Paradise?

From our recent trip to Costa Rica.

This is on land that OQ and his wife own near Golfito.   Their plan is to preserve it as a wildlife refuge, and they were hoping to buy more land nearby to put together some sort of ecologically viable wildlife corridor/refuge.  Apparently, they wrote up a proposal and got some sort of grant from an international organization but, as O explained it to me, they figured out their idea was unfeasible after finding out how much $$ people were asking for local land.  In the end, they turned the grant down. Sad, no?  Apparently the real estate frenzy is affecting paradises far and wide.

But, no parking lots on this paradise, anyway -  We had to hike to this spot!

True, it was only about 12 minutes from where O parked his vehicle on a dirt road; still, it was a challenge to the mothers and at least one of the boys.  On the way back, as I recall, some of us took an adventurous route up the mountain side, while others took a longer tamer route... There may have been a rescue involved.  It's all a blur now.  In this vein, I simply can't resist... I have to post one more picture; here's our good friend who braved this adventure with us (below). Because he's not my son, I've blocked out his face (pretty bizarre effect, huh?).  I just love the pose... for some reason it's making me remember how my sisters and I used to perform "Tiptoe through the tulips." I've named the photo "Mud meets flip flops" or "El Barro contra Las Chanclas."

 PS - Many thanks go to wildlife photographer "D" who risked life, limb and scorn to get these shots.  Check out the fantastic detail in the mud.