Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - February 2019

During February, visits to this blog were received from the following countries and other jurisdictions:

The following is a summary of weather for the month:

The dry season continues to continue. Three months in a row without any rain. At one point, there was a prediction of rain but nothing materialized in our area. On one day, there was a record high temperature for the year but it was mitigated by low humidity.

Costa Rica is subject to trade winds, also known as Papagayo ("Parrot") winds. On several days in February it became quite windy. But, the winds were subject to fits and starts. Dead calm for a period of time would be followed for another period of time by relatively strong winds and even stronger gusts. Occasionally, Papagayo winds can be quite brutal (like throwing stuff around on a patio) though not life threatening like hurricanes and tornadoes. Most of the time, they have a refreshing cool down effect.

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - November 2018

During November, visits to this blog were received from 14 identified countries and 1 unidentified country in Europe:

The following is a summary of the weather for the month:

There are only two seasons in Costa Rica - the "green" or rainy season and the dry season. With significantly less rainfall than October, November has signaled the beginning of the dry season. There were fewer rainy days and more sunny days. The minimum overnight low temperature of 60 °F (15.6 °C) was the lowest we have encountered so far where we now live.

There is of course no "winter" season in Costa Rica. But that does not mean that Costa Ricans do not celebrate Christmas including not only with ornaments, lights, Santa Claus images, reindeer images and other visual trappings, but also with Christmas trees (Arboles de Navidad). At least some of the trees are real, not artificial. As reported by Q Costa Rica the real thing comes all the way from Eastern Canada.

This Week

We have now transitioned into the green, or rainy, season. This season will probably run until November/December when the dry season will start again and the land will turn brown. The dry season is also the high season, when tourists from the cold northern countries arrive here.

Meanwhile, we get to enjoy low hotel rates, vacant beaches, cooling rains, and verdent colors everywhere.

We had a sun shower this afternoon, so I put some of my under cover orchids outside to get some rain.

I put up a sunshade over our patio.

 

Weather Review - 2015

Here is a temperature chart and a rainfall chart which illustrate weather conditions over the course of the last year in the Atenas region of Costa Rica. More particularly, and except for a brief period in early October, they illustrate the conditions where we normally live in a neighborhood called Vista Atenas which is a short distance west of the town of Atenas. For the brief period in October, we were house and cat sitting at the home of friends in a neighborhood called Las Cumbres – a short distance east of the town. The significance of east v. west is revealed by the temperature chart.

As the crow flies, the Las Cumbres location is about 3.7 miles (6 km) from our Vista Atenas location. But, the elevation is about 560 feet (170 m) lower. In Costa Rica, lower altitudes are generally reflected by higher daytime high temperatures and that is borne out by the temperature spike circled in red on the above chart.

As I think I have said before, Costa Rica is a country of microclimates. A few miles one way or the other and a few hundred feet up or down can make a significant difference. If you choose to live in Costa Rica for any length of time, then you should carefully choose the location. Where we live in Vista Atenas, the year 'round daytime highs and overnight lows are comfortable. Neither heating nor air conditioning is required. On rare occasions, heat and humidity can combine to produce a marginally uncomfortable "feels like" temperature. In 2015, that may have happened three or four times.

 

Costa Rica has two seasons: a wet or “green” season and a dry season. In our area, the dry season normally extends from about mid November of one year to late April or early May of the next. The above chart shows virtually no rain until late April and, excluding an exceptional one day deluge, almost no rain in December. However, in 2015, the wet season was drier than normal. Total rainfall was about 10 inches less than 2014. If the December deluge never happened, then the shortfall would be almost 13 inches less. It must be el niño at work – or maybe even climate change.

 

Restaurants and the Dry Season

Last Thursday, we met friends and enjoyed bocas and wine at Grego's, a bar and restaurant on highway 3 not far from Atenas.  Service and food is excellent. We sat outside on the covered patio, enjoyed the company, the weather and chatting with everyone.

It's close enough that we can walk down there, but thank goodness our friends drive us home (or we call a taxi) because it's all uphill going back to our house.

We now know why this is called the dry season - no rain since early November. Today I walked up the hill behind our house where our banana trees are and the ground is cracked and so dry. Everything was rustling in the wind and there is a lot of wind. The mango tree is flowering but also throwing tiny mangoes on the ground so I expect that is some sort of normal culling? The tree is huge and old and has survived for a long time so I guess it knows what it is doing.

After several months of clear blue skies all day long, now we notice that clouds are forming in the early afternoon. They look like they could be rain clouds, but not a drop falls and then they disappear in the late afternoon. I think we are experiencing the gradual transition into the green season.

Sixth Month Review

We have been here for six months now and still feel the same way about this wonderful country as we did upon arrival. We don't regret the move for one minute.

It is so beautiful. We are meeting lots of Ticos and making new Gringo friends from all over North America. Our Spanish is coming along in baby steps but that is still more than we knew when we arrived.

We agree that Atenas and the surrounding area seems to be a perfect place to live. It has the quiet rural atmosphere that we both like yet is close enough to the airport, San Jose, larger towns, the beaches and so on. Atenas itself offers lots of restaurants, groceries, shops, and services for day to day living.

The dry season has arrived - not much rain, sunny and warm days, cool nights and I love the brisk breezes that blow most days. We have started walking into Atenas more often.

Started tomato, basil and melon seeds. Finally won the battle with the leaf cutter ants by using an organic insecticide called Omitox but will still have to keep watch that they don't set up more colonies.

We have days at the beach with interesting friends.

Plus, we can buy this brand of cheezies here:

The Previous Couple of Weeks

Just thinking back over the last few weeks:

We are now transitioning into the dry season and can expect more winds coming from a different direction - the north or the north northwest - which pushes the humid air coming from the west and southwest offshore. Already, we have experienced far less rain than we did in late October. My tomato plants suffered during those weeks but have bravely ripened a few tomatoes for us. I'll reseed again soon.

Halloween is a non-event in Costa Rica, which suited me fine. I had grown weary of buying overpriced, teeth rotting candy in Cloverdale and watching Genny being scared by the constant ringing of the doorbell. The young tykes are really cute and they finish trick and treating early but when the 16 year olds start showing up, it's time to shut the lights off and lock the door.

Instead, All Souls Day on November 2nd is observed with Catholic masses and Ticos head to cemeteries to pay respects to departed loved ones. Here in Atenas, all the crypts in the graveyard were covered in flowers. One of my taxi drivers drove me by so I could see. By the way, if anyone is interested in what happens to one after death in Costa Rica, go here to The Real Costa Rica and you'll get all the info.

We bought some moisture absorbing bags at WalMart, $22 CAD for a box of three. They are supposed to last 60 days but here is what they look like after two weeks so I guess we had a lot of moisture in our clothes cupboards. The crystals at the top absorb moisture which drips down into the bag at the bottom.

We discovered a new mall in Heredia - Paseo de las Flores - and our friends John and Diane picked me up one day and we went shopping. I bought Lance some badly needed clothes and I found some stuff for me also. The food court was enormous. I have to go back again soon so I can see all of the shops. It really is a big, big mall. Heredia is the capital city of the province of Heredia, and it is home to one of the largest colleges in Costa Rica, the National University of Costa Rica.

I also recently went shopping at one of Atena's Ropa Americana shops and found three cotton shirts for me. I should have listened to the shop keeper who suggested I try them on first. One is way too small (the tag says "petite", didn't notice it), one is too large but I like it because of the color and the larger fit lets the breezes in, and the third one fits more closely. So two out of three ain't bad. Final cost: $20 CAD.

Had another fabulous Beach Day this past Monday at Playa Dona Ana. About 25 like-minded souls showed up. We bobbed in the ocean, yakked, ate our lunches, fed the monkeys. If anyone reading this wants to join us, let me know.

That is Lance on the left.

I cut down a really big bunch of bananas from one of our trees. It must have weighed 50 lbs. at least or so it felt. Dragged it down the hill to our house and we hung it from one of the roof rafters outside. All the bananas are ripening amazingly fast, we can't eat enough of them to keep up. Our gardener Luis took some home with him today and I've set up two bird feeding stations in our lime tree where the over-ripe bananas are going. We are attracting birds we've never seen before.

So, as the sun sets gently tonight in Costa Rica and the air is filled with tropical scents, I wish everyone a peaceful night.

Daily Life in Atenas

We're back to normal green season weather....rain or the threat of it some time during the day, or at night. Last night we listened to a symphony of hard tropical downpour and thunder, accompanied by a light show in the sky. Poor Genny heads for her storm cupboard at the first clap of thunder.

Since we are ex-West Coasters, we don't mind the rain, fog or cooler temperatures when they occur. I would have to say that since we arrived May 31st, we have enjoyed a lot of sun and higher temperatures. It will be interesting to see what October brings, as that is supposed to be the rainest month. We also have the dry season to look forward to come November.

It is said that if you don't like the weather where you live in Costa Rica, move up or down 100 feet and experience something different.

I'm now able to call the taxi - we use Jorge Calderon - I think he gets a good laugh out of my broken, awful Spanish and he always helps us with pronouncing words.

We have so many limes on our tree. They are semi-sweet and turn yellow as they mature and that is when they are super juicy. Fran Browne from www.boomersoffshore.com sent me a no-fail recipe for making key lime pie. I bought all the ingredients today, except for the graham crumb crust. I'll have another look for graham crackers next week. That tree ain't goin' nowhere.

We had breakfast today at Kay's Gringo Postres - we always meet new people there. I borrowed two books from their library and enjoyed one of the best breakfast BLT's I've ever had. What a great place to share information - we found out where the best butcher shop is, where to find 40 watt bulbs for our bathroom light over the mirror, who does what and where.

 No street addresses though - everything is "200 metres up the road from ... just around the corner and head north from ... you know where that shop is, well turn left and go one block ... if you know where the candy shop is across from the park, well the pharmacy you want is right next to that ....". As someone who got lost driving from Harrod's in Reno, Nevada,  to a mall 10 minutes away and ended up in California, you can see how this is difficult for me. We keep a small compass out on the patio table so I at least know what direction north is.

We needed to buy Genny her special Hills prescription diet k/d feline renal health kibble (what a mouthful) and I thought we'd have to go out of town to find it. But, no, we found it at Medico Veterinario - directions: 50 metres west of the Supermercado Pali in Atenas. They have two resident cats and I think this will be a very good place to take Genny if she needs attention. Cats here seem to look a lot different than North American kitties - they are smaller and in really good shape.

Having big trouble with wasps and our hummingbird feeder - the wasps swarm around the feeder so much that the hummers can't feed. I need to find a different feeder - the kind that the wasps can't feed off.

Today was the feria in Atenas - I bought strawberries, green onions (huge), a big bunch of cilantro with the roots still attached which I will now try to plant, and red peppers. A special surprise was a craft fair and we took pictures of the young dancers: