My friend, Marco, my "Ticopedia", works down in Parrita and provided me with these photos from his cell phone. The old bridge is now under the new bridge and the water lines running under the old bridge are broken. Parrita is a low area and they suffered severely from the rains. People say it's the worst in 60 years. Marco is o.k. but his place there was flooded with six feet of water. Some lost all.
Jaco Beach today
Playa Hermosa today
It's been days since I've been out so I loaded up the pups and we went for a ride to check things out. I didn't get off the beaten track because I know there are lots of mudslides and wash-outs everywhere! The rivers are widening and taking everything with it.
Jaco town looked pretty good. All the recent road blocks for drainage construction work on Pop's road paid off. I'm sure some of the shops downtown have been flooded due to this rain but it looked good in town compared to years in the past.
I came home and watched the news and saw just how fortunate we are (unless you live by a river) in Jaco and Hermosa. I took photos of the images I saw on the news. I could not believe my eyes and the tears started to swell.
So much suffering.
Some of you can't watch the news here and so I am posting these pictures for you so you know what is going on.
I've posted the pictures on Flickr.
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/ticamachatourscostarica/sets/72157625195479315/)
Click HERE to go directly to the set "Rain without Mercy".
After seeing this, the rain sounds like Angels crying.
(Jaco photo from 2008 rainy season)
That is how I am singing that song today, God bless Costa Rica, Central America!
We have had so much rain, it has caused deaths and hardship for many people living here. Yesterday, I received this notice from the Chamber of Commerce in Jaco:
Dear members and friends,
Due the rains that have been affecting Garabito the last days and specially last night, Daystar Properties, Red Cross, Jaco Canopy Tour, Municipal Police, Fuerza Pública, Fire Department, Ministry of Health, Chamber of Commerce and Catholic Chuch have joined forces and created a temporary station at the Daystar Properties offices. In order to help the people affected by the rains they are requesting for non-perishable food and water mainly. Also they need clothes, baby diapers, toilet paper, bath towel, personal hygiene items, toothpaste, toothbrush, blankets, among others. Please help these people that need it. Your donation can be delivered in the Daystar Properties offices located 50 southeast from Municipality of Garabito. For more information please call at 2643-1213 Municipal Police, 2643-2853 Chamber of Commerce or 2643-1290 Daystar Properties. Thank you very much!
PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!
I've lived here awhile now and have seen mudslides and people scooping mud out of their houses. One house I saw, the lady had water almost waist deep, carrying her puppy out of the house over her head. It is tragic when the rains come and stay for days unending. I am safe and dry. All the work Jose and I did with digging a trench around my house and filling it with rocks has really helped with the drainage. In fact, most of the work Jose and I did while he was here was to prepare for the rainy season. Thank God, all is good and I have a warm, dry place to sleep at night. Many folks here don't right now.
See this article published today in La Nacion:
Aludes y lluvias dejan 21 muertos y 19 desaparecidos
(you can translate)
God Bless Americas, my home sweet home.
Yes, that's the lyric that comes to mind on days like these days lately. The rain has not let up a bit to let the sunshine even peek through. It reminds me of why I even started this blog, it was during rainy season... many, many moons ago.
I was feeling isolated and the steady sound of pouring rain for days on end was making me a little nuts. I escaped into cyberspace and figured out how to make a blog. I'm so glad I did. I have inspired and been inspired in ways I would have never dreamed. You wouldn't know unless you read from the beginning.
Pura Vida.
You all know how I love to take nature pictures and just love the iguanas around my house. I was shooting through the window screen at one of the iguanas grazing on my hibiscus (Amapola) hedge, in the rain, when a hummingbird popped into the viewfinder for a super quick cameo appearance.
Don't cha just love when stuff like that happens!
Luckily, I am a crafter and a creative person so on days like this, I can find one million and one things to do while listening to the rain.
Here's some rain music.
No, this is not Ray Charles playing Rainy Night in Georgia...
but this guy sounds good. I couldn't find Ray singing this on YouTube.
CHOCOLATE RAIN - another one of my most favorite rain songs! Now he has Cherry Chocolate Rain.
Now it will be stuck in my head for DAYS!
Comments are edited before published so please wait for your comment to appear.
(that's funny,,,, I only get SPAM!!)
This has been an unusually dry rainy season. Due to El Nino, we've had some incredible high tides, bringing in tons of beach sand. A couple of days ago, with the big rain and high tide combo, people experienced the ocean at their doors again! The weather has been so beautiful lately, I wondered if the rains were ever coming... well they did.... starting about two nights ago and they came with a vengence, BIG lightning and thundering. It's been raining quietly in waves ever since.
For those that think of us living in Costa Rica as lucky, I'm not sure it's luck but there definitely is a flip side you don't hear much about and that's how the rain comes and stays and alters your life for a couple of months. Beats snow any day!!
I compiled a running list of different rains way back when.
http://yo-yoinparadise.blogspot.com/2007/10/rain-check.html Adding a new one, Wave Rain.
I don't have a "rain photo" so I'm posting the Lapas that fly over every day (except when it's raining).
As I published this, the rain just "turned off" again.
