Christmas Morning 2017 - Costa Rica

After breakfast this morning, I went for my walk - which I try to do every second day. Usually I walk up through Barrio Jesus. The sidewalk parallels ruta 3 which, if I kept on walking for about 58 km, would take me to Playa Doña Ana on the Pacific Coast.

Today I decided to take photos of some things I saw on this Christmas morning’s non-ambitious walk.

First, fortification with Rompope, Costa Rica’s traditional egg nog. This one has rum in it:

It was cool overnight, dropping to 65F/18.3C. It had warmed up by the time I started out, with beautiful blue skies, fresh breeze and dry air. Enjoy the photos! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

We Purchased a Car for our Cat

Did that headline grab your attention? Well, it’s true. Our cat needed a perch high enough to survey the neighbourhood. Here he is with his vehicle:

Of course, this is an utter lie. We finally decided to purchase a vehicle after over six years of living without one. An ad for this 2006 Subaru Forester popped up on my Facebook feed about two weeks ago. Low mileage, great condition - so I phoned right away. Good thing I did because there was a lot of interest in it and I was the first caller.

A really nice couple were selling the vehicle - he from Vancouver, B.C., and she from Brazil. We bused into San José, examined and test drove it and decided to buy it. We picked it up about a week later after transferring money and meeting with the lawyer regarding transfer of ownership, etc. Another plus was that we were able to transfer Canadian money to a Canadian bank account for the sale, rather than having to convert CAD to USD.

Cars are very expensive here (new or used) because of import and sales taxes, etc. Everyone we know drive older used cars. They seem to last forever here. It is 4 wheel drive, has AC and everything else we could want. Also, it is not a huge SUV like some we have seen and is lower to the ground, so we don’t get the feeling that it is going to tip over on corners. You can see our laneway is very narrow and we have since cut back the hedge on the left. When our gardener is next here, we will have him pull all the roots up.

We will miss our taxi guys but it is so convenient to hop in and go whenever we want. We went for breakfast yesterday at La Casita del Café, which is not far from our house. The view is absolutely incredible and the prices low. 

Here’s what we got for 8,000 colones, about $16 USD.

Two mocha coffees:

Lance’s choice on the left - gallo pinto, plantano, ham slice,  two eggs, and a corn tortilla with cheese. Mine on the right - fully loaded omelet (three vegetables, cheese, ham), and corn tortillas with natilla (sour cream):

And there is no charge for the view:

Interesting old photos of Costa Rica on one wall:

Weather Statistics for Vista Atenas, Atenas, Costa Rica

A number of people have expressed interest in what the weather is like here. This is a weather report for the month of November 2017, where we live in Vista Atenas.

Navigating the Public Medical Care System (CAJA) at the San Rafael Hospital

I apologize for the length of this post, but I wanted to give as much detail as possible to help others who find themselves in the same position.

I recently wrote a post about how we joined MediSmart and the specialist I went to see. This was regarding a reddish patch of skin on my lower back which I had been living with for several years - first in Canada, then ongoing in Costa Rica.

In Canada, a doctor I had at the time (before 2011) took a look and basically said that it was just a sign of aging. After about four years in Costa Rica with the patch still there, I decided to have our CAJA doctor (a general practitioner) take a look (then 2015). She thought it might be some kind of fungus and directed skin scrapings to be taken and analyzed. When nothing of particular concern was indicated by the analysis, she prescribed a popular skin cream called "Crema de Rosas" and Betametasona (a steroid medication).  I used both for over two years, but the patch lingered on. However, when a new CAJA doctor arrived on the scene (also a general practitioner), I pointed out to him that the treatment did not seem to be doing anything and expressed maybe I should see a dermatologist. He agreed.

Then, the only question was whether to get an appointment with a dermatologist in CAJA or a dermatologist in the private system. I elected for the private system (in this case MediSmart) because first time appointments with a specialist in CAJA can sometimes be long delayed.

Five days after I saw the MediSmart doctor (October 30), he emailed his diagnosis and lab report to me. It was a non-malignant skin cancer confined to the top layer of the skin. He said that it could be removed with minor day surgery - that he could do it under MediSmart or that I could also have it done through CAJA. I decided to check how long it would take CAJA to move forward given the head start report provided by the MediSmart doctor. Not long.

On November 1st, I had an appointment with my regular CAJA doctor, showed him the Medismart diagnosis, and who then issued me a referral for a dermatologist at the hospital assigned to us when we first joined CAJA - the Hospital San Rafael  in Alajuela.

Here is where the fun begins:

In the CAJA system, a "referral" is not an "appointment". It merely opens the door to get an appointment. On November 3rd, I took the referral to the hospital, the purpose being to have a dermatologist assigned to my case and an appointment with that doctor. At the main door of the hospital, a guard looked at the referral and directed us (Lance and I) to reception on the 4th floor. There, there were three reception windows with three clerks and long line ups at each.

It was by no means clear which window was appropriate. But, a prominent sign in front of the third window (as you walk in) listing "Dermatología" and a number of other specialities suggested that window was the right one. A similar sign listing still more specialities was in front of the first window. No signage was in front of the second window.

Logic dictated that we should be in the third window line up.  But, after dwelling in that line up for a period of time, a really nice lady thinking - and rightly so - that we might not understand the system looked at my referral, determined that I was in the wrong line up, and directed us to the second window line up. So we moved from the middle of the third window line up to the end of the second window line up. Once at the second window, I presented my referral and was quickly assigned to a dermatologist and given an appointment with that doctor for four days later (November 7th).

We subsequently learned that the line up at the first window was a line up for able bodied people to get an appointment; the line up at the second window was a line up for preferred service to get an appointment (pregnant, disabled, mothers with babies, and seniors like myself); and the line up at the third window was a line up for people showing up on the day of their appointment. 

With the appointment in hand, was I all set? Not on your life - there was another line up to come. This was a new case, so the case had to be opened and a file had to be created. With a first appointment in hand, this requires the patient to retreat to the main floor of the hospital and get in the appropriate line up at the "Plataforma de Servicios" (Services Platform). There, a clerk reviews the appointment, checks out information on a computer (e.g. are you up to date with CAJA payments) and enters new information. If everything is in order, he or she opens a file and puts a number of print outs in a file folder. Unfortunately, we did not know any of this on the day I got my first appointment for November 7th. We simply went home with the appointment.

For my first appointment, we were told to be at the 4th floor reception area at 1030 for an 1100 appointment. The hospital is about a 50 to 60 minute bus ride from Atenas so we opted to catch the 0800 bus from Atenas. At the Alajuela bus depot it was a short taxi ride to the hospital. We arrived at reception an hour early. My appointment paperwork was processed quite quickly, BUT I did not have a file! We were sent down to the Plataforma to get a file.

At the Plataforma, I grabbed a number from a ticket machine and we sat and waited. The numbers were not moving very fast. I got the bright idea to get a special number for the preferred service line up. Mistake! It must have been new baby registration day because there were several babies and it took ages to create files for them. I should have stayed in the regular line. The numbers you get for the preferred line are not the same as those from the ticket machine which are flashed out on a wall screen. They are obtained by walking up to one of the clerks and asking for a preferred number card. Apparently, it seems OK to interrupt and do that when the clerk is trying to deal with somebody else. With the card in hand, you then have to listen very carefully for the number to be called (and obviously have to recognize the number when spoken in Spanish). 

By the time my number was called, my 1100 am appointment was long gone. But, my file was eventually created and we headed back up to the 4th floor. The reception clerk saw me, waved me in ahead of others, put the file in order and directed me to a waiting area elsewhere on the 4th floor. It didn’t take long to see the doctor (in Spanish "doctora" as it turned out).

Events may have unfolded differently had I tried to get the file opened on the same day that I got the first appointment. I don't know which, but I expect that the file either would have been handed to me with instructions to deliver it up to 4th floor reception before leaving the hospital or would have been kept and routinely delivered by some internal office procedure.

The doctora set an appointment for the next day for what I thought was going to be a minor procedure to confirm the MediSmart diagnosis. I started to have my doubts about this when I was told to put on a gown, booties and a head covering and directed to an operating room where my doctora and two nurses waited. About an hour and a half later, the reddish patch was gone and I was on my way with stitches and a dressing on my back. I had several prescriptions to fill at the hospital farmacia but was told it would take two hours so we left them there and opted to take a taxi home instead of a bus.

Which meant we had to return the next day to pick them up! In hindsight, I should have tried to have them filled at our Atenas clinic farmacia. Live and learn.

My next appointment was scheduled for five days later. This turned into a bit of a fuster-cluck because my file was placed in the wrong consulting office. After patiently waiting (no pun intended) about five hours, we finally told a reception lady that there was no doctor. She was on the phone immediately, we were given a different room number to go to and I saw the doctora right away.

I have two more appointments the last week of November.

Hospital San Rafael is large and modern. The medical staff are excellent, but the administrative system might be deserving of some scrutiny. Go there with a lot of patience as there are lineups for everything. If you have never been there before, it might be a good idea to bring somebody with you who not only knows Spanish but also knows the CAJA system. Parking is very limited. So, if you are going to drive to Alajuela instead of taking a bus, I suggest parking at the Juan Santamaria International Airport or at the City Mall Shopping Center, and taxing to the hospital - it’s not very far from either place. 

At every visit, Costa Ricans helped us out when we were stuck - wonderful people.

I expect that the system is not much different at other CAJA hospitals.

______________________________________

the San Rafael Hospital 

The End of the Green (or Rainy) Season, Costa Rica

Mid-November and we will soon be moving into the dry season for the next six months. But all bets are off for October and November as far as rain goes. I really needed to do a laundry wash today but this morning was overcast so I put it off until we got back from a shopping trip to Atenas.

By then, a bit of sun was peeking out and there was some breeze. So I took a chance and washed bed linen and some other small items. I told Lance, “If you hear, smell or suspect rain - let me know.” Just before 3:00 pm, the rains came down without much warning and they were quite heavy for a short time. We ran outside and brought the laundry inside in record time. I have the small items hanging from our shower curtain rod and this is how I am trying to dry out the sheets:

That big floor fan is really useful for drying out wet floors and bed linen. Why don’t we have a dryer, you say? It didn’t come with our rental house. Most Costa Ricans don’t have one either - they are expensive to use because of electricity costs here. If we did have a dryer, I would only use it a few times a year - such as today. Moving to a foreign country teaches you a lot of new things!

Fun At the Local Medical Clinic in Atenas, Costa Rica

This morning we went to the Farmacia Clinica in Atenas to drop off a prescription. This is where we go for blood work and medications. Some people have their assigned doctor here, but ours is at the Ebais in Barrio Jesus and it is not that far from our house. We see our doctor and then take prescriptions/requisitions to the Atenas clinica.

After dropping off the prescription, we went to Kay’s Postres Cafe & Restaurante for breakfast. Kay’s is right next to the clinic. I had the BELT (bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato sandwich) and a fruit smoothie, and Lance ordered an omelet. After breakfast, we wandered back to the clinic but my prescription was not ready.

So we took seats and just people watched. There is a clock on the wall that forever says “it’s 10 o’clock”. There is a sign warning against any amorous activities, like kissing. The clinic can be very confusing at first. Some people are waiting to see a nurse or a doctor, others are lined up to renew their carnets (medical cards), people like us waiting for their prescriptions ..... then there are those waiting for the Needle Man.

I met him once - I needed a shot in the butt for some reason or other. He is dressed all in white - shoes, trousers and shirt. He waits for a needle prescription in his inbox and then calls out the name of the lucky recipient. One little girl went skipping happily into his office and came out a few minutes later in her mother’s arms, crying and rubbing her tush.

But the funniest kid (although I guess he didn’t think it was so funny) was the one who must have been told ahead of time what he was going to be facing. He and his father were sitting across from us. The boy (maybe five years old) was complaining, crying a bit, trying to escape. Then his name was called.

He immediately grabbed hold with both hands to his chair arm and his father had to peel him off. Dad carried him towards his fate, but he grabbed hold of door frames and put his feet on walls to stop forward motion. It was like trying to put a cat into a carrier. I didn’t know small children could do this. You should have heard the caterwauling (ha ha) during the needle procedure. Out he came in his father’s arms - rubbing his rear end.

So is it better to warn your kid ahead of time or tell them they are going for ice cream in the nurse’s office?

Coping and Getting Along in a Foreign Country

Arriving home to our house today, after a morning of getting to and from Alajuela by bus for various appointments, then dealing with the appointments. Not as bad as that sounds. Anyway, opened up our gate with too much vigor and the 300 ton gate (yes, exaggerating) sailed away from me, moved off the rails and crashed into the bushes. No way we could move it. 

But wait! I hear our neighbour Sharon talking to the gardeners that remove her garden trash for her. I yelled, “Sharon, can you send over some of those burly guys to help us with our gate?”

She sent over a burly guy and, between BG and Lance, our gate is in position once again!

Medical Care in Costa Rica

We recently signed up for MediSmart, a prepaid discount medical plan. At a low yearly cost of $173 USD for the both of us, we have access to quality private health care. Specialists, x-rays, lab work, hospital rooms and operating room times offer us 40% to 80% savings on medical services. There are no exclusions for age or pre-existing conditions.

My ID card - note the mixed up names!

We also belong to Costa Rica’s socialized medical system, known as Caja (which I’ve discussed in earlier posts). We use it regularly. However, there are times when we want to see a specialist without having to wait. Last week, we went to our first appointment with MediSmart. I had made the appointment on line. The web site has an English version so very easy to navigate. I indicated which specialty I wanted and up popped a list of the appropriate doctors with their bios and photos. You can indicate which time of day you want your appointment for, if you want to see a particular doctor and if you want Spanish or English speaking. The next day I received an email with a selected doctor’s name, the date of the appointment and two appointment times I could select from. I just had to select the time I wanted and send back an email.

We took the bus to the Coca Cola bus terminal in San José, planning to take a taxi from there to Hospital Metropolitano, where MediSmart is located. It was pouring rain when we got off the bus and we did not have an umbrella. We were right in front of the Mercado Central, San José’s largest indoor market, established in 1880. We were going to go in and look for umbrellas when, lo and behold, our Water Guy appeared. He’s the fellow that has sodas, water, and snacks for sale at the bus station. He will also make sure you get on the correct bus, load your purchases into the bus cargo bay, and find you a good seat on the bus. He speaks Spanish, English and (I think) French.

We told him we needed an umbrella and he said, “Follow me”. Into the market we went, and he took us to a stall where we purchased an excellent quality paraguas. Then off we went to Hospital Metropolitano. My doctor was on the third floor and I didn’t have to wait long to see him. Total cost for a consultation with a specialist, a bit of minor surgery and lab work was 90,000 colones, about $180 USD. He will also be emailing me the lab work results. If anything further needs to be done, I can take his paperwork to my Caja doctor and have it done through Caja or go back to the MediSmart doctor.

For us, we like having two medical care options. MediSmart is worth looking into.

They’re Here!

And we’ve been expecting them! Army ants - they have been working their way from house to house and we were next on their list. I first noticed them Sunday morning while I was outside. My feet and lower legs started burning. I looked down and there were ants everywhere and they were biting me. The bites really sting and two days later I can still feel the bites.

Army ants are called “cleaner ants” here because if they get into a house, they will clean every surface of dead or live insects, dirt, food crumbs, etc., and then leave. Your house will be spotless! You may as well go out for several hours because they will leave when good and ready. We managed to keep them out of our house this time and they headed towards our gate and the road.

Here is a short video I made of them swarming over our hedge and laneway:

Tropical Storm Nate, Costa Rica - October 2017

On Wednesday, October 4, 2017, Costa Rica was slammed by tropical storm Nate. At our house, we experienced strong winds and rain, rain and more rain overnight and all of Friday. Fortunately, we only experienced some water ingress into our house and flooded areas and mud outside. Water was surging down the road and the drainage ditches. It sounded like we lived next to a river. Our electricity and internet stayed on. Much of the rest of the country fared much worse. By Saturday, the storm had headed north and the sun came out.

Rivers were overflowing banks; houses were destroyed and families uprooted; schools were closed; roads and bridges were damaged and destroyed; farms and plantations are under water; roads were closed and many areas were/still are without electricity.

At our property, the total rainfall for the first seven days of October, 2017, was more than the rainfall in all of October of last year:

        First seven days of October 2017 = 13.29”/33.76cm. 

        All of October 2016 = 12.83”/32.59cm.

October is the rainiest month on the Pacific side and the driest month on the Caribbean side.

On October 6, the online newspaper AM Costa Rica reported at least six dead, 377,000 people without water, and 7,000 in emergency shelters. Deaths were attributed to landslides, falling trees and car accidents.

Lance prepared this chart:

Here are a few pictures taken around our house:

Blocking the back door to keep water out - sort of works!

Flooding at the front.

Lance reading the rain gauge.

Mud, mud, mud.

I also made a short video on Saturday showing the drainage ditches outside our property. You can see why they are built so deep. That is our Cat snooping around.

Life’s Little Challenges .... Stupid Parrot

Today Lance saw a small bird fall down into our yard from somewhere and our cat did also. The cat started stalking the bird. Lance said, “it’s a parrot.” This is unusual ... flocks of small green parrots fly over our house all the time but they never stop in our yard and they don’t have blue colours on them.

Grabbed Cat and put him in the house. The pretty green/blue parrot was okay, busily running up and down bushes eating whatever parrots eat on bushes. I think his wings may have been clipped because he could fly very short distances but not gain any altitude. This made us think he was someone’s pet. Plus, he wasn’t very nervous and was not with a flock.

The bird ended up across our fence on our neighbour’s property. We went next door to see if we could help the little parrot but he was nowhere to be seen. 

Walking back to our house .... with all the rain we have had recently, our short laneway was very slippery. Wearing flip flops, I did a flip flop and took a fall. Net result: one bloody knee, one pair of pants with hole and a muddy shirt ... both going in the garbage. 

One Aleve tablet .... I should be fine!

Mexican Fiesta in Costa Rica, September 15, 2017

The Atenas Mens Club organized a Mexican fiesta outing on Friday, September 15, 2017. This is also the day that Costa Rica celebrates Independence Day. We boarded our Blue Bird bus in Atenas for the drive to the fiesta. Does anyone remember taking a Blue Bird bus to school? 

The fiesta was held at Rancho Montecito, a 260 acre working cattle ranch not too far away from our town of Atenas. The fiesta had another purpose - to celebrate Debbie's birthday, the owner of this ranch.

Somebody should interview Debbie and write an article about her, because she is amazing. She bought the huge property with nothing on it and not knowing anything about farming, ranching, cattle, fruit trees, etc., and has turned all this land into a sustainable enterprise. It's not flat land, it's mountainous. Her cattle are a cross between the Nelore breed (I hope I have that right) and Brahmas. Before arriving at the ranch house, Debbie jumped on the bus with us and explained what we were seeing as we drove along.

Tables were set up under a tent, just outside the rancho (open air dining hall) where the food was being prepared. Before long, three pairs of young dancers performed for us. This was followed by trick ropers and a mariachi band.

During this entertainment, we enjoyed excellent Mexican food served at our tables. Dessert was a tasty custard, plus the birthday cake. I also tried a Mexican tamale, which was completely different from the Costa Rican tamales. The Mexican ones are wrapped in corn husks while ours are wrapped in banana leaves and the fillings are totally different.

We had a wonderful time. Debbie is a fantastic organizer. She’s also a patron of my art work and one of my cattle paintings hangs on a wall in her ranch house.

If you are thinking of a vacation in Costa Rica, I would highly recommend Rancho Montecito. It’s beautiful.

Landing at Juan Santamaria International Airport, Alajuela, Costa Rica

On Monday, August 7, 2017 we returned to Costa Rica from Houston. We were in a holding pattern for a while waiting for clearance to land at Juan Santamaria International Airport, Alajuela.

Here we are lazily circling over land and the Pacific Ocean:

From the Pacific Ocean looking towards Puntarenas province and I believe that is the Tarcoles River on the right:

Video I made of our actual landing, United Airlines flight 1096, arrived 11:35 am:

Note: If you find that full screen is unavailable, then try the YouTube link. 

Storage Locker - Part 3

On Monday, July 31, 2017, we left our hotel in Abbotsford to drive to U-Pak Storage on Annacis Island, Delta. It would be the first time our locker had been opened in six years. As U-Pak promised, the locker had been moved from indoors to a covered place outside where we could unload our stuff. Here's what it looked like after unlocking the door. A few things had shifted around.

I had packed and wrapped the majority of our belongings in plastic storage bins, which had a number, and everything inside a bin was numbered also. This corresponded to our inventory list. We did not know at the time we acquired the locker if we would be shipping the entire thing down to Costa Rica so the inventory had to be done. That in itself was a major job but it did make things easier when asking family members what items they wanted. I just sent them the lists with descriptions.

From Monday until Friday, August 4, we drove every day from Abbotsford to Annacis Island and spent most of the day there, minus a few hours here and there for other appointments. Our plan of attack was to empty all the bins, unwrap boxed items, etc., and then refill the bins with those items being shipped to family. As each bin was filled, we took it to the UPS store in Surrey for shipping. The owner, our friend Raj, handled everything for us and the final price for shipping five bins to Ontario was quite reasonable.

We used ShredMasters in Abbotsford to dispose of paper and documents.

I had contacted Junk Squad, Inc.  prior to our trip to arrange for pickup and disposal of all items that we no longer wanted. This Canadian owned company will pick up your stuff and either donate it or trash it. They donate to over ten charities. We had quite a bit of good, useable furniture and small appliances so I imagine a lot of it will be reused. Since we had alloted just five days to get rid of everything, there was simply no time to try and sell things ourselves. After six years of not seeing any of our stuff, it wasn't hard to let most of them go. There were a few things we had hoped to bring back to Costa Rica but the four large suitcases and two carryons filled up fast so we left them behind.

What to do with all my paintings? Most were canvas on wooden stretchers, all different sizes - none of them would fit in our suitcases. The solution was to remove the canvases from the stretchers, a tedious job involving removing lots of staples, and rolling the canvases into mailing tubes. I needed four of those. Although the stretchers come apart, simply no room anywhere to carry them home. I brought back only one and am now looking for a source for stretchers here in Costa Rica - so far, no luck. I worried about how the paintings would fare being rolled but they are all in good shape. Coming home on two different airlines, the attendents graciously let me put the tubes in their closet. The overhead storage bins were not a good place for them. I had many, many tubes of high quality paint and art supplies - they came with us. 

No room for the authentic pith helmet or my desktop easel:

We finished on the fifth day, Friday, and that is the day Junk Squad arrived and the job was finally done. The next day, Saturday, we spent shopping for a few things to bring home: smoked salmon, Asian spices, clothing. We went to Canada with two large suitcases and ended up buying a third and U-Pak gave us another one left behind in an abandoned storage locker.

Comments on our trip - so happy to no longer have the burden of the locker and everything in it. The lower mainland: it quickly became boring driving back and forth from Abbotsford to Delta as, really, nothing much had changed in six years. Traffic is so heavy, especially on the freeways. Expensive: gas, food, hotels, restaurants, alcohol. Fifty Canadian dollars gave us only half a tank of gas. Depending on brand, alcohol in Costa Rica is about 50% to 60% cheaper then in British Columbia. I don't smoke, but I noticed that cigarettes are from 55% to 65% less expensive than in B.C.

Airports: mind numbing and exhausting. Do it all yourself: from shlepping six heavy bags onto conveyor belts and then off; checking ourselves partially through immigration with those crazy machines that take your picture and standing in the long, snaking lines to do so; being ordered here and there (and make it quick, please) by uniformed employees - bah! And, get this, in the Houston George Bush airport baggage carts are $5.00 USD each! And we needed two! They are free at Vancouver International. The next time I fly, it will be with nothing more then a carry on.

Airlines: All our flights were fine but - for the amount of money we paid for tickets - all we got was a packet of biscuits and water/juice/pop. We ended up buying a couple of meals on board. Six years ago, from Dallas to Costa Rica American Airlines served hot meals.

It was wonderful returning home to Costa Rica. Huge difference at the airport: all the luggage had been removed from the carousal and neatly lined up. I went to grab a couple of baggage carts. A Costa Rican porter said "no" and off he went only to return with a large wagon type carrier. He loaded all our luggage and we didn't have to lift a finger. He found a taxi for us and loaded all our baggage into it. At our house, the taxi driver unloaded everything - we lifted nothing.  It was the difference between night and day. Clearance through immigration was quick - we now get to use the Costa Rican citizens' lineup (also for people like us with residency). No rubbing shoulders with the touristas.

And this concludes my storage locker epistle.

Storage Locker - Part 2

We were up very early the morning of July 29, 2017, in order to get to the airport in time to board our flight to Houston. We had not been out of Costa Rica for over six years and I wondered what the return to North America would be like. Here are some photos of the first leg of our journey.

Ready for takeoff: 


Leaving beautiful Costa Rica:

I believe this is the coastline of Quinta Roo, México:


I think this is the Belize coastline:


Approaching George Bush Airport, Houston:


So, what were my first impressions of North America from the air and on the land? Houston was hot and humid! So many freeways, so many cars, people going everywhere all the time. Flat land.

We overnighted in Houston and travelled Houston-Dallas-Vancouver, B.C., the following day. We were not seated together on this leg but I did okay. The Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team was on board. They had successfully played in Dallas the day before and were headed home. I was seated between one of the players and a doctor from Dallas who travels frequently to Vancouver because he and his wife own a house in Whistler, B.C.

Flying into Vancouver is always a visual treat if it is a clear day - the Gulf Islands, Vancouver Harbour, the Coast mountains and so on. It was a fairly clear day, so we saw a lot as we circled around. This would be about the last day during our visit that it would be clear, due to the raging wild fires in the interior sending smoke westward. Air quality was very poor and it was hot. We could hardly see the sun and it was often a red colour.

Vancouver International Airport has gorgeous west coast Native artwork beautifully displayed in the international arrivals section. Some photos:

The airport was crowded and chaotic with seemingly endless lines snaking back and forth for passage through customs and immigration. We were happy to get out of there and collect our rental car from Budget. Off we went to our hotel in Abbotsford which would be our home for the next six days. We chose to stay outside of the city areas because of the outrageously high cost of hotels. Abbotsford was about an hour's drive from our storage locker in Delta.

So there we were, driving familiar roads after six years away. I knew almost right away that I did not want to return and live here. British Columbia is a spectacularly beautiful province but just not our home any longer. Being there felt like taking a step backwards.

Storage Locker - Part I

Last month, we made the decision to clear out the storage locker we had in Delta, British Columbia. Before moving to Costa Rica in 2011, we disposed of most of our belongings but kept some things in storage just in case we decided to return to Canada. Six years later, we decided we had no plans to return and it was time to empty the locker. 

Our locker was with U-Pak Mobile Storage located in Delta, B.C. They drop off a container at your house, you fill it up and then they come to your house to pick up the filled container and take it to their storage facility. When you want access to your locker, they will remove it from their storage area and deposit it under a large covered area on their premises. They then return the locker to the enclosed storage area at the end of the day.

Logistics: we decided to allow five days for emptying the locker, two days to get to Vancouver, two days to return to Costa Rica, and one day for shopping in the Vancouver area (hopefully). The reason we chose two days for travel each way is that there are no direct flights to Vancouver. We could have done it in one day but that would have involved changing planes once or twice, possibly hours of sitting around in airports waiting for connecting flights, not counting the flight times, and arriving late at night or even the next day. We would rather be sleeping in a nice hotel room. So our outgoing flight route was SJO to Houston, Texas, and overnighting there. The next day Houston to Dallas to Vancouver.

Cat and house sitting: we chose Vicki Skinner at Loving Your Pet House Sitting. Vicki quickly made friends with Cat. It's nice to go away and not have to worry about house and pets. We highly recommend Vicki.

Car rental: Budget at Vancouver International Airport.

For our first night away, we stayed near Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela at the Hotel Brillo Sol, as we had an early flight the next day. This is a great place to stay and so close to the airport. Very reasonable price (they prefer cash). Restaurant and bar - we had a chicken lasagne that was excellent. The property is behind a tall gate and you would not know this lovely property was there unless someone told you about it. 

Our room was to the left of the bench.

Colourful walkway.

Pheasants.

Lounge area.

Wishing well.

Please Stand By

I am currently in Canada where the high temperature was 37C today, which is far hotter then we have encountered in Costa Rica in the last six years.

Normal programming to resume presently.

Snakes, Poisonous Caterpillars and a Refrigerator

Last week, just outside our front gate, we saw a dead terciopelo or fer-de-lance. I guess it was run over by a car. This venomous pit viper is considered the most dangerous snake in Costa Rica. This is a good reminder that jungle wildlife is not so far away from us and we should not become complacent.

In the poisonous insect world, we were invaded by saddleback caterpillars. Here they are chowing down on palm leaves:

Don’t touch!!! Those spikes are urticating hair which can cause some painful skin irritations like burns. They are the caterpillars of a dark brown/beige/black kind of boring looking moth. They're called Saddleback caterpillars for obvious reasons (quote from Claudia).

Acharia stimulae

Limadodidae

Lepidoptera 

Thank you, Claudia Leon (my protozoologist friend) and my husband Lance for identifying these creatures for me. One thing we have learned by living in the tropics is ..... don't touch anything! There is even a tree that is dangerous - the machineel tree. When we visited Isla Tortuga, our guide pointed out a machineel tree and told us to stay far away from it.

Now onto inanimate objects that are not poisonous but could be harmful - in this case a refrigerator. A couple of years ago our neighbours Rose Mary and Tony gave us a refrigerator they no longer used. Our refrigerator is quite small so it was nice to have a full size one, at least for a while. It eventually broke down, wasn't worth repairing and I started using it as a pantry. Our kitchen is small so it was nice to have extra storage space.

This week, the bottom door fell off and then the top. Fortunately, neither of us nor our cat were nearby because those doors are heavy. I couldn't stop laughing, it was really funny. We were going to get rid of it but then I decided to keep it, minus the doors, paint it a dark red and it will be an unusual, quirky pantry. I've removed the ice cube maker and have started sanding the sides.

Here's the refrigerator with the fallen doors, Lance holding the freezer door:

Spring Cleaning Addendum

In my Spring Cleaning post, I forgot to mention that Orlando is bilingual. He is available to help with translation issues. He will accompany you to appointments that you know will be in Spanish and he can interpret for you.

His phone number is 8590-5819.

We had a bit of fun when he was at our house cleaning. It's mango season and this is the big tree on our property. It's loaded but most of the mangoes are very high up. He didn't mind climbing up the ladder and whacking down mangoes with a stick.

Spring Cleaning

We don't really experience "spring" the way people in the northern climes do. Nevertheless, our house needed a thorough cleaning so we'll call it a late spring cleaning.

We hired Orlando, who lives in the Atenas area. He used to work for our neighbors before they moved away and he helped out at our first art show (Atenas Painters Association) so we knew him.

We told Orlando the work we wanted done, negotiated a price (not an hourly rate) and he started two days later. He showed up when he said he would, and provided everything he needed (scaffold, ladder, cleaning supplies, brushes, mops, etc.). The only extras we purchased were lightbulbs and window screening (about $20 USD). 

Here is what we had done:

• Gutters cleaned (especially important here because we do not want standing water where the dengue carrying mosquitoes can breed).
• Entire outside of house washed, including all the wood on the underside of the overhanging roof.
• Outside perimeter tiled areas and patio area scrubbed and cleaned.
• Five inside fabric Roman blinds - they were removed and taken to Orlando's home where his wife cleaned them. Believe me, that must have been hard work because they were stained with mold and water marks and she returned them sparkling white.
• All inside floors scrubbed and cleaned.
• All inside walls washed and cleaned.
• Wood ceilings washed and cleaned. Our ceilings are very high and this is where the scaffold came in. All the wood was cleaned and polished by hand.
• Leaking faucet in shower repaired.
• Water in toilet was constantly running and he fixed it.
• Orange tree pruned and all the suffocating vines on the tree canopy removed. Now the tree is open and receives sun and moisture. Orlando is returning in a month to remove any vines that have started to regrow.
• All basura (garden trash) removed. This included piles of palm leaves at the back of the property and up a hill. The best way to reach them was to machete a path through the bougainvillea from the road. For this job, Orlando brought in a fellow with a big truck and it took two loads.
• Replace three window screens.
• Replace lightbulbs - a lot of the lighting is very high up and neither of us want to climb up a ladder. I went to the hardware store for the bulbs and screening with everything written out in Spanish for me by Orlando.
• All windows cleaned inside and out.
• Four ceiling fans cleaned.

Orlando had a helper for four of the six days of work, in addition to his wife and the guy with the truck. Total man hours came out to around sixty. They worked hard and were always cheerful. Orlando had a work schedule in mind and always told us what he would be doing the next day so we could keep out of their way. We cannot believe the difference this work has made to the house. All the wood ceilings are gleaming. Orlando said the wood is expensive tropical hardwood and deserves to be looked after. To replace any of it would cost a good deal of money. The floors have never been cleaner or shinier. We have hired a housekeeper to come in every two weeks and I am really looking forward to this.

An interesting cultural tidbit: it was me they came to when they had questions, not Lance. So I heard a lot of  "Diana, Diana, Diana". We figure this is because women are seen to be in charge of the household, not the men. Lance was the money man but I ruled the roost. I didn't mind - I'm so indispensible!

We highly recommend Orlando - he can do anything and, as he says, if he can't do it he knows someone who can. His attitude is so positive and he works nonstop. Orlando's phone number is 8590-5819.

Here's Orlando and me - in the background is Orlando's helper and the fellow with the garden waste removal truck.

 

Orlando and his helper cleaning the ceilings:

 

Pruning the orange tree: 

The vines that were strangling the orange tree: 

 

The beautiful wood ceilings after being cleaned:

 

Outdoor ceilings after cleaning:

  

Everything was cleaned, even the small louvered windows:

 

Drying the floors:

 

Motmot Survival

For the last six days we have been having our house professionally cleaned, inside and out. But that will be another blog post.

However, the windows are now so clean that a blue crowned motmot (pájaro bobo here in Costa Rica) flew into one and seriously stunned himself. Our Cat was instantly interested and Lance was quick to shut him inside the house. I picked the bird up from the ground and put him on our hedge to, hopefully, recover. It took about 20 minutes before he seemed more alert. But our Cat was still interested in what was going on outside.

We decided to move the bird to a less periouslous perch so I moved him across the street to a neighbor's hedge, where he promptly flew away. Hurrah! I've never held a motmot in my hands before.

Here's the motmot on the ground shortly after hitting the window. You can see his gorgeous colours. What is missing is the rest of his lovely tail, which looks like a metronome.

 

Here he is recovering on our hedge:

 

Here is a link to more information about this lovely bird.