The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica

“You don’t want to be late, honey!” Maria's mama yelled. Maria ran out the front door, but then frisked back inside to retrieve her lunch bag.

“Oops,” Maria said, “I suppose I was so excited it slipped my mind.”

“I figured,” her mama said with a smile. She kissed her on the head and Maria sprinted out the door. This was going to be the best day ever; she was going on a field trip to the coolest place in the world: The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica 

Maria rushed out the door and her friend, Esperanza, who lived down the street, was already there waiting for her. Maria and Esperanza always walked to school together. 

Instantly, she felt the warm dampness of the air on her skin. They could both smell the fresh, salty air, as they walked to school together. The tall, green palm trees stood high above the girls as they walked to school. It was a beautiful day in Costa Rica.

As the girls walked along to school, they chatted, excitedly.

When they got to school the rules were explained to them, but Maria was so excited that she could hardly pay attention. It wasn't long though, before they were on their way to the Sloth Sanctuary.

It was a short drive from Limon to get to the Sloth Sanctuary, and sitting with Esperanza made it feel even faster for Maria.

“Hello,” the tour guide greeted their field trip class as they arrived, “My name is Juan, and I will be your guide for the day. Does anyone know why we are here?” 

Instantly, Maria's hand shot up.

“Yes, you raising your hand, would you like to tell us?” asked the tour guide. 

Maria said confidently, “We are here to learn about this Sanctuary for Sloths and how it is making an impact and what it does here.”

“Does anyone here like sloths?” the tour guide asked. 

Again, Maria’s hand went up, along with a few others. 

“Some of you may not be sloth-lovers, but when you are done with this field trip, we hope that you may appreciate them a little more,” said the tour guide, leading everyone out of the building, through another door. 

As soon as they walked out the door, jungle surrounded them.

Almost anywhere you looked there was a sloth hanging or climbing on something. 

“This is where our sloths hang out,” said the tour guide, with a little laugh to himself.

Maria was mesmerized by it all.

“I am going to show you around The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica and tell you a little bit more about what we do here,” said the tour guide, “You will also be learning more about sloths and how they live.The sloths that we take in are either injured, orphaned or have other problems,” he said, “Many of the orphaned babies have been taken from their mothers and sold illegally. Other orphaned babies’ mothers have been hit by cars while trying to cross the road. All of the orphaned baby sloths need something to hug while they don't have their mom to cling to. In place of their mothers, we will give them stuffies to hug instead. Some sloths have been taken from their homes to be held on the side of the road so that people driving by can pay to take pictures with them,” the tour guide went on, “Then the people who take the sloths let them die of low nutrition. It is very sad, and if you see someone doing it, do not stop to take a picture with the sloth. It's all very sad, but that's why we do what we do. We have about 150 sloths here in our sanctuary.”

Next came the best part of all for Maria. 

“And now, I have a special and very fun surprise for you all,” said the tour guide, as he led everyone to canoes, sitting next to a river.

At first, Maria didn't catch on, but then suddenly, she understood, and her face lit up with excitement; she was going on a canoe ride with her class! 

“I will be leading you in these canoes, and I will tell you about some of our sloths’ habitat and the way they live,” said the tour guide.

A few men stepped forward, and the tour guide said, “These men will help you row your canoe as we go long.”

The men handed out life jackets, and Maria put hers on, then was helped into one of the canoes. at first, Maria was a little nervous. she had never been in a canoe before, and it seemed a bit wobbly to her. Maria was glad to see that Esperanza was in the canoe with her, that made her feel a little better. 

Maria scooted over to Esperanza, and said, “Isn't this amazing?!” 

“I know, I have been having so much fun!” replied Esperanza. 

The girls chatted for a little while, until everyone was on the canoes, then the men pushed out into the river. 

Maria was still a little bit nervous, but as the canues moved along, Maria started to feel a little bit more comfortable.

They rode for a few minutes, and even though no one said anything during the time, it wasn't awkward; there was nothing to be said.

Along the way, the Juan pointed out different things to Maria's class.

“As you can see, this sloth is resting right now,” said the tour guide, “It's claws enable it to hang while it sleeps. Many people think that sloths sleep a lot, but in the wild, they only sleep about nine hours.”

They moved on, and the tour guide pointed out more different things. 

“Sloths eat leaves of almost any kind. These leaves don't give them much nutrients, and some are even slightly poisonous. That is one of the reasons why sloths are so slow. Sloths have long digestive systems, and it can take up to two weeks to digest their food. That way, the poison will not hurt them. They live in jungles, like this one, in many parts Central America,” said the tour guide, “Sadly, now people are beginning to destroy sloths’ habitat and live there instead. Sloths are on the highly endangered list. The Cecropia tree is a tree that is one of a sloth's favorite trees, because of its juicy leaves and buds. The tree grows very quickly and can be invasive to Central America.”

The tour guide pointed out another sloth and said, “This sloth is eating on the Cecropia tree right now. It is enjoying the tasty leaves, this time of year.”

They canoed along the river, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and learning more about sloths and their habitats. 

When the canoe ride was over, they had lunch, but Maria could barely taste it with all the fun and excitement. 

When lunchtime was over, the tour guide taught everyone about the baby sloths that they take in and showed them a baby sloth, so they could see it up close, but they weren't allowed to touch it. Even though Maria couldn't touch it, she couldn't care less, it was enough just to see a baby sloth up close. 

Once the afternoon was over, and it was time to go, Maria found herself not wanting to leave. She had had so much fun, and she had learned a lot of new and surprising things about sloths.

That evening, when Maria was thinking about the day, she was sure that it was the best day of her life.