Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - December 2024 & Year End Review

Click on images to enlarge.

During November, visits to this blog were received from Hong Kong and the following 13 countries:

Each country and Hong Kong 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, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received rose to 137 in December. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Hong Kong. The latest country was Iran. The location indicated by the visitor's IP address was Tehran which is Iran's capital city.

For 2024 as a whole, visits were received from 48 identifiable countries and non-independent jurisdictions. Also, the number of viewers of my YouTube video showing our landing back in 2017 at the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in Costa Rica surpassed 10,000 in 2024. 

So far as I can tell, the video is somewhat unique - especially as it was taken while aboard a relatively large aircraft (a Boeing 757-200). There are many YouTube videos taken while a large aircraft descends from a distance to the SJO runway along a straight line flight path. In our case, the aircraft first flew from west to east slowly descending until over San José. Then it did a 180° turn ending with a low altitude steeply banked portion before straightening out and heading westward to land.

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

Compared to November which saw an uncharacteristic surge in rainfall, the amount in December was characteristically low and signaled the beginning of the dry season. As shown in the following chart, the amount of rain in December 2024 was about the same as December 2023.

However, all was not normal. On many days, there was a substantial amount of cloud cover throughout the day.  Often the cloud cover did not produce any rain but it shielded the sun and kept temperatures down. The average daytime high in December 2024 was 3.5°F (2.0°C) less than that in December 2023.

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.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! 2025

Another new year already. 2025 will mark our 14th year of living in this beautiful country. We have made lots of Costa Rican Tico friends and of course fellow expats.

Our Canadian friends Diane and John have returned here for six months and we’re planning a beach day in the future. 

I have paintings to finish. For instance, this one - “The Moo Crew”. Photo reference courtesy Nicola Butt.

This is another large one - 36”x24”. 

My Coco Man was here today and I was rewarded with a big smile and a hug when I greeted him with “Feliz Año Nuevo”. If you make the effort to speak Spanish, even if it comes out wonky, it is much appreciated. He shows up at our gate about every second week with prepared cocos that I keep in the fridge so I can enjoy cool coco water. It does have health benefits.

On New Year’s day we had lunch at Los Jardins Vivero y Cafe here in Grecia. Good food and a super ambience.

Happy New Year everyone!

¡Feliz Navidad! 2024

This is our 13th Christmas Eve day in Costa Rica. It is sunny and partly cloudy. Nice breeze.The current (10:49 am) temperature at our house is 75F/24C with 64% humidity.

My Oncidium orchid is in bloom:

Our housekeeper Soleida is here today and she came bearing gifts:

Sangria and canned melocotón (peaches). I found recipes for this drink on line so I will be mixing up a pitcher of peaches and sangria with lime juice (from our lime tree).

Wherever you are and however you celebrate - enjoy!

You can see more of my artwork here.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - November 20, 2024

During November, visits to this blog were received from Hong Kong and the following 10 countries:

Each country and Hong Kong 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, visits have been received from 123 countries and 13 non-independent jurisdictions. Hong Kong, which is a Special Administrative Region of China, is one of such jurisdictions.

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

In any given year, Costa Rica has a dry season and a rainy or "green" season. With the exception of the Caribbean side of the country, the monthly amount of rainfall tends to begin ramping up in May and to begin ramping down in November. Normally, September and October are the rainiest months. The following chart shows an uncharacteristic surge of rainfall in November this year compared to last year:

The surge is similarly uncharacteristic of the November rainfall we encountered in 2022 where we currently live and in the years 2018 to 2021 when we lived in Puente de Piedra, a short distance south of Grecia.

In some communities within the Grecia Canton, the surge led to serious flooding and landslides. Fortunately, we were not subjected to such consequences.

It remains to be seen whether the amount of rainfall in December plummets as in previous years. Normally, the dry season begins in December.

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.

Important Event! Mark Your Calendars!

On December 6, 7 and 8, 2024, the artistic event of the season will be held at Colinas del Sol, Atenas, Costa Rica!

Just In Time for Christmas is an annual holiday art sale featuring artists from the Central Valley in Costa Rica. 10% of sales are donated to local charities. On Friday, December 6, the show opens at noon. The restaurant will be open for an evening concert. On Sunday, December 8 a special brunch is on offer with entertainment. 

Here are some images of works I will have on display and for sale:

“Ewe and Me”. 24”x18”, Acrylic on linen. Foto reference Tina Purpleblue Clowes Kay.

“Some Bunny Loves Me”. 18”x24”, Acrylic on canvas. Foto reference Anne Zentara.

“I Dream of Jeanie - She’s a Light Brown Hare”. 23”x17”. Acrylic on canvas. Foto reference: Terence Porter.

Here is a sneak peek of a work still on the easel - a Great White Egret - a bird that is indigenous to Costa Rica. A fish will be painted into the bird’s bill. This painting will be available at the show:

This is a large painting - 3’x4’ - “Gone Fishing’. Acrylic on stretched canvas. Foto reference: Steven Sutcliffe.

Miscellaneous Goings On

It’s official - I’m an honourary Tica! Hernan Agustin Carazo gave me this certificate. Although we moved to Costa Rica sight unseen, we did plenty of research beforehand and were prepared to fully embrace a new culture.

Soleida, our housekeeper, gave me this Schlumbergera cactus and it is loaded with blooms:

This article on the best places to retire in 2024 details several countries. Costa Rica is rated #1 and is at the end of the article. What interested me about all the countries listed is the high quality of health care available in each one.

ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica) has recently published the 2024 November-December 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.

By the way, and for quite some time, the right hand sidebar of my blog included a widget that identified worldwide locations from which visits to the blog were being received. Sometime yesterday it stopped doing so. No rotating globe or other information appears in the panel below the heading "VISITS SINCE 9/29/2016".

The ongoing source of the information was RevolverMaps and I now have a message that the website is "down for everyone" and not just me. It appears they have failed to renew their HTTPS security certificate. If the problem is not fixed, then I may try something different.

Update

On November 16, the following message appeared when trying to access or use the RevolverMaps website: "RevolverMaps has shut down. Many thanks to all users and supporters of the service!"

I am now trying an alternative service called "ClustrMaps". Its primary purpose is to enable a name or address search in the U.S. But, it also provides a widget that logs the locations of visits to a website or blog from anywhere in the world. A globe display of that widget now appears in the right hand sidebar of my blog. The number of identified locations (green dots) is sparse and just beginning but will increase with time.

If you click on the globe, that should bring up a separate page with a world map projection and detailed visitor location information. Strictly, the location information for any visitor is apt to be the location of the server of the visitor's ISP (Internet Service Provider). That location may not necessarily coincide with the visitor's physical location.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - October 2024

During October, visits to this blog were received from the following 16 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 136. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - e.g. Guadeloupe, an Overseas Department and Region of France from which 2 visits have been received.

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

In the late morning on October 12 (about 11:43 a.m. to be precise), the alarm on our rain gauge sounded to indicate that a rain event had begun. But there was nary a drop of water falling from the sky. Instead, there was a magnitude 6.2 earthquake taking place just off the coast in the Pacific Ocean near Tamarindo:

The distance from the earthquake epicenter to our house in San Roque de Grecia is about 129 miles (208 km). We felt vibrations from the quake for several seconds but they were small and of no consequence except to trigger the rain guage to falsely register the first 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) of the day.

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.