Iguanas, Orchids, High Winds

This week has been notable for the high winds we have been experiencing.

To read the above text, click on the image.

The gusts have been very strong. So strong, in fact, that early on Thursday morning a part of the roof on the rear of the house was torn off. It blew up and over the roof and landed on the other side of the house, where it became lodged on the roof and the articulated umbrella. Fortunately, neither of us were in the immediate vicinity to be injured but the noise was something else.

We took photos and sent them to our landlord, Rodrigo, who lives in San José. From the photos, he determined it was not a critical part of the roof but something that had been installed some years ago .... for what reason, I do not know.

Rodrigo is an excellent landlord. He always responds quickly to any of our concerns and, sure enough, he arrived later that same day with a helper and they removed the fallen metal. They folded it up like an envelope (aluminum I guess?) and put it away for some later disposal.

Strong winds and gusts continued today (Friday) and I opted not to spend my daily hammock time under the palm tree in the backyard. Who knows when a branch may fall.

Recently, I went around our house and took photographs of various plants that are flowering right now.

I have two orchids in bloom right now and two others that have sent out inflorescences but the flowers are not yet open.

This is my Miltoniopsis. I bought this at an orchid show in Grecia a couple of years ago. This is the first time it has flowered for me.

And this one is Trigonidium egertonianum. Pretty little orchid flowers.

Moving on from orchids to lizards and iguanas ... the word seems to have got out that we will feed small pieces of bananas to our resident critters. The iguanas here appear to move around from house to house and water drains to water drains. We are now able to recognize quite a few of them. Here is a video I made of Lance feeding bananas to a couple of these critters.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - December and Year 2020

 During December, visits to this blog were received from the following 19 countries:

For all years, the total number of identified countries from which visits have been received remains at 130.

The following is a summary of the weather for the month and year in the area where we live:

As if a switch had been thrown, December 4 marked the beginning of the dry season. There was a hiccup with heavy rain on December 30 but otherwise sunny and partly cloudy skies prevailed. Temperature averages in December were pretty much like those in previous years.

For the year as a whole, rainfall was the real story. A brief summary for the entire year in the area where we live is as follows:

However, as the following graph illustrates, the amount and timing of rainfall in 2020 was significantly different from that in 2018 and 2019.

The patterns of rainfall in 2018 and 2019 were about the same - the monthly amounts following a distinct "M"-shaped curve each with a significant dip in the middle of the dry season. The dip is characteristic of a mini-summer or "verano" which typically occurs in the middle of the Costa Rican rainy season. In contrast, there was no such dip in 2020.

There were more rainy days in 2020 (185 days) than in 2018 (151 days) or 2019 (142 days) and the total amount of rainfall in 2020 (116.1 inches, 2949 mm) was greater than in 2018 (78.54 inches, 1995 mm) or 2019 (64.14 inches, 1629 mm). But this pales in comparison to the amount of rainfall encountered by friends who live in the southern zone of Costa Rica and who recorded over 320 inches (8218 mm) of rain in 2020.

Whether 2020 was an aberration or an indication of climate change events which are on the way remains to be seen.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

Impromptu Road Trip!

Yesterday - Saturday - we decided to drive to Puntarenas for a seafood lunch. We left around 1030.

Here are the routes we took going to the coast and returning. We drove route 1 going (dark blue) and route 27 (grey) returning. Route 1 is the northern section of the Pan-American Highway, also known as the Inter-American Highway in Central America.

Route 1 is prone to slow movement and backups due to semi trucks coming from Nicaragua going to the region of the San José capital, plus there are lots of hills and twists and turns. I prefer route 27.

The drive to the Pacific takes you from the cooler mountain areas to the considerably warmer and more humid coast and you can feel the temperature changing as you drop further down from the mountains.

Our restaurant of choice was the Isla Coco’s Bar and Grill at the tip of Puntarenas and just across from the ferry that goes to Paquera or Naranjo on the Nicoya Peninsula. This was our first time at this restaurant and it did not disappoint. I had a craving for clams.

And we got them! Grilled clams - lots and lots of them. This was advertised as an appetizer but it took two of us to finish them up. They were delicious. The bread was so good and perfect for sopping up the very tasteful garlic broth they were swimming in.

Every customer is served a small bowl of seafood soup gratis. Mine had a shrimp and a crab claw in it. Lance’s was a shrimp and a mussel which he graciously gave to me ‘cause I love ‘em.

For refreshments, Lance ordered cold beer (Imperial) and I had the limonada hierbabuena, which is lemonade with fresh herbs. This is one of my favourites.

Our eyes were bigger then our stomachs because we could not make much of a dent in our main dishes and we ended up taking most of it home (para llevar = take out/take away).

My choice - the garlic prawns with roasted vegetables and mashed potato:

Lance’s order - grilled salmon, roasted potatoes and vegetables and grilled pineapple:

I highly recommend this restaurant. Service was fast and efficient. As for Covid, masks, hand washing stations, and distance seating was prescribed and we were seated outside.

Some photos of the restaurant:

The ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula as seen from the restaurant:

It was so nice to get away even for a few hours - especially to this place. The Covid restrictions can make one feel isolated. It’s not a long drive at all from our house. As I said to Lance - “So, you told me it was 1 degree Celsius (33.8F) this morning in Vancouver and raining”. Not anywhere near so in Costa Rica!

(Click on photographs to enlarge).

2021 - A New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

2020 was a difficult year for so many people for so many reasons. We believe 2021 will be better. 

I’ll keep writing about our ongoing adventures and experiences here in Costa Rica. I hope you will continue reading!

May 31, 2021, will be our tenth year anniversary living in Costa Rica.

We’re sending good wishes to everyone!

Artist: Diana Miskell

Photo Reference: ReMax, Atenas, Costa Rica

(click on photo to enlarge)