Saturday, March 17, 2012

Pura Vida

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Palo Verde 2

Pura vida is the unofficial national motto of Costa Rica. It translates literally as pure life but it means so much more. It's about making the most of what live gives you in a generous and caring way, sort of carpe diem with a warm, soft touch. It is expressed in many ways, including the country's strong commitment to environmental preservation (although not its bad roads). The large national park system is evidence.

We took a day trip yesterday to Palo Verde National Park, which surrounds the Tempisque River. I'm no nature photographer but the subject matter was literally falling out of the trees. These photos are just a part of what I shot yesterday. I will edit more when I can and put them in the growing set of CR pictures on Flickr here.

Today is our last day here. We'll drive to the next village up the road where where there is supposed to be a festival. There may be bull riding or even a bull fight.

I want to take a minute to recommend Carolina's restaurant in Tamarindo. We had dinner there last night and twice when we were here 14 months ago. It's one of our favorite restaurants in the world.
The food is incomparable - I had potato-crusted mahi mahi in a vanilla cream sauce that was simply amazing. Carolina, who received her culinary training in Switzerland, and her staff are the warmest, sweetest people you could meet. Pura vida.

Palo Verde 7

Palo Verde 6

Palo Verde 8

Palo Verde 3

Palo Verde 10

7 comments:

brattcat said...

a wonderful assortment of wildlife...of course the same could be said of yesterday's post, too.

Pat said...

Love all the shots except the monkey. Monkeys scare the daylights out of me. Actually, your photo is good; just not for me!

Stefan Jansson said...

I like the pet in the last shot.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Oh wow Bob, fantastic shots. My favourite is the 'winking' owl, nudge,nudge say no more!! haha! Gosh your time in Tamarindo has gone by so fast. I hope you 'relaxed' a little bit!

Jack said...

Well dne, Bob. The owl is great.

William Kendall said...

Beautiful shots, Bob!

Virginia said...

I'd say you ARE a nature photographer now B. Great shots all.
V