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I bet you didn't know that I own 12 acres in Costa Rica, right? Well I do and I saw it for the very first time today. Lu and I were up early while Tom caught 11 hours of zzzz's(!) After breakfast, we piled into Steve's truck and off we went. Thru La Tigra, then up and up and up, first on pavement and then on what they call around here, "rock road." And it is. Rocks, that is.

So, first we stopped at Steve's house which is beautiful and has an outdoor kitchen (which makes so much sense in a warm clime) chickens, gardens, a pond, but his farm is so much more than that. We are talking about sustainable living, Sort of an ecological philosophy of living. More on that after we tour the finca on Monday, when I get to try to wrap my mind around biodynamic farming. That is his sweet wife in front of the house. We also met Kimberly, home from college, and were accompanied on our hike to my property by Luis, seen here in a tree, and where else should a boy of 13 be, really?

So here are a few pictures of my land and how utterly beautiful is it? I ask you. 

 Here is Steve leading the way.

 A hazy view of the mountains in the distance.

 Curious cows (luckily, Luis was armed with a nerf gun to fight off any bovine marauders).

 Here is Lu in ecstasy over a HUGE stand of bamboo. hmmmm

 

We stopped at a roadside stand for mangoes on the way back and Steve bought passion fruit as well. I wish I'd taken a picture of it but I ate it before I could. So sweet and good, but it looks like the slimy gray matter that might come from the rotting brain of a corpse. Yummy!

 They gave us watermelon and here is Lu lovin' on some.

Okay, so back to the Finca Luna Nueva for lunch - oh so good, it was tilapia in an onion ginger sauce and a fabu salad and the perennial rice and beans. Forget what else but it was TDF!  Did I mention that everything we eat here is grown here on the farm or nearby? So then, off to la piscina, which had been calling my name all morning. It is ozonated (no chemicals, no chlorine, nada) Felt sooooooo good. Here is a picture of it. Look at the beautiful foliage all around. It's right next door to the outdoor dining room.

And there is a little frog pond next to it and Ishmael (yup that's his name) found this little guy asleep on the underside of a leaf - knew just where to look. He picked him up and the little frog was as calm as could be. Showed us his colors and posed for pictures. Unfortunately for me, they are on Tom's camera so I can't post them here but I swear I am not making this up, he looked EXACTLY like this:

only cuter.

And, if that wasn't enough, the spa! What!? You heard me. Steve had a massage, Lu had acupuncture and traded notes with Kinga, and I had an aromatherapy massage. Ginger, mint, sandalwood, eucalyptus and rosemary. So fabulous. Tom went for an acupuncture treatment with Lu in attendance and I hit the shower. Another wonderful healthy dinner and we are tired and happy and in for the evening. 

A blissful day. Gracias, Steve. Gracias, world.