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We were vacationing in Costa Rica near the Arenal Volcano at the Arenal Observatory Lodge and Ken said to me " Wow what a spectacular sight!" As the red hot lava and giant fiery rocks shot from the summit of the mighty Arenal. So he picked up his video camera and started shooting. Thus was the beginning our "
making a travel adventure video in Costa Rica," taking us from the North Central Region of Costa Rica to the North West Pacific Beaches of Guanacaste, on to the Central Pacific to Manuel Antonio, and finally to the Caribbean coast.
Initially I had the idea to make a film on Living and Retiring in Costa Rica since I had actually done that myself. I stayed eight years in this beautiful little country, loved the simplicity of the way of life, and was priviledged to learn quite a bit of the Spanish language which enabled me to get to know many of the locals. I learned to eat their food, listen to their music, and dance their dance. So when my videographer husband Ken came with me for the first time to Costa Rica he brought along his video camera.
As Ken began to experience Costa Rica he said "This country is so beautiful." "Let's include in the film the beaches, mountains, and rain forest." Thus our quest began and led us back to Costa Rica for three consecutive summers. We wrote script and filmed footage and along the way created a visually beautiful film. The finished product is the video which we gave the name-"Costa Rica A Travel Adventure Spectacular." And spectacular it is!
We met so many wonderful Costa Ricans who were tremendously helpful. The owners of Arpe, a large construction materials company located on main street in Alajuela created a space for Ken and his video camera right up on the stage which was constructed for the employees to view the annual Horse Parade (know in Spanish as "Tope") One thousand horses and their proud riders began the parade. The horses were of Andalusian descent, brought from the mother country of Spain. These gentle and graceful horses danced to the music of the Ranchero while the enchanted onlookers snapped photos and greeted the riders.
Our most exciting moment was a BIG adventure called The Canopy Tour. Ken with the tour guide strapped behind him and video camera in hand zipped along twelve different zip lines high up over the rain forest canopy. How Ken was able to hold the camera steady and hold on tight to the zip line rope is still a mystery to me. Then the rain came down in drops as large as quarters but to my surprise and delight the rain drops were warm. We got drenched from head to toe, but took it all in stride and laughed a lot. After all we were in the Rain Forest!
We returned with thirty five hours of footage and Ken began his long hours and late nights of editing, deciding what to put in the film and what to leave out, not an easy task. Costa Rica is a small country of spectacular beauty and we would have loved to have made the film longer to include it all. Knowing that we wanted a film of approximately sixty minutes we sat down to the difficult task of deciding what to omit. But we were so pleased to be able to include three different interviews with North Americans who live in Costa Rica in the central valley areas of Escazu and the two mountain side communities of Heredia and Grecia. Their stories are an insightful look at their daily lives in a small tropical country where the sun shines everyday, and where "Pura Vida" or "Pure Life" is the country's motto.
We sincerely feel that if you choose to purchase the video, you will be happy with it. You will experience the immense beauty of a small area of our earth where the rain forest are preserved. More than twenty per cent of it's territory has been set aside for National Parks and Wildlife Preserves. We would love to hear from you, with your comments on the video at "Contact Us" at the top of the Home page.
Best Wishes, Ann and Ken at costaricalearn.com
"We loved the clarity in the film describing the most popular vacation spots in Costa Rica as well as the great residential areas to choose from. We loved the beautiful churches including the red steel church in Grecia which houses the pipe organ with the exquisite pipe sounds. Seeing the gorgeous flowers, trees, and plants, and the closeness of all the animals -sloths, monkeys, and more. We loved the colorful oxcarts, the traditional horse tope (parade) in Alajuela, and the bull fight in Palmares was a treat! Having lived in Costa Rica for eighteen years, I truly agree with what was said by the North American people who now reside in Costa Rica. The film is beautifully structured, narrated, and produced. Carol Wunderlee.
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