Life in Guanacaste by the numbers.

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After my last few posts, I thought perhaps everyone would enjoy a return to the lighthearted observations of 'the good old days'. You remember - february 2012? Those were the days, amigos y amigas!

It really is true though, things are the most "normal" that they have been since we arrived 3 months ago; Ella and Charlie are now both bringing friends home from school, we can't seem to keep snack and juice levels stocked and I'm starting to wonder if it's really me that's drinking all the beer (Charlie's buddies are all older teenagers, after all).

In any case, I thought it would be fun to share some benign statistics with you that reflect our day to day life.

0 - The number of traffic lights within a 45 minute radius of Playa Grande

2 - The number of "optional" stop signs between home and Ella's school (a 20 minute drive)

8 - The average number of hitchhikers I see on this same journey. Also, the average number of cars I see on the road every day during the combined 40 minute trip back and forth from Ella's school

20 - The average number of cows that I need to weave our truck through every couple of mornings

3 - The number of cows that our neighbour Jake has hit with his truck while driving at night

72 - The number of field or forest fires reported so far this year in Costa Rica (as of 4 weeks ago). A 700% increase over last year, mostly due to arson or negligence.

6 - The number of songs I've written since coming to Costa Rica

1.5 - The average number of times that the power goes out every day here. Luckily, it never stays off for more than a few minutes

600 - The cost, in colones, for a beer (roughly $1.20)

350 - The average, in US Dollars, of our monthly electricity bill

3 - The number of squished lizards I see on a daily basis

50 - The average percentange saved when buying FRESH produce here, versus in Canada

400- The relative percentage increase in flavour of tropical fruit here (compared to fruit in Canada that has been shipped by train)

65 - The number of houses in our little neighbourhood of Palm Beach Estates

3 - The number of restaurants within 300 metres of our house. How they stay in business is a mystery but they are ALL good

50 - The approximate percentage of people that move to Costa Rica only to return from whence they came because they can't handle the inconveniences of life here

6 - The usual number of fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate croissants that we have delivered to our house every Saturday morning

35 - The average daily tempurature, in celsius, since we arrived here

0 - The number of cloudy and/or rainy days for the first 2 1/2 month of our visit

2,600 - The amount we spent, in US dollars, to rent a Toyota Rav 4 for 3 weeks

3,800 - The amount we spent, in US dollars, to purchase an Isuzu Rodeo which we get to drive for 4 months

400 - The amount spent so far, in US dollars, to fix the above-mentioned truck

3 - The number of working windows on same

2 - The number of people you might see on 2.5km of pristine beach during low season. This includes yourself and the person walking with you

35 - The approximate number of leatherback turtles that came in to lay eggs at Playa Grande this year. The number used to be over 1,000

1 - The number of fish I have managed to catch here, while everyone else seems to be feeding their large families with their fishing skills. And it was a poisonous puffer fish which I let go (but not before being completely entertained by its puffiness)

2 - The number of seasons here in Guanacaste: dry and wet (or dry and "green season" so as to make it more attractive to tourists)

35 - The amount, in US dollars, for a small wedge of imported Gouda cheese at Auto Mercado. We try to not buy imported food :- )

32 - Our most recent dinner bill, in US dollars, at Scallywags. This included 3 excellent fish dinners, mahi mahi served with garden salad and rice and black beens, 4 beers and an iced tea. Cheaper than cooking at home.

1,200 - A conservative estimate of the number of pictures I have taken so far

77 - Days left before we fly back to Canada



Well, there you go. A partial glimpse of our daily lives, 'by the numbers'.



Until next time, Hasta Luego!

Dan xo

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Photos

5 AM
This is the "fishing spot" right out back of our place. When I took this picture, there were fish jumping non-stop. If only I could get them to jump into my hands.

Oh man, what a view!
The is one of reasons we came here in the first place! This lovely view from La Roc restaurant, on the way to Nosara.

Crocodile tracks
A little guy, but still a very cool find.

Monkey see...
Monkey doo-doo. This guy was too tired to chuck poo at me. But if you do piss them off they will pee on you and throw feces. I am in no rush to see what kind of an arm they have on them. A kindergarten teacher could probably handle them.

Hitching a ride
We were stuck behind this truck for about 45 minutes but were kept HIGHLY entertained watching the 6 people riding on top constantly having to duck and weave under the branches of oncoming trees. And they were sitting ABOVE the horns of bulls. Talk about being caught between "a rock and a hard place!"

"the portal"
Gateway to...????

The Sztricskos
Sue and Steve at the golden hour. And I'm not referring to their age.

The estuary mouth
The sky is always a little prettier with a few clouds.

Salt Mine Trail
We went on a snake finding walk with the Sztricskos. No snakes (that we could see), but a lovely walk all the same.

Ssssssnake!
I wish I had taken this picture but in reality it was taken about a year ago by a neighbour. Still, it is exciting to see that a HUGE neo-tropical rattlesnake was found at the other end of our little town of Playa Grande.