Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - January 2023

 During January, visits to this blog were received from the following 11 countries:

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 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent (e.g. Isle of Man).

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

Winter in Costa Rica is referred to as the "dry season" because, as the name implies, there is generally very little rain. January this year was no exception. However, in the Central Valley away from the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, the dry season is also marked by frequent cold early morning temperatures. At least, they "feel" cold by Costa Rican standards.

We have now spent several years and accompanying "dry seasons" living in the Central Valley (originally the Atenas region and now the Grecia region). Gradually, we have become fully acclimatized. Now, anything less than 60°F (15.6°C) "feels" cold. When we lived in Canada, such a temperature in January would have been considered absolutely balmy. No jacket or sweater needed.

The 55.0°F (12.8°C) temperature that we encountered this January was, with one exception, the coldest low temperature that we have experienced during all our time in Costa Rica - it felt very cold. The exception was on a day trip to the Irazú volcano. At the summit over 11,000 feet (3300+ meters), the morning temperature was in the mid 40's (6-9°C).

Click on images to enlarge.

A Lightning Strike and Noisy Parakeets

Yesterday afternoon we experienced a fierce lightning storm with torrential rain. I was in the kitchen when I saw out of the kitchen window a red and orange fireball followed by an ear splitting crash of thunder.

You can imagine how fast I departed that room! Looking around outside today, we saw the tree that the lightning had hit. It was in the vacant lot below us. Bark had been stripped from it, some of which was blown onto our property.

Here’s the tree - you can see where the bark has been stripped off:

Debris on our patio walkway:

The strike even blew a piece of bark around the corner of our house, where it landed on this bush:

On a less scarier note, last week a huge flock of parakeets landed on this same tree and held a noisy convention for a good while. As you can see from the video I made, they are hard to identify because they blended so well into the green leaves. My best guess is that they were crimson-fronted parakeets, the most common parakeet in the Central Valley, where we live. If anyone can make a more definitive identification please let me know.

Turn up the sound!

Click on images to enlarge.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - November 2021 / Covid-19 Update

During November, visits to this blog were received from the following 11 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 133. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

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

It seems that a switch was thrown on November 8 - signaling movement from the green season to the dry season. There was at least some rain every day during the first 7 days of the month. In the remaining 23 days, rain occurred on only 6 days with significant rain on only 1 day. The total amount of rainfall in November was the lowest it has been during that month since we moved to Hacienda El Paseo in the Central Valley - much lower than last year when the total was 19.75 inches (502 mm). Dry season trade winds occurred on several days.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on November 7, 2021:

Since my last post, the death rates in Canada and the United States have each dropped (by 0.2 percentage points). Conversely, that in Costa Rica has risen by 0.02 percentage points.

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to those listed, then visit the website of Worldometer. Numbers for populations, reported cases and reported deaths can be obtained from that site. All that is then needed is some simple math to calculate the percentage death rate for the other country and the death rate in that country compared to Costa Rica.

Click on images to enlarge.

More First Day Excitement

Lance just said he can't believe he is sitting here in Costa Rica watching the Canucks playing the Bruins on the TV in our hotel room. He found the game on Sky Sports.

He also says he can't believe how temperate the climate is in San Jose here in the Central Valley. Shouldn't it be stinking hot so close to the equator? No doubt we will experience that at some point in CR.

Asked the front desk clerk for a dinner recommendation and he called a cab for us. Can't remember the name of the restaurant and I certainly could not find our way there again but it was as good as many restaurants we've eaten at in Vancouver....in fact, the vegetables were way better.

We ordered hearts of palm salad, fried plantains, and rice with shrimp. The hearts of palm were super fresh, not out of a can, with lots of lettuce, tomato, cucumber....and fresh dill. I've tried cooking plantains before but they were never successful. These ones were so good, and served with what I think was a black bean dip. Rice with shrimp also ..... pause - the Canucks just won!!!

So anyway, fabulous dinner and another great taxi ride. Talk about wild - I wonder how many accidents occur every day.  

Atenas Is Our Choice

We've chosen Atenas in the Central Valley as our place to live while we explore Costa Rica. I was recently asked, "Why Atenas and not the beaches?"

We initially want to live in an area that is close to a lot of amenities and Atenas has that. The beach areas on the Pacific side will be great to visit but we may find the weather too hot and humid, at least until we acclimatize. The Caribbean side is another area we want to eventually explore.

For day to day living, it seems Atenas has everything we could want. It has a temperate climate with dry days and cool nights. Apparently, one can fine tune their micro-climate by moving up and down the hills. Atenas also has such natural beauty and culture. It's a tranquil coffee growing town. It's also close to universities, hospitals, the capital city of San Jose, and so on.

AARP claims it is one of the best places to retire and, as everyone knows, National Geographic claims Atenas has the best climate in the world. We don't want to be stuck inside all day with an air conditioner running because we find it too hot and humid outside. I would like to have a swimming pool for the hot days. The cool nights are a big plus to me ... windows open to let in the fresh air. Well, I guess the windows would be open all day and night anyway. No furnace and no AC!

There are two seasons in Costa Rica - rainy (May to December) and dry (January to April).  It seems like there are a thousand and one micro-climates though.

It's A Lot of Work to Downsize

Scanning, shredding, photographing, wrapping, storing, selling, donating ..... wow, it seemed so easy collecting so much over the years but not so simple paring down. Plus, I'm doing several paintings for upcoming shows - www.dianamiskell.com - so trying to fit that in, get to the gym every day as per my usual schedule and just keep on with our life as we know it now!

My brain is in Costa Rica ..... thank goodness it is winter here, so I don't have gardening guilt. In Costa Rica, it is even quite warm during the day in the Central Valley at this time of year. Apparently, all the school kids have the month of January off - it seems to be their "summer" holiday - and Christmas was a big celebration. One thing I am looking forward to is seeing all the different festivals.

Back to reality - I'm almost finished scanning the first photo album. Still haven't had any responses to my requests for scanning slides - folks?

It's Getting Closer!

Yes, the count down has begun - we're looking at mid-May as our departure time. I've been to our local dollar store recently and found large plastic storage bags that you can suck the air out of with a vacuum cleaner. They are the right size to store my husband's grandmother's afghan quilts that she crocheted for us, plus I also have several that my grandmother made for us, and also one of my aunts. So I've been washing and drying them, stuffing them in the bags and flattening them down to a size you wouldn't believe. It's like saving cooked meat for the freezer. I have visions of using them on chilly mornings in the Central Valley.

We're not bringing much with us, mostly family things like the afghans and my mother's silverware. I went on line to see how to store silver and the information I got was to wrap the silver in tissue paper to prevent tarnishing, and then store in plastic bags. Hope that is correct because that is what I'm doing. Also I am photographing everything so we have a record for the shipping company and ourselves.

Another big project is to scan all my photo albums - ugh - we're talking decades here. And I'm still looking for a company that can scan all my slides for a reasonable price. Any ideas?