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Costa Rica’s Reopen Timeline

The Health Ministry on Monday presented Costa Rica’s plan for a gradual reopening.

Beginning May 16, Costa Rica will further ease coronavirus restrictions and allow limited visitation at beaches and national parks. If the epidemiological curve permits, more measures will be lifted in June and beyond.

Here is Costa Rica’s timeline for reopening, as presented Monday by the Health Ministry.

May 16 to May 31

  • The following national parks can open at 50% capacity: Irazú Volcano, Poás Volcano, Guayabo, Braulio Carrillo, Carara, Corcovado, Manuel Antonio, Cahuita, Arenal, Rincón de la Vieja, Los Quetzales and Tapantí. Monteverde, a private reserve, can also open. Tickets must be pre-purchased.
  • Non-contact and individual recreational sports / athletic training are permitted.
  • High-level contact sports are permitted, without spectators.
  • Small hotels (maximum 20 rooms) can reopen at 50% capacity.
  • During the week, beaches can open from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m.

June 1 to June 20*

  • Remaining national parks reopen at 50% capacity.
  • All restaurants at 50% capacity.
  • Public parks at 50% capacity.
  • Museums at 50% capacity. (Prior ticket purchase is required.)
  • All other hotels at 50% capacity.
  • The current border restrictions will expire on June 16; these may be extended.

June 21 to July 12*

  • All stores at 50% capacity.
  • All cinemas and theaters at 50% capacity.
  • Religious centers can hold gatherings (maximum 100 people with 1.8 meters of separation).
  • Bars at 25% capacity.

July 13 to August 2*

  • Schools under to-be-announced protocols.
  • Contact sports with spectators (20% capacity).
  • Beaches with social distancing.

* All plans beyond the measures announced for May 16-31 are tentative and may be changed if Costa Rica experiences a surge in cases. 

‘Golden rules’ for containing coronavirus spread

The Health Ministry announced a series of “golden rules” that should be observed by all residents of Costa Rica.

  1. No one with a cold or flu, or with respiratory symptoms, should leave the house.
  2. People with coronavirus risk factors should avoid going to public places.
  3. While in public, maintain a distance of 1.8 meters (6 feet) between anyone not in your “social bubble.”
  4. Do not touch your face in public without first washing your hands.
  5. Do not sing, shout or speak loudly in public.
  6. Wear face masks, especially on public transportation or if remaining in a public place for more than 15 minutes.
  7. If possible, take the temperature of patrons before allowing them into an establishment.

Vehicular restrictions to continue

Starting on May 18, the following daytime vehicular restrictions will be enforced between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.:

  • Mondays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 cannot drive. Vehicles with license plates ending in all other numbers can transit freely between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.
  • Tuesdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 3 and 4 cannot drive. Vehicles with license plates ending in all other numbers can transit freely between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. .
  • Wednesdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 5 and 6 cannot drive. Vehicles with license plates ending in all other numbers can transit freely between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. .
  • Thursdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 7 and 8 cannot drive. Vehicles with license plates ending in all other numbers can transit freely between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. .
  • Fridays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 9 and 0 cannot drive. Vehicles with license plates ending in all other numbers can transit freely between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. .

A total vehicular restriction — with a few exceptions — will be enforced nationwide every weeknight from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following morning.

The weekend driving restrictions will continue between the hours of 5 a.m. and 7 p.m.:

  • Saturdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in even numbers cannot drive.
  • Sundays: Vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers cannot drive.

A total vehicular restriction — with a few exceptions — will be enforced nationwide every Saturday and Sunday night from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following morning.

Cronograma

 

Thankful to live in Costa Rica with common sense national leadership!  ~CD

¡Pura Vida!

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Rain Trees

Or “Tree Trunks in the Rain!” which sounds like it could be a song or poem in addition to one of my “Nature as Art” experiments. I was sitting on my terrace watching it rain when I got the inspiration to photograph the wet tree trunks during the rain – and yes, they do look different when wet.

You could do this anywhere in the world with many different kinds of trees, so give yourself a “quarantine break” for a little creativity – try it!

This is the kind of thing I really expected to do more of in retirement and in this blog – so maybe I will now!  🙂

And oh yes! The rainy season has started! Good rains two days in a row! (Saturday & Sunday) My favorite time of year! And it is made even better because tourists don’t like to come when it’s raining! More peaceful!   🙂

 

 “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”    ― Martin Luther

¡Pura Vida!

 

See also my gallery:   Flora & Forest

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Unknown Insect

More than a week ago I cellphone-snapped a shot of this funny-looking flying bug in a drop of water on my bathroom counter. He was gone the next morning, either flown away or eaten by one of my many geckos.

Retirement in Costa Rica does include living with bugs and this year’s “pre-rainy season” seems to have included more than usual for me, especially flying  insects around the lights at night. I sometimes just never turn on the light in my bedroom at night to avoid being bothered by flying insects when in bed.   🙂

We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics.     ~Bill Vaughan

 

🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

See my photo galleries:  More Insects   –  OR   –   the separate Butterflies gallery. Insects are truly amazing!

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My Bird Count Today

Today is “Global Big Day” of counting birds where you live to help science better see what is happening to the health of our planet. I was out from 5:30 AM to 7:15 AM along the border between our housing project, Roca Verde, and the adjacent farms on the border-line gravel road called Calle Nueva (literally “New Street”) that serves as one emergency evacuation road from Atenas along with being a great nature walk and road for bicycles.

I’ve had better days and worse days of birding on that road, so maybe “average” is what the scientists want!   🙂   I observed at least 60 birds of more than 12 species, which is the number of species I photographed. I only report on eBird what I get photos of, which is not the typical eBird user, but I feel more confident with my reports because of that and eBird has volunteer “checkers” to make sure I labeled a bird correctly. Of my 60 seen, 30 were one flock of parakeets!   🙂

It was overcast or cloudy almost the whole time I was out, meaning poor light and white skies as terrible backgrounds most of the time! Only one photo has even a semblance of a blue sky. That’s life! There were no “lifers” or first-time birds for me, though my first time in Roca Verde to see and photograph the Rufous-capped Warbler, and the photo included here is of him “warbling!”   🙂   The name link is to my gallery with shots of this bird from 4 other locations in Costa Rica and some are better shots. And then maybe a first for me at Roca Verde is the juvenile or “immature” Yellow-faced Grassquit which at that age does not have the bright yellow on his face.

Here’s my mostly weak photos against drab skies, but they show you what I saw today:

9 May 2020 Birds

On March 29 I got 19 species of birds on this same walk on Calle Nueva.

See all of my BIRDS galleries or go for just Costa Rica Birds.

¡Pura Vida!

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Today is The Day!

The day for all of us to count birds where we are to help science better determine the stability of our fragile planet. Today, 9 May 2020 is GLOBAL BIG DAY of counting birds.

Find out how at:

https://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-9-may-2020

¡Pura Vida!

 

And after you have counted bird, check out my collection of BIRDS photographed from around the world!

And here’s an interesting NPR article shared by Larry, especially for those who are noticing their birds more – read or listen to at:

Do Those Birds Sound Louder To You? An Ornithologist Says You’re Just Hearing Things

 

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Global Big Day on 9 May 2020

Help create a better picture of the total health of our globe by counting bird species in your yard or neighborhood THIS SATURDAY, 9 MAY 2020. Simply count the birds you see any time that day and report them to eBird. To learn more or get a free eBird account, go to:

https://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-9-may-2020

And to help motivate you, check out my collection of BIRDS photographed from around the world!    🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

Health Ministry forecasts long path for return to international tourism   (Tico Times)  

 

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Emergency Appeal for “Giving Tuesday”

Hogar de Vida (Home of Life), a Christian children’s home for abused and orphaned young children here in Atenas gains much of its budget each year from the visit of “mission teams” who pay to come work with and for the children year around with most coming during the northern summer months (now). The Coronavirus has stopped all team visits this year through at least August with the borders closed and groups afraid to travel, thus there is a financial emergency at both the home here in Atenas, Costa Rica and the similar home in Guatemala. Go to this link and consider giving online to help the children here in Costa Rica or the ones in Guatemala if you choose:

COVID19 EMERGENCY APPEAL

For Hogar de Vida

And God Bless You!

¡Pura Vida!

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What to do with gift bananas?

My gardeners made a special trip over today with three new plants to freshen up three pots, two outside and one inside. I may show them later, but after completing the job they gifted me with a bunch of bananas (probably from one of the yards they service) and I had just bought some yesterday! So – extra bananas!

I keep them in the frig because earlier I had bats eating my bananas in a fruit bowl on the counter, so they will keep – but I still need to eat them more frequently this week. Thus I had a banana split after my spaghetti dinner tonight! Small dips of different kinds of ice cream: Fig, Rum-Raisin, and Chocolate Mint with chocolate syrup and two cherries on top! Betcha you never had that combination! Pretty good!   🙂

Yeah, in Central American Banana Republics we eat a lot of those!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

Read The Washington Post stories that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize   Especially the one explaining climate change!

 

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Pandemic Birding!

Thanks to my friend Larry for catching this fine AP News Article:  Bird-watching soars amid COVID-19 as Americans head outdoors   Read the article linked to see what people all over the U.S. are doing more of now, then head over to eBird or just use your phone to download the free app Merlin to identify birds and start your “bird collection” online or in a photo gallery. My world-wide (10 countries) ebird count is over 530 now!    🙂    Thank you Larry for this great way to relieve one’s boredom from quarantine! And feel free to peruse my BIRDS photo collection that include 76+ species I photographed in the States before moving to Costa Rica.

Now, this quote from the article:

“The birds don’t know that there’s a pandemic. They’re migrating, building nests and laying eggs, just like they always have,”      ~Michael Kopack Jr.

¡Pura Vida!

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One Week from Today – Count Birds!

One week from today, May 9, is GLOBAL BIG DAY for bird counting all around the globe. Click that link to see how you can participate from your home while in quarantine. It is easy to get a free eBird account then record the number and species of birds you see or it can be done through the Audubon Society.

If you have trouble identifying birds in your yard and don’t have a field guide to help (or even with it) download the free phone app called Merlin that will help you identify your bird. It is fun and free and can be done from anywhere in the world, even from inside your house looking out a window. Try participating in GLOBAL BIG DAY of bird counting wherever you are next Saturday, May 9. Get ready now.

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GLOBAL BIG DAY

And to help motivate you, check out my collection of BIRDS photographed from around the world in my “older” adult years!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!