I have been reading this forum and glad I found it.
I got my PPL in January with 50hrs
I live in Costa Rica and own a Cessna 182 P, I have put 120hrs since January, mine plane came with a Horton kit and also has Vortex generators on top of it.Slow flight is about 40mph IAS so I asume is a decent STOL plane.

We have lots of grass runways, gravel, dirt, but any off airport landing is illegal.
There are like 3 or 4 runways that are challenging (I need to learn a lot before going)

How do I learn this stuff? I dont know any bush pilots in Costa Rica.
I have been pacticing on my own, I do some slow flight and my plane goes about 40mph IAS.
So on slow aproaches I have done them at 60mph, problem I seem to have always is I approach nicely and just over the fence I trim for a light nose and instantly the stall horn beeps a bit too high for comfort.Sometimes I have kept pulling and ended up with a super nice super slow landing, some other times just starts to sink and is a hard landing, I have cured this with a bit of throttle when sinking , but doesnt seem smooth making emergency corrections before touchdown.

Here is a video of a hard one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF9ShPwrvXQ

So any advice, critics is appreciated.
Although a small country is full of mountains

The most important thing is to not mess around off airport until your short field landings are very consistent ,within 10 feet or so.
When on final approach maintain an AOA and control the desent only with power not pitch. Don't be afraid to stab that throttle hard if needed.

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If that was a hard landing think I can beat u there Match stick in the stall warning or tape, fly by feel u will get a better feel in seat of the pants and on control pressures in time. Worked for me anyway....

Rough but not necessarily hard... especially during your practice there is really no reason to bang around.
Lil tip. You want positive control until it's tied down. A gradual power reduction, instead of pulling it out all the way would have given you more elevator control.
Once you pulled the power out it looked as if you stopped flying it. A neat burst of power would have fixed your landing. Whatever the plane was going to throw your way was where you are headed. Not pulling it out all the way would have helped, too. Another thing you could do is take a confident CFI and go riding up and down that runway with the stall warning on, never letting the airplane get away more than a few inches, and never letting it touch down... Find a power setting that lets you stall with any change in attitude or reduction in power. Use your feet, and practice it at altitude, so you are prepared for your torque factor kicking in upon adding power. You do want this last little bit of energy to save your gear and pax when landing on a rough or very soft field. No sense in making it a "point" landing with any part of the plane staying behind. No "bush pilot" here, but love short and rumble fields.. The other thing I noticed is that when you are behind the power curve, you depend on that propeller and engine alot. Work your power settings so you can work your airplane. Give yourself enough energy reserve as to avoid a sudden stall so low to the ground so far out. Do it at altitude, get behind the power curve (depending on power to maintain control) really hang it on the prop and pull that power out suddenly. There is almost no buffer to play with and you have very little time. Also, you'll need to push the nose over much more to get any flyable speed. I bet the ground tickles the belly before you have had enough control to convert that energy into a controlled impact.

That landing looked fine to me as well.

I would suggest, however, that a looonnnngggggg flat approach like that is a pure invitation to go swimming. That is not a short strip at all, and with the uphill, you WILL stop. There is no need to drag the plane in at such a flat approach profile. Keep it higher, and fly a normal DESCENDING approach. You should be using LESS power as you approach the touchdown, not MORE power to climb up to the threshold.

MTV

My wife and I spent 7 days in Mal Pais back in March, we loved it! We should have went flying.

Going into Tambor in a FULL Caravan on a hot day was awesome, those pilots do a great job.

If you ever come up this way I'd sure take you flying around the Utah and Idaho backcountry, then I'll come down there and we'll practice some steep aproaches in your 182 But really, I'm serious, come on up and we'll go fly some fun stuff.

Thank you for your replies.
Im going to try steeper approaches.
What about adding trim, should I start doing it earlier in the final run.?
All my landings I try to come slow approaches at 65mph,sometimes 60mph if I come a bit faster the plane bounces and wants to continue flying.
UtahMaule thanks for the offer, sounds tempting, Im going to USA at the end of the month.

Forgot to mention Im tempted to get a canard conversion for my 182.

The reasons are, I will be using it a lot for photoshoots from the air, also sightseeing, there are a few airports that will make it safer (if I was good it could be taken with my 182) and also the safety of a slower stall speed.
I fly a lot over mountains with no place to land.

What are your opinions on the Peterson canard conversion?