Weather Report, Vista Atenas, Atenas, Costa Rica

Compared to January 2017, January 2018 tended on average to be milder overnight and cooler during the day. There were significantly more clouds and overcast in January 2018. Although not accompanied with very much rain, it compares with absolutely no measurable rain in January 2017.

Growing Your Own Fruit in Costa Rica

This title is somewhat misleading because we are not farmers, but it is still easy to enjoy your own fruit on your property.

Almost every time we eat a pineapple, I stick the cut off tops into the ground. It takes ages for the tops to produce a new pineapple, but it’s fun to do and always a surprise when we see a pineapple developing. Today I found four:

Itty bitty:

                                                                               










Bitty #1:


Bitty #2:

Biggy:

One of the banana trees is fruiting. Not ready to harvest yet but getting there:

Finding a Mechanic in Atenas, Costa Rica

We received the final transfer papers for our newly purchased Subaru SUV last week. The San José lawyer sent them via certified mail and the Atenas Correos delivery person brought the envelope to our gate on his motorcycle. I thought the envelope was worth taking a photo of:

The handwriting is so elegant.

Now that we have a vehicle, we decided to find ourselves a mechanic in case of future problems. We have already used the garage at La Coopeatenas for oil and other fluid changes and we will continue using them for that and tire changes. We had been told of a good mechanic named Freddy whose taller (workshop) was somewhere on the same road as Kay’s Postres, Café & Restaurante, past this restaurant and after the small bridge. We went looking for it but could not locate it. Next plan: stop in at Kay’s and talk to the men who are frequently there for breakfast. They told us exactly where Freddy is and gave him high recommendations.

So off we went, looking for the three electrical boxes that were a landmark. Found them, turned left and continued down a narrow road. Came across a yard with vehicles in it so stopped and asked .... yes, this is Freddy’s place. Pulled in and waited for Freddy (who speaks English, by the way). While Lance was doing man stuff with Freddy, I started up a conversation with another guy who was busy with four Land Rovers. He is from Texas and he and his brother have bought five vintage Land Rovers here and are going to drive them back to Texas from Costa Rica. Apparently, they sell for quite a lot in North America. 

It seems like every day brings some sort of adventure or another.

Weather Report for Vista Atenas, Atenas, Costa Rica - and Happy New Year!

Here is the weather report for December, 2017, for the area we live in - Vista Atenas. Compared to December 2016, December 2017 was noticeably cooler, drier and windier.

Happy New Year to everyone - this is our sixth January 1st spent in Costa Rica and we look forward to many more. We are also looking forward to some changes in 2018. Come April 1st, we hope to be in a new home and we are considering different areas in which to live. We may not necessarily stay in the Atenas area. Now that we have a vehicle, we are free to explore other towns and cantons. I’ll post on where we explore and what we find.

Christmas Morning 2017 - Costa Rica

After breakfast this morning, I went for my walk - which I try to do every second day. Usually I walk up through Barrio Jesus. The sidewalk parallels ruta 3 which, if I kept on walking for about 58 km, would take me to Playa Doña Ana on the Pacific Coast.

Today I decided to take photos of some things I saw on this Christmas morning’s non-ambitious walk.

First, fortification with Rompope, Costa Rica’s traditional egg nog. This one has rum in it:

It was cool overnight, dropping to 65F/18.3C. It had warmed up by the time I started out, with beautiful blue skies, fresh breeze and dry air. Enjoy the photos! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

We Purchased a Car for our Cat

Did that headline grab your attention? Well, it’s true. Our cat needed a perch high enough to survey the neighbourhood. Here he is with his vehicle:

Of course, this is an utter lie. We finally decided to purchase a vehicle after over six years of living without one. An ad for this 2006 Subaru Forester popped up on my Facebook feed about two weeks ago. Low mileage, great condition - so I phoned right away. Good thing I did because there was a lot of interest in it and I was the first caller.

A really nice couple were selling the vehicle - he from Vancouver, B.C., and she from Brazil. We bused into San José, examined and test drove it and decided to buy it. We picked it up about a week later after transferring money and meeting with the lawyer regarding transfer of ownership, etc. Another plus was that we were able to transfer Canadian money to a Canadian bank account for the sale, rather than having to convert CAD to USD.

Cars are very expensive here (new or used) because of import and sales taxes, etc. Everyone we know drive older used cars. They seem to last forever here. It is 4 wheel drive, has AC and everything else we could want. Also, it is not a huge SUV like some we have seen and is lower to the ground, so we don’t get the feeling that it is going to tip over on corners. You can see our laneway is very narrow and we have since cut back the hedge on the left. When our gardener is next here, we will have him pull all the roots up.

We will miss our taxi guys but it is so convenient to hop in and go whenever we want. We went for breakfast yesterday at La Casita del Café, which is not far from our house. The view is absolutely incredible and the prices low. 

Here’s what we got for 8,000 colones, about $16 USD.

Two mocha coffees:

Lance’s choice on the left - gallo pinto, plantano, ham slice,  two eggs, and a corn tortilla with cheese. Mine on the right - fully loaded omelet (three vegetables, cheese, ham), and corn tortillas with natilla (sour cream):

And there is no charge for the view:

Interesting old photos of Costa Rica on one wall:

Weather Statistics for Vista Atenas, Atenas, Costa Rica

A number of people have expressed interest in what the weather is like here. This is a weather report for the month of November 2017, where we live in Vista Atenas.