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Taken while driving from the Veragua Rainforest Preserve back to the docks

in Limon, Costa Rica. This is a stark illustration of the level of poverty that

still exists in this country. Thanks for viewing. Comments welcome.

 . . . to mention that this photograph was shot through the window of a moving bus.

While there are very many rural Costa Ricans that are living in conditions that most Americans would consider very poor, I don't see how this image illustrates that.

I don't know what you consider evidence for the existence of poverty.  To me, two malnourished animals seem to be pretty convincing.  People whose level of affluence is substandard generally don't expend the few resources they have to take care of their animals.

While they may look malnourished, Brahman calves are generally skinny. While I've seen them in better condition, these wouldn't worry any of the cattle farmers here in Costa Rica that I know. The fact that I can see ungrazed grass in the foreground leads me to believe they have enough to eat. I've seen what it looks like when cattle don't have enough to eat, you don't see any grass that hasn't been eaten down to ground.

Anyways, maybe I just have a different perspective. Having lived here for a few years, when I see someone with cattle and a "rancho' (the enclosure behind the cattle) I know they aren't poor from a local point of view.

Many thanks for your thoughtful response.  Clearly, as an outsider to Costa Rican culture, my perspective is different than yours.  Perhaps I should have been more objective.