Whatever the weather

I’ve been checking out the neighbourhoods. Trying to see where I’d like to put some roots so to speak.

Costa Rica is slightly smaller than West Virgina, and slightly larger that the European state of Denmark. As I’ve mentioned driving here is not unlike driving in West Virgina. It may not be a lot different to driving in Denmark now I think of it.  I really need to write that post to explain why at some point.

But unlike West Virgina or Denmark, Costa Rica has a number of microclimates which can vary a lot within a relatively small area. Whilst overall the country is consistently warm year round with temperatures averaging between 70 and 81 °F (21 and 27 °C), the daily temperature and rainfall can vary with both place and elevation depending on the time of year.

Ray and Sue over at The Costa Rica Guide have done a great job of illustrating these differences with their sunshine / temp and weather / rainfall maps.

So if weather is an important part of your decision-making, then there’s a little homework to do when moving here.

No place like home

The places I’ve looked at so far usually have a central “park” or community area, with shops and restaurants around it. They vary in size, from smaller “towns” such as Grecia, to larger “cities” like Cartago. These central areas are where locals and visitors congregate, catch up, hang out and people watch. Oh and get ice cream :).

Cartago (which used to be the capital of Costa Rica before it moved to San José in 1823) is situated at the base of the Irazú Volcano and has wonderful churches (The Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles has some great architecture) and ruins (the Church of Carthage is the remains of the unfinished parish church of Santiago Apostle which was never completed due to a number of earthquakes).

So far I’ve only covered the areas around San Jose. Over the next few weeks I’ll be venturing further afield to places like Arenal, Nosara and the coastal towns. Maybe even visit a beach or two 🙂

LTPV!

Gary