What The Rain Brings To Our Jungle Home

Sometimes it is best to start with a photo of a sunset without RAIN , which is not that often these days here on Playa Zancudo

The rain has started along with the increased Mosquito population and I just have to say we have resorted to vacuming the Mosquitos off the screens in our kitchen most every morning now .  Life in a tropical jungle what did we expect . 

We survived our first monsoon rainfall just 2 weeks ago on a Saturday night with a good 6 to 8 inches of water covering parts of our yard in a  matter of minutes............and the good thing about rain that falls that hard is...........No Mosquitos .  There is no way any insect could make it through that rainfall .  So , our first taste of the start of the mini rainy season is upon us .  As for all the rain we got on that Saturday night..........soaked up in a couple of hours . 

 Now it usually does not rain all day , so we do get some awesome sunshine normally in the morning hours with the skies clouding up in the late afternoon .  I have been quite impressed by the amount of agua that falls from the sky and now understand why the Costa Rican Rain Gauge looks like a 5 gallon bucket with graduations in gallons not inches . 

The start of the mini rainy season has provided us with good info prior to the real rainy season in October and November........We have NO LEAKS in our roof......Job well done Roy and Victor......mi amigos . 

The amazing part of getting all of this rain is the sheer beauty of a very lush country........It feels like someone turned on the High Definition button on our property and all of the surrounding properties .

Looking out towards the playa and the calle

Pathway to the front puerta

As for our fruit trees , flowers and shrubs

1 of 3 of our Carombola ( Star Fruit ) Trees hanging full of fruit 

Crotons 1 of about 8 different varities here on the property

Pride of Burma ours has grown to about 5 feet tall and normally only grow to 3 feet

Costa Rica is surely a gardeners paradise...........just break off a branch and stick it in the ground and the next thing you know it is growing .  Propagating new plants here is so easy......you just have to remember to have patience and wait for the rain to start . 

I have not yet mentioned the one other insect that all of the rain has brought.........Cockroaches..........apparently they are being flooded out of their natural habitat and have decided to take up residency in our Casa.......mi esposa is not happy .  As for me , I think I have seen my share of cockroaches and I know that we don't stand a chance in Hell of getting rid of all of them so we take out as many as we can .  Anyone out there got a good recipe for deep frying insects......they have to be more tender and juicy than the beef here .

We continue to work towards completing the screening of our front porch and the front A framed rancho.........fingers crossed ,  another week,   and we will have a lot less mosquitos to deal with in the main living area.  Still I am amazed at how many of the local Ticos deal with the sheer  number of Mosquitos with out any screens at all.........not to mention all of the rainfall and living just inches off the ground .  Many of us could not imagine living with those conditions . 

Yesterday we made the trip out of Zancudo on the bus heading to Cuidad Neilly for produce and on to the border for VODKA and a few groceries  from the City Mall before heading to Laurel to complete the process of opening our Costa Rican bank account and yes we can now hide money in Central America.........if we only had money to hide .  Still life is good here and I feel so comfortable living in such an open house with an awesome jungle property just steps to the playa .  I have told mi esposa it is really going to be hard to live behind windows , doors and walls  again..........not anytime soon though . 

I do want to ask if anyone out there happens to be shopping at Petsmart.........could you check and see if they make pampers for gekcos........since the mosquito population has increased so have  the piles of gekco poop........yes I am grateful they are doing there best eating as many mosquitos as they can but I still haven't had any luck potty training them and they are pooping everywhere........Remember , Pura Vida and Sleep With Your Mouth Closed