It's the place of golden light and warmth and soft, green shade. Of the tranquil play of sea, sky and forest, of furious thunderstorms before velvet nights of stars and fireflies.

It is where life is lived to the moon's cycle; where grownups always have time for the children; where work is fishing or ranching, building or planting, and play is dancing and surfing, fiestas and football. And dozens of species coexist without endangering each other. When you were a kid, you wanted to live here.

Mal Pais has been in your mind's eye forever. You thought you imagined it, but you didn't. You remembered it. It's real.

Mal Pais is a long thin village with houses, restaurants, and small hotels strung sparsely on three kilometers of gravel road parallel to the ocean. Immediately to the north is Santa Teresa. Cabo Blanco Nature Preserve is to the South.