Fauna
The Colours of “Pura Vida”
Pura vida is a characteristic Costa Rican phrase. The literal translation is “pure life”. However, the expression is used to convey different meanings such as “plenty of life”, “full of life”, “doing great” and also “this is living!”. The phrase can be used in many ways and even as both a greeting or a farewell, as an answer expressing that things are goingwell, or as a way of giving thanks.
It is clearly evident in the Costa Rican attitude towards nature, which is celebrated, appreciated and protected. Therefore it should come as no surprise that the predominant colour in Costa Rica is green. In the rural area you are treated to miles and miles and miles, as far as the eye can see, of green. Many different textures and tones of green, often uninterrupted by any other colour.
Maybe to balance out all that green, the urban areas of Costa Rica, like its capital San José, display bursts of strong and vivid colours. It is an environment one would imagine William Eggleston to be very happy to work in.
Meet the locals at “Proyecto Asis”, wild life rescue sanctuary in Arenal, Costa Rica
In December 2013, I had the privilege to visit the Central American country of Costa Rica, a country with an incredible natural beauty and dedicated to the pursuit of a pure and clean life. The country is known for the diversity of its flora and fauna. I saw many sights and colours and took a great many pictures which I will be sharing on this blog very soon.
During a visit to the hot springs of the Arenal volcano I had immense pleasure of visiting “Proyecto Asis” . According to their website, the sanctuary exists because “human development and the accompanying destruction of natural habitat, not to mention illegal hunting, have led to a precipitous decline in wildlife populations, causing many species to be in danger of extinction. We believe by doing our part in helping injured wild animals and educating the public on the struggle of these animals, we will be helping to restore the balance between man and nature”.
At “Proyecto Asis” I made the acquaintance of its current residents and was quite impressed. At first I was shocked to see some of them living in cages, albeit large and comfortable ones. The lovely guide explained to us that the animals living in cages are ones which are used to living in packs. As they were abandoned or forcibly taken away from their packs, they need to become part of a new pack before they can be set free again together. It is all for their own good and their living conditions are a vast improvement over their previous circumstances.
It is my pleasure to introduce to you some of the current locals at “Proyecto Asis”!
Lightpainting by Richard John Isa 