Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - November 2023

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During November, visits to this blog were received from the following 11 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 135. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - e.g. Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States from which 12 visits have been received.

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

Towards the end of the month the upcoming dry season was signaled on two days by some very strong trade winds. They were persistent - beginning in the small hours of each morning and continuing well into substantially cloudless days. Rainfall during the month was significantly less than the same month last year.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - April 2022 / Covid-19 Update

During April, 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 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

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Our move in April from Hacienda El Paseo to San Roque de Grecia (see my blog post on April 23, 2022) has led to two weather summaries for the month:

Hacienda El Paseo is a community in Costa Rica in the canton of Puente de Piedra ("Stone Bridge"), a short distance generally southwest of the city of Grecia. San Roque de Grecia is a short distance generally northeast of Grecia. As the crow flies, the particular location where we now live is about 4.6 miles (7.5 km) from where we lived in Hacienda El Paseo. Our elevation is about 913 feet (278 meters) higher than in Hacienda El Paseo. So, on average we can expect lower temperatures but not temperatures which require indoor heating.

Rainfall comparisons are a bit more problematic. The first three months of 2022 were squarely within the so-called "dry season" in Costa Rica. There were only 3 or 4 days with small amounts of measurable rainfall at Hacienda El Paseo. The same is likely true for San Roque de Grecia. But, all bets are off when it comes to the so-called "green season". 

This year, the rain gods flipped a switch to the green season on April 1. There was measurable rainfall at Hacienda El Paseo every day from April 1 to April 10. On April 11 we moved - so we have no more information from Hacienda El Paseo. But, from San Roque de Grecia, we recorded measurable rainfall on April 15 and on every day from April 21 to April 30. During the remainder of the 2022 green season, it is entirely possible that the recorded rainfall from our location in San Roque de Grecia will be quite different from that which might have been recorded in Hacienda El Paseo. We will never know for sure. But, at the end of this year, we will be able to make comparisons with previous years at Hacienda El Paseo.

As has been indicated in previous posts, Costa Rica is a country of microclimates. Temperatures, temperature averages and rainfall can vary significantly over short distances depending on elevation and geographic location.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on April 11, 2022:

Overall, the death rate in Canada is down 0.02% since my last post. That in Costa Rica and the United States is 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.

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Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - December and Year 2021

 During December, visits to this blog were received from the following 18 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received has risen to 134. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Greenland, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, etc.

Côte d'Ivoire (aka Ivory Coast) in West Africa is a new country. The visit from that country originated from the capital city of Abidjan.

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

In December, it became apparent that the “green season” was definitely over and the “dry season” was well underway. There were only 4 days with rainfall and the amount was minimal.

For the year as a whole, the following table summarizes the amounts and ranges of rainfall in the area where we live:

The following graph illustrates the amount and timing of rainfall in 2021 compared to 2019 and 2020 in the area where we live:

In other areas of the country, the amounts, ranges and patterns of rainfall can differ significantly from where we live.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on December 12, 2021:

The death rates in all three countries have dropped. That in Costa Rica has dropped by 0.03 percentage points. However, more dramatically, that in Canada has dropped by 0.40 percentage points and that in the United States has dropped by 0.20 percentage points. 

Until these latest numbers, Costa Rica has consistently had the lowest death rate of the three countries. Canada is now in that position and the United States is moving closer. Speculating, the reason may be attributable to the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Apparently, the number of negative outcomes for those who become infected by this variant is significantly less than those infected by the original version and the Delta variant. Accordingly, as the Omicron variant surges as it has done in Canada and the United States beginning in early December 2021, the overall death rate drops when averaged from the onset of Covid-19 in early 2020. 

In contrast, it appears that the Omicron variant just began to take hold in Costa Rica earlier this month. If my speculation is correct and the variant fully takes hold, then in the next month or two there should be a dramatic drop in the death rate in Costa Rica as in Canada and the United States.

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QR Codes, Boosters, and the Covid 19 Situation in Costa Rica

The Tico Times has a recent article on how to go about getting your QR code in Costa Rica. We have our QR codes and we had them printed onto plasticized cards about the size of a credit card, using this company in our town of Grecia:

It was so easy - we sent our information via e-mail to Imprenta Grecia and picked the cards up a few days later. Cost: C5,000 per card (about $10 CAD). With the card, it makes showing that one is fully vaccinated very easy. Then, if we go to a restaurant or any other place which requires proof of vaccination, all we have to do is flash our card and allow them to scan our cards.

We also received our booster shots last Friday. How did we know when and where we needed to go for these? Facebook! I belong to quite a few Costa Rican Facebook pages and these are invaluable sources of information. Members freely share information and this link for vaccination shots was posted. By looking for our town - Grecia (page 7) - we learned where the boosters would be given and at what times. Salón Parroquial is right across from the Catholic church.

People also shared the wait times they experienced and based on this we opted to wait until the second week before attempting to get the boosters. This proved to be a good idea as our wait outside the building was no more then ten minutes. Once we were inside, there were chairs to sit in. Everything was very well organized. Staff take your carné de vacunación (vaccination card) and eventually your name gets called.  I think we sat inside for no more then 45 minutes before receiving our boosters.

In my blog post on December 12 (and as I have done in some earlier posts), I provided a table of numbers from Worldometer with calculations comparing the evolving situation of Covid 19 in Costa Rica with that in Canada and the United States. However, unlike the earlier posts, I did not include any link to where one could go to obtain more comprehensive graphic information unique to Costa Rica. The link had been to a special web page of the La Nacion newspaper, but it appeared that the page was no longer being kept up to date.

It turns out that up to date graphic information the same as or similar to that previously provided by La Nacion can be obtained by going to the web site of the Costa Rican Ministry of Health ("Ministerio de Salud" in Spanish).

Another way to get graphic information not only for Costa Rica but also for many other countries is to Google the phrase "covid 19 graph". At present, a page headed "Coronavirus disease" should then appear. Under the sub-heading "Statistics", a chart showing the evolution of covid cases in a selected country should also appear. The selected country can be changed to any other country which may be desired. For example, the charts for Costa Rica, the United States and Canada are presently as follows:

The information provided by Canada is not as up to date as that provided by Costa Rica and the United States. Nevertheless, like the United States, the number of new cases in Canada appears to be surging whereas the number of new cases in Costa Rica has been steadily dropping towards zero. This may change if the Omicron variant of Covid-19 takes hold in Costa Rica as it has in the United States and Canada. On December 19, the Ministry of Health confirmed detection of the first case in Costa Rica (an 8 year old boy).

As reported by the Tico Times on December 20 the boy and his family had recently travelled to the United States.

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

During September, visits to this blog were received from the following 12 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.

The level of interest in my video "Landing at Juan Santamaría Airport, Costa Rica" has spiked in the last few months. It was first posted to YouTube and to my blog on August 26, 2017. Between July 2019 and February 2021 the number of views has risen from over 4400 views to over 6400 views - or roughly 95 views per month. Since February 2021 until now the number of views has reason to over 8000 views - or roughly 200 views per month.

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

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates information which appeared in my blog entry posted on August 28, 2021:

Since my last post, the death rates in Canada and the United States have dropped by marginal amounts (0.10 and 0.04 percentage points respectively). That in Costa Rica is unchanged. 

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.

If you want more comprehensive and up-to-date information and statistics on the situation in Costa Rica, including various locales in Costa Rica, then the La Nacion newspaper is a good source. If you do not understand Spanish, then you will need a web browser (Google Chrome, Safari, etc.) which is set to translate to your language of choice from Spanish.

Unique Health Care System in Costa Rica

In my blog post earlier this year regarding Covid-19 (March 15, 2021), the numbers indicated that Costa Rica was doing better than Canada and the United States. The focus was on mortality. If you caught Covid-19, what were your chances of survival compared to Canada or the United States? It appears that Costa Rica continues to do better.

As the table below indicates, this continues to be the case:

Back in March, I speculated that this might be because on average those who live in Costa Rica spend more time exposed to outside air than those who live in Canada or the United States. I did not clarify, but I had in mind that one or the other or both of central air conditioning and central heating is relatively common in both countries. This might not provide a particularly healthy environment for controlling the spread of the virus.

Now comes to light another possible reason why Costa Rica has been faring better. It has a unique health care system. Specifically, Costa Rica has a health care model which combines a tiered universal medicare system with an unrestricted private care system: see Atul Gawande, "Costa Ricans Live Longer Than Us. What’s the Secret?”, The New Yorker magazine, August 23, 2021.

While Canada has a universal medicare system, it is not tiered like that in Costa Rica. Moreover, Canada severely restricts the services which can be provided by private enterprise. In the United States, the private care system is essentially unrestricted as it is in Costa Rica. However, while the United States has a medicare system, it is restrictive and far from being universal. Neither Canada nor the United States has a health care system which reaches down to individual households in a proactive manner as described by Atul Gawande.

We have experienced the proactive approach in Costa Rica. Two examples: (1) as described in my blog post on March 19, 2021, Lance got a personal telephone call out of the blue from a doctor at our local EBAIS to schedule an appointment for our first of two Covid-19 shots. I might be wrong, but I doubt that any person in Canada or the United States ever got such a call from any health care authority. (2) shortly after moving to Grecia/Hacienda El Paseo in 2018 and signing up with our local EBAIS, we were surprisingly visited by two medics.

As the New Yorker magazine article indicates, these medics are referred to as “ATAP" (Asistente Técnico en Atención Primaria) - trained community health care workers. They wanted to give us flu shots which we respectfully declined because neither of us had ever had flu shots (or ever had the flu over a period of decades). They also gave us pills for intestinal parasites - very common in tropical countries.

They also inspected our property indoor and out for cleanliness, etc. Their only recommendation was that we get rid of an outdoor pool of water which could provide a breeding ground for some mosquitos that are responsible for dengue fever - a fever which is survivable but not pleasant. We got rid of the “pool”. The pool was a relatively small plastic, rectangular container on the ground filled with water (usually rain water). Various species of birds found the pool and relished the opportunity to take a bird bath. That’s why we kept it until advised by the medics not to do so.

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

During April, visits to this blog were received from the following 13 countries:

The total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received has risen to 132. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions. Myanmar (previously known as Burma) is a new country. The visit from Myanmar originated from the capital city of Yangon (previously known as Rangoon).

The visit from Myanmar was a bit surprising. It occurred on April 11. Earlier in the month, there was a report dated April 2 indicating that the internet in Myanmar had been shut down by the powers that be.

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

After months of little or no rain, the "green" or rainy season began with a vengeance on April 8th with over 3 inches (76 mm). Lesser amounts were recorded almost day to day over the next two weeks.

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Covid-19 Update

The following table updates the Costa Rica, Canada and United States information which appeared in my blog posted on April 11:

The good news is that despite increasing case numbers the percentage death rate has trended down in all three countries. 

If you want to see how some other country is doing in comparison to those listed, then visit the website of Worldometer.info. 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 and the death rate compared to Costa Rica.

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Eyes on Costa Rica - Blog on My Blog

It is interesting to track the places where people are who visit my blog. I expect many are planning a vacation or a move to Costa Rica, or are friends and acquaintances curious about how we are doing.

Since last November when I started keeping track, there have been “visits” from 45 different countries. The majority have come from Canada, the United States, and Costa Rica. But, a respectable number have come from Europe and Asia.

The Asian countries include Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Russian Federation (partly Asian), Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates.

The following is tongue-in-cheek:

Now, back to the United States. So far, there have been visits from many different places in 41 states, and one visit from “Washington / District of Columbia”. The visit from Washington was strange. Lance happened to be online at the time. Notations of individual page views were showing up on the computer screen in rapid sequence - almost as if each page was being analyzed electronically - but not read by a real person.

My conspiracy theory: Maybe there are clandestine powers who monitor Internet traffic and get curious when they detect traffic going from a blog like my own, or any other blog, to places around the world which include places like “Phnom Penh / Cambodia”, “Taoyuan / China”, “Moscow City / Russia”, “Dubai / United Arab Emirates”, etc. The powers that be might wonder what common interest all these people have to attract them to my blog. Does their interest pose a threat? Or, is their interest benign? Intelligence Analyst strategy: have a computer do a forensic analysis of the blog’s content. If the computer finds no red flags, then that’s the end of the matter. Otherwise, have a real person look at the blog page by page - spending a lot more time on each page than the time which was spent on the strange visit from Washington, D.C.

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Life in Costa Rica can be interesting on many levels.

 

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Feliz Ano Nuevo

On this the eve of a brand new year, I want to thank all my blog readers, all our new and old friends in Canada, the United States and Costa Rica for being such great folks.

Thanks for helping us, for supporting us, for inviting us for meals and swims, beach days, giving great advice ... I could go on and on. Genny our cat thanks a very special person who went and visited her when she was boarding at the Santa Ana vet until we could pick her up after our arrival - you know who you are and we won't forget you.

Our first seven months in Costa Rica have exceeded our expectations - and we feel we couldn't have done it so well without our network of fantastic contacts.

Here's to a fabulous, wonderful 2012! Diana, Lance and Genny