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.
During May, 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 Macau - a special administrative region (SAR) of China. from which 1 visit has been received.
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The following is a summary of the weather for May in the area where we live:
The rainy (or "green") season arrived in full force during May and the amount of rainfall was unusually high. The 27 days with measurable rain compares with19 days in May last year. and the amount was almost double that measured last year. In fact, it was more than May of any year since the time in 2018 when we moved to the Grecia region.
On most days, the sky did not begin to cloud up until the late morning or early afternoon. So, daytime high, low and average temperatures were roughly the same as last year.
The erupting Poás Volcano began to settle down in May. Compared to April, the amount of ashfall with consequent effect on air quality was substantially less.
We have made quite a few Costa Rican friends here and they are always available when we need help.
Minor is a bilingual retired EMT who now works for a Canadian company here. He has helped us with medical appointments at our hospital as our translator. He also helped us out during our last move. He arranged for a transport truck to help us move from Puente de Puedra to San Roque de Grecia, where we now live.
Alex is one of our taxi drivers when our car is out of commission. Recently we were parked at Super Rosvil grocery and our vehicle would not start - new battery was dead. Two strangers stopped to help. They gave us a boost but it still would not turn over. I WhatsApp’d Alex and 15 minutes later he showed up in his red taxi and got the car started. We drove straight home and let the car run for 15 minutes, as per his instructions. We continued driving the car as it continued to start and run.
The same thing happened again just the other day. Parked in downtown Grecia - battery dead. Lance flagged down a taxi and the driver got it going with a boost. Home we went. By the way, the taxi drivers are great for boosts and changing flat tires. I once had two Super Rosvil managers change a tire for me. They just came out of the store and did it.
We contacted our mechanic Josué. He recently installed the new battery. He picked up our Subaru at our house and took it to his shop. Turns out it was an electrical problem draining the battery. There were some other problems which he is now fixing and hopefully we will have our car back today. It’s not a new vehicle so problems can be expected.
There’s also Coco, a tow truck driver we know. I can WhatsApp him anytime if we need a tow.
Costa Ricans are great sources of information also. Alex referred us to Josué. Minor found Coco for us. They are wonderful friends. I once had a nice lady (bilingual) come up to me at our Ebais clinic. She offered her help when I saw the nurse and told me to call her any time.
Off Topic
As mentioned in my last blog post (April 2025) we have been having heavy rains. A storm that blew through the other day was fierce. Strong winds were blowing the rain sideways. It resulted in this heavy mud floating down our laneway onto part of our patio and in front of our garage.
Our landlord Luis arranged for Toño and his helper to clean it up for us, which they did in short order.
Turns out the mucky mess is from a vacant lot next to us that is being developed and there is a lot of dirt piled up. Luis’ uncle lives near us and he is keeping an eye on the lot. Luis lives in Guanacaste (northern Costa Rica).
During February, visits to this blog were received from the following 12 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. Greenland from which 1 visit has been received).
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The following is a summary of weather for the month in the area where we live:
Over a period of about 8 days in mid-March, and then 2 days later in the month, we received a premature sampling of the "green season" which normally does not begin until late April or May. Compared to March in previous years, the rainfall was significant - sometimes very heavy over a short period of time and accompanied by thunder and lightning. From 2018 to 2020, we measured no rainfall in March. In 2021, we measured a mere 0.07 inches (1.8 mm).
On rainy days, daytime high temperatures were kept down. Thus the average daytime high temperature for the month is less than the year to date average.
During February, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 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. the Caribbean Netherlands from which 3 visits have been received).
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The following is a summary of weather for the month in the area where we live:
Not much to observe. February with zero measured rainfall was only a tidbit less than that measured in January. High and low temperatures were in the usual range in the area where we live. Several days were accompanied by relatively high winds but all of this is the norm during the "dry season".
As an aside, I might note that we felt a 5.2 magnitude earthquake in the early morning of February 18. It was nowhere near serious. But, it was enough to wake us up.
During December, visits to this blog were received from the following 10 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 jurisdictions (e.g. Puerto Rico).
During the year, visits were recorded from 44 identifiable countries and non-independent jurisdictions.
As of 2022 year end, the total number of visits to this blog approached 50,000 according to a widget called RevolverMaps. In the right hand sidebar of my current blog the number indicates 25000+ views. However, this number is for the period from Sep. 29, 2016 to date and does not include 24000 views during the period from Nov. 13, 2012 to Sep 29, 2016: see my blog post on Oct. 4, 2016. The following map projection indicates by red dots places from where visits have been received since Sep. 29, 2016:
The right hand sidebar also includes a widget indicating that the "TOTAL PAGEVIEWS" is approaching 250,000. This widget is independent of RevolverMaps and the page count is current from the inception of the blog to date.
Not unrelated to my blog, the YouTube video I posted on Aug. 7, 2017 with regard to landing at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) continues to attract interest. As indicated in the following chart**, the total number of views is over 9700 and the average is over 140 views per month:
Some of the views have undoubtedly been motivated by earlier blog posts which included a link to the video. I expect that many are from persons who have had their "Eyes on Costa Rica" but who were oblivious and remain oblivious to the existence of my blog.
** Note: While the horizontal x-axis distance between successive data points in the chart is uniform, the number of months between each pair of data points is in fact quite irregular. For example, the first data point after the landing date was recorded about 7 months after the landing date; the last data point (Dec. 31, 2022) was recorded about 1 month after the second last data point.
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The following is a summary of the weather for December in the area where we live:
December 2022 was an extremely dry month. Unlike previous Decembers where we recorded at least some rain, nothing was recorded in December 2022. There were dribbles on a couple of days. But, our rain guage is a wireless system (Acurite Model 00899) with a remote collector and a digital display. If the rainfall on any given day fails to reach at least 0.01 in. (0.25 mm), then the record from Acurite for that day is "0.00". That said, the following chart indicates the monthly pattern of rainfall in 2022 in the area where we now live ("San Roque de Grecia" as distinct from "San Roque" per se or any other "San Roque de ..." which you might find in Costa Rica). This pattern is compared to patterns in Hacienda El Paseo where we previously lived in 2020, 2021 and the early dry season part of 2022:
What is a plus code you may well ask? Read all about it here.
Today we wanted to order a pizza from Pizza House in our small community of San Roque de Grecia. I contacted them via WhatsApp (Costa Rica runs on WhatsApp), put in my order, my name and phone number, the plus code and a short description of how to get to our house.
The short description is okay but the plus code is what really pinpoints where our house is. In a country that doesn’t really have street addresses the way we were used to when we lived in Canada - this is the best way to ensure delivery.
It worked! I had to do a few English-Spanish translations on WhatsApp but now that Pizza House knows who we are and where we live, it will be easy next time.
I apologize for the lateness of this report but I have been involved with an art and music festival in Atenas during the last week. This ended yesterday so I am now back home and on our normal routine.
During November, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries:
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 jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.
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The following is a summary of the weather during November and from April 11, 2022 to November 30, 2022 in the area where we live:
The coldest daytime high temperature, 68ºF (20ºC), occurred on two successive days with almost continuous drizzling rain. It was the second coldest daytime high that we have experienced during all our time in Costa Rica.
In contrast, there was a 5 day period during the month with moderately high temperatures, no rain and relatively low humidity - a sign of the upcoming “dry season” in the Central Valley of Costa Rica.
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Covid-19 Update
The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on November 6, 2022:
With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has risen by 0.01% in Canada but remains unchanged in Canada and the United States.
If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, 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.
During October, visits to this blog were received from the following 17 countries:
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 jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.
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The following is a summary of the weather for October in the area where we live:
We were mildly sideswiped by hurricane Julia as it crossed Nicaragua late night on October 8 continuing well into the day on October 9. With a few short breaks, we had a steady and persistent drizzle of rain totalling about 2 3/4 inches (~ 70 mm). But, the winds were relatively light. Overall, the situation was not nearly as torrential as in some areas of Nicaragua.
With the rain from Julia, there was also a lot of fog. The result was a record low daytime high temperature for us during all our time in Costa Rica - a mere 64ºF (17.8°C).
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Covid-19 Update
The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on October 9, 2022:
With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has fallen by 0.04% in Costa Rica but has risen by 0.01% in Canada. As indicated, the United States remains unchanged.
If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, 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.
After a hiatus, Worldometer is again reporting U.S. population numbers, cases per million and deaths per million on the same web page as other Covid data. Thus, unlike the last while, it was not necessary to obtain population data from an unrelated Worldometer web page to determine cases per million and deaths per million for the U.S.
During September, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries, 1 unidentified European country and, for the second time in the last two months, 1 totally unidentified country (Europe, Asia or otherwise):
The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received has risen to 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc. The latest country is Guyana located in South America. The visit came from Georgetown, Guyana's capital city.
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The following is a summary of weather for September in the area where we live:
Temperatures during September were moderate and relatively unremarkable. The real story was rainfall. Except for a single day, there was at least some rain every day - ranging from 0.01 inches (25 mm) to over 5 inches. The total rainfall for the month was the most we have ever encountered during any single month since our arrival in Costa Rica in 2011 and, with 3 months to go, the total rainfall this year to the end of September has now exceeded that during the full 12 months of any previous year.
Despite the amount of rain, most days in September were marked by several hours in the mornings by broken clouds and no rain.
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Covid-19 Update
The following table updates information which appeared inmy blogentryposted onSeptember5,2022:
With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has risen by 0.01% in Canada, but has fallen by 0.01% in Costa Rica and the United States.
If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, 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.
I had read good reviews about Bar Restaurante Sabor Oriental in Sarchi, a town about a 20 minute drive from our house in San Roque de Grecia. So we decided to drive there and try it out for ourselves.
Map of our drive:
When I looked at their menu on line, I discovered that they served dim sum, one of our favourite traditional Chinese meals. All prices indicated are in Costa Rican colones.
We ordered the ha koa, the siu mai, the lao won bao and the empanadas chino al vapor (steamed not fried), aka gyoza.
The traditional drink to have with dim sum is tea but we opted for frosty cold Imperial beers.
When the food arrived, I was so busy eating it that I forgot to take pictures but did remember at the last moment and so here we have a photo of two of the items we ordered:
The dim sum was excellent. We will definitely be going back here for dim sum. It’s so much closer then driving to the Asian restaurants in San José.
During August, visits to this blog were received from the following 9 countries, Hong Kong and 1 unknown country:
The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received remains at 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.
Purely speculative, but perhaps the unknown country was somebody on an aircraft using a satellite connection with the internet.
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The following is a summary of weather for August in the area where we live:
The hottest temperature during the month was on August 1 (87°F / 30.6°C) and this was higher than any day in July. However, it was not uncomfortable. The humidity was only 36%. This is unlike the Pacific and Caribbean coasts where temperatures can be much the same as the interior of Costa Rica but with uncomfortably high humidities. At our elevation in the interior we have found absolutely no need for indoor heating or air conditioning.
With regard to rainfall, there were a number of days where we got deluges. But they were usually short lived and normally in the afternoon. Where we live, a typical "green season" day begins with broken clouds lasting till about noon. With or without rain, the sky becomes overcast in the afternoon. Mornings are the best time to get shopping or other things done.
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Covid-19 Update
The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on August 8, 2022:
With regard to the Death Rate Trend, the rate has fallen by 0.02% in Costa Rica and the United States but, as indicated, remains unchanged in Canada.
If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to Costa Rica, 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.
** On its Covid web page, Worldometer continues not to provide numbers for the U.S. population, cases per million, or deaths per million. However it does report total cases and total deaths. As well, on a web page unrelated to Covid, it reports on the U.S. population. In the above table, the U.S. cases per million and deaths per million were calculated from the total cases and total deaths as reported on its Covid web page and the U.S. population as reported on its unrelated web page.
