Search This Blog

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Ceviche, Fruit, Roses and an Armadillo

Click on images to enlarge.

Last week we joined our friends Diane and John for lunch at Casa Nosstra Bar & Grill in Grecia. I ordered ceviche with avocado - healthy and delicious and perfect for a hot day.


There are lots of recipes on line for ceviche so this would be easy to duplicate.

This is the largest mango tree I have ever seen and it’s loaded with mangos:


It is growing in front of the entrance to the Coopevictoria sugar cane and coffee processing plant, not far from where we live.

We had breakfast recently at the Victoria Cafeteria (next to the plant). Here’s my cafe mocha:



We too have a mango tree, although not as large but we will be enjoying plenty of mangos soon:


We also have roses:


Limes (not quite ripe):


Orchids:


And an avocado tree (obviously not ripe yet):


Finally, a mora bush (a type of blackberry):


We are early risers and up before the sun. About a week ago, Lance heard some rustling down in our garden. A flashlight revealed some sort of animal digging in a tire planter where I had lavender growing. Eventually the lavender was pushed out, roots and all, and we could see that it was an armadillo causing the damage.

The nine-banded armadillo is common and widespread in Costa Rica, in a variety of habitats, and is active by day or night. They eat fruit, invertebrates, carrion and whatever grows under lavender plants!

Here’s the video:



Monday, March 11, 2024

Lunch - Victoria Cafeteria, Grecia

Click on images to enlarge.

We ate lunch at Victoria Cafeteria back in 2022 and have eaten breakfast there several times since then. We recently returned again for another lunch (almuerzo).

First up - drinks. I had the herbal lemonade:


Lance ordered a cold cappuccino, which came loaded with whipping cream on top. I forgot to take a photo.

My choice - salmon with Asian sauce.


Lance opted for shrimp and corvina (a white fish).

As you can see, the portions are quite large and we asked for takeaway (para llevar) so we had two more meals for dinner the next day.

This restaurant is in one of the original wooden Costa Rican houses with a large wrap-around porch. It’s a lovely setting.

It is situated beside the CoopeVictoria sugar cane and coffee processing plant. This is a view of the entrance to the plant:


Here is a short video I made of recently harvested cane waiting to go into the plant:


_______________________________________________

Off Topic

ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica) has published its 2024 March/April issue of its El Residente magazine.


A PDF version of the magazine can be viewed HERE. It contains many articles and references which may be of general interest or to those planning a visit or move to Costa Rica.

Monday, March 4, 2024

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - February 2024

Click on images to enlarge.

During February, visits to this blog were received from the following 14 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 136. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - e.g. Macau (a special administrative region (SAR) of China) from which 1 visit has been received.

_____________________________________________


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

More generally, in the area of the Central Valley where we now live, we have found temperatures to be comfortably mild year round. In contrast to the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, humidity has not been a factor governing our comfort level. So, there has been no need for air conditioning. Similarly, and although the situation can differ at altitudes higher than where we live, there has been no need for indoor heating. 


Information on current and recent weather conditions, climate change and more in Costa Rica and various parts of Costa Rica can be obtained from the website of IMN: Instituto Meteorológico Nacional de Costa Rica (Spanish) or National Institute of Meteorology (English). IMN also has a Facebook page which may be of interest.


Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Wedding Anniversary Getaway

Click on images to enlarge.

On February 12, 1982, we were married at the courthouse in Vancouver, British Columbia.


So, forty two (!) years later …. we decided on a little getaway to explore an area of Costa Rica that we had not yet seen. We chose Hacienda La Isla (on this link you can select your language preference on the top right bar), a unique lodge in the foothills of the Braulio Carrillo National Park.

We decided to rent a vehicle from Adobe Car Rental here in Grecia as our Subaru needs the front brakes worked on and we are waiting for the parts to arrive from Japan.

Here is our driving route (in blue) with the red pin being Hacienda La Isla. 



Although this is a road with lots of tight turns (some of them hairpin) it is a well paved and marked route. It straightens out more after La Virgen. Beautiful scenery. When we stopped to change drivers, we saw these fantastic plants - Gunnera, or “poor man’s umbrella”.



We were using WAZE (free navigational app) but it let us down towards the end of our trip. It told us to turn into a laneway that supposedly led to our lodge but this was wrong. The road was terrible and led to nowhere. Back to the highway and we made a few more wrong moves. Finally I saw a sign that read “Hacienda La Isla Restaurante” so we decided to try this road. The sign was not large and was easy to miss, which we had done a couple of times.

It’s a dirt road and very narrow. I’m glad we didn’t meet a vehicle coming towards us - there was only one area to pull over and let a car pass. 

Hacienda La Isla is a unique place with beautiful gardens and walking trails. There is a swimming pool. The buildings are traditional Spanish colonial style. Our room had a king bed. There is no air conditioning and I thought that would be a problem but the large ceiling fan made it more than comfortable and at times almost too cool at night. We could sit outside on the two chairs provided with a table. There was a small safe in a cabinet. Good internet. Bring your own shampoo/conditioner.

Outside our room:


We met the people next to us … they were from Holland.

Temperatures: we were in the rain forest. The first day seemed quite humid. After that we were more comfortable. But it does rain and moisture drips from the trees. Many trees and plants we had never seen before. Same with the bird calls. What I believe was a gray-necked wood-rail strolled by one morning. 

Restaurant: breakfast is included and is a typical Costa Rican meal. Food service starts at 7:00 am. There is no menu - but you are asked how you want your eggs prepared. The coffee was terrific … strong! The fresh fruit drink was amazing … made from their own fruits. Dinner starts at 7pm.

The owner of Hacienda La Isla is on site (he is from Belgium) and we met him during breakfast. He greets everyone who arrives using any number of different languages. This is a popular place for European travellers.

Photos from our stay here:

The open air dining area.

The lagoon beside the restaurant.

Ceiling patterns in our room.

Up top there is a room with a balcony.

The lush growth.

On our last day here, we were treated to the appearance of a howler monkey and I was able to make a video:



For our trip home from Hacienda La Isla we decided to plot a different route as shown on the following map:



Coincidentally, and despite a significantly shorter driving distance, the driving time indicated on the route shown is precisely the same (2 hr 23 min) as that indicated for our trip to Hacienda La Isla. This is because much of the trip was through heavily populated areas including the cities of Heredia and Alajuela. However, our actual driving time was substantially greater. We ran into bad traffic conditions, bad weather conditions and bad WAZE conditions.

We chose the route shown because we understood that it would include some spectacular mountain scenery on a part of National Route 32 which is the main highway between the capital city of San José and the port city of Limón on the Caribbean coast. However, almost immediately after we turned onto Route 32 we came to a dead stop at a bottleneck (B1 on the map) which seemed to include more semi-trailers, buses and other large vehicles than it did automobiles. There we sat for 15 to 20 minutes.

When we began to move, traffic was very slow at first but eventually separated and began to speed up and reach normal speeds. But, this did not last long. Roughly within the circled region on the map there was a dramatic change in the weather. As we climbed up into the mountains it became cloudy, then it became foggy, then it began to rain within the fog - and at times it began to fog up within our car. So much for spectacular scenery - everybody had to slow down.

The next dead stop (B2 on the map) came about 100 meters after we exited the Zurqui Tunnel. There we sat for at least a half hour. There was no oncoming traffic. I have no doubt that traffic behind was backed up not only through the 600 meter length of the tunnel but well further on the other side of the tunnel before the entrance.  The reason for the bottleneck never became clear - road maintenance, a traffic accident or whatever.

Ultimately, we exited Route 32, the skies opened up, and the road ahead was clear - or so we thought. Trouble is that my Smartphone pooped out. Somehow, it failed to become fully charged despite having been plugged in all night the night before. Consequence: no connection with WAZE and no ability to navigate through unfamiliar territory. Solution: Park, charge the Smartphone from our vehicle power outlet to get more directions from WAZE and repeat as necessary. We had to repeat 3 or 4 times before we entered familiar territory near the city of Alajuela. We then required no more directions from WAZE to get home.

LESSON: If you are going to go on a trip which relies on WAZE (despite the various foibles that it has), make sure you include your Smartphone (or iPhone) charger within your luggage and that it can be usefully plugged into a compatible power outlet provided by the vehicle you are driving.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - January 2024

Click on images to enlarge.

During January, visits to this blog were received from the following 12 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 136. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions - e.g. the Isle of Man (a self-governing British Crown Dependency) from which 1 visit has been received.
_____________________________________________

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


The dry season is now fully upon us. But, by "us", I mean those of us who live in the Central Valley or Pacific Region of the country and not the Caribbean Region. The difference is that the dry season in the Central Valley or Pacific Region is the rainy season in the Caribbean Region (and vice-versa)


Information on current and recent weather conditions in various parts of the country can be obtained from the website of Instituto Meteorológico Nacional de Costa Rica (Spanish) or National Institute of Meteorology (English except for some images).

_____________________________________________

Off topic

ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica) has published the 2024 January-February issue of its EL RESIDENTE magazine.



A PDF version of the magazine can be viewed and/or downloaded HERE. It contains many articles and references which may be of general interest or to those planning a visit or move to Costa Rica.

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Renewing Canadian Passports in Costa Rica

Click on images to enlarge.

Upon checking the expiry dates of our 10 year passports, I realized mine had expired in January of this year and Lance’s would expire in May. So they needed to be renewed. 

Fortunately it is easy to complete the renewal paperwork and pay the fees on line.

To begin, go to the Embassy of Canada to Costa Rica website. Click on  “passport services” which will take you to the page that explains how to pay online for all their passport services, how to complete the application and how to book an appointment.

Once you pay online (done with a credit card), print out the payment receipt. You will then complete the two page application. For us, it was the “adult abroad simplified renewal” application.

You will need to provide references - two persons who are not your relatives and who have known you for at least two years. All you need to provide is their name, address and telephone number.

Passport photos: these are very specific to Canada regarding size so read these requirements and make sure your photographer understands this. We used Nacho Fotografía here in Grecia. Excellent service and price.

Next up is making an appointment at the Embassy in San José. Another easy online task. Once done, you will receive an email confirmation.

You are ready to go. Apparently your old passport plus completed documents can be sent and picked up through your Correos (post office) but we opted to deliver in person. Traffic to and from San José is extremely heavy these days. One can be stuck in a long car lineup for ages and we didn’t want to miss our appointments. We chose to overnight near the Embassy in a hotel and we did the same thing when they were ready for pickup.

We were told the new passports would be ready in two to three weeks but they actually were available here in nine days. They are made somewhere in Canada - Ottawa probably.

Although we knew approximately where the Embassy was, we used Waze (free navigation app) to make sure we got there. Well! Do not ask Waze to take you to the Canadian Embassy! It took us to some place completely different that was not an embassy at all. The destination you want is “La Sabana Executive Business Centre”. 

Show the gate guard your appointment confirmation, get a parking ticket and have it stamped by the guard inside the embassy.  Park in front of building #5 and go to the third floor. The helpful guard there will show you the lockers for your purse, phone, etc., and you walk through a metal detector. The guard will also scan your body with a security wand. Security is very tight.

You will then give your paperwork to the secretary and she will call you when it’s time to enter either door #1 or door #2.

Your assisting officer will be sitting behind what I imagine is bullet proof glass. On both our visits to the embassy (dropping off old passports and picking up the new ones), our assisting officers were very helpful and cheerful.

The new passports are beautifully designed and appear to be almost impossible to counterfeit.


The cover.


Narwhales on the right.



One of the colourful pages.


Friday, January 12, 2024

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - December 2023 & Year End Review

(Click on images to enlarge).

During December, visits to this blog were received from the following 20 countries:


Each country is followed in brackets by the total number of visits received since records first started to be kept in November 2012.  In addition, 3 visits were received in December from unidentified locations (which in theory could be the same location). For more information on unidentified locations and where they might be see my blog post on August 4, 2023.

From the time I first started to keep track, the total number of countries and non-independent jurisdictions from which visits have been received rose to 136 in December. Of this number, 13 are non-independent jurisdictions such as Hong Kong. The latest country is Kenya which is located in East Africa. The visit was from Nairobi, Kenya's capital city.



During 2023 as a whole, visits were received from 35 identifiable countries and non-independent jurisdictions. As of year end, the total number of visits to this blog approached 52,000 according to an app named RevolverMaps. In the right hand sidebar of my blog, the number indicates roughly 27000+ visitors. However, the latter number is for the period from Sep. 29, 2016 to date and does not include visitors during the earlier period from Nov. 13, 2012 to Sep. 29, 2016. The following projection produced using RevolverMaps indicates with red dots locations from where visits have been received since Sep. 29, 2016:



_____________________________________________

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


There were many days which were overcast virtually all day long.  However, except for a couple of those days the overcast produced no rain. On the few days when it did rain, it typically occurred in the afternoons and was preceded by mornings with broken clouds.

For the year as a whole and as the following chart illustrates, the total amount of rainfall in 2023 was significantly less than that in 2022.


As reported in the The Tico Times: "Due to the El Niño phenomenon, Costa Rica experienced lower than normal rainfall in 2023 across most of the country, ending the year with a precipitation deficit in almost all regions."