he started to sneeze a lot and develop some congestion, we made an appointment at Veterinary Clinic Moralva in Grecia. We did not have a cat carrier so purchased one. It was tricky getting him into it and of course he complained loudly all the way on the short drive to the clinic.

What we learned: he’s probably about five years old and neutered! A good surprise as I thought he was not. That’s how much I know about male feline anatomy. Diagnosis was that he has a respiratory infection.

Home we went with prescriptions which we picked up at Veterinaria Memo. This is the place to buy animal medications. They have a large inventory and also carry high end pet food.

We have a follow up appointment tomorrow morning.