Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica — Attraction in Valle La Estrella

I went on this tour this week with my family and left with a terrible impression. I would NOT recommend it and it is NOT worth the $30 per person. The tour was 2 hours - 1 hour of a tour with a guide who speaks about sloths, and 1 hour of a completely unrelated boat ride down a river that has nothing to do with sloths.

Although the sanctuary has close to 190 sloths in captivity we only were able to see 4 in a small building and 4-6 younger sloths in outdoor cages during the guided tour. I got the impression the other sloths who have been accumulating as permanent residents since the sanctuary opened almost 20 years ago, were kept in cages that the owners did not want us to see.

I asked the guide many questions during the tour that he was unwilling to answer because it strayed from his script. I left with a few nifty facts but no big revelations about they way these animals live. For instance there was no mention of the algae and moss ecosystems sloths maintain on their fur.

My biggest take away was that this place opened and started accepting animals when it had no idea how to care for them, this was reiterated several times on the tour. For that reason there are so many sloths that cannot and will never be released in the wild. This saddens me. I believe this center has good intentions but their actions are misguided and they are not doing much to remedy this.

Instead of learning about these animals I left saddened that so many were trapped in cages due to injury from human activity or irresponsible actions after they were brought to this place as babies. The Sloth Sanctuary is a tourist trap, exploiting these animals for an overpriced tour that has little to no substance. I would not give them any more money until they have solved the overcrowding problem they created by improper care.

We visited another animal rehabilitation and rescue center during our trip around the La Fortuna area called Proyecto Asis. They had one juvenile three toed sloth in a beautiful habitat. In contrast that tour was one of the best things we did. The guide was great and it was very educational.

Another side note: All the materials in the gift shop are imported from the USA, which was disappointing as I expected there to be local goods supporting the community this animal...

Even though it's not what it used to be if you're not that well knowledgeable about slots, then the tour will be nice at least informative because, now they don't go to like a little forest or anything like that to see the slots you visit the ones that are in cages because they're not able to go back to the wildlife and you see them in the cages not actually on a tree or anything because they are the ones that have some type of problem till they need to be in that containment. There are really well treated clean exceptionally clean I must say and they look happy even though are not in there natural environment at least they're happy and well protected. I believe they should tell people that they're not going to be able to see the slots in their natural environment or touch one because years ago this was possible and a lot of people go having this expectation. That's the reason why Im not giving a five, because even though, I know that the ticket helps fund the sanctuary, and cure protect and release slots again in their natural habitat, a lot of the information given in the 1hr tour, it's something that you can read or research. So, if you're going to pay a moreoreless pricey ticket to have the tour, that's basically basic info about slots, at least, it would be nice to know that ahead of time, not paying for something totally different from what you're expecting. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea about the century and what they are doing, but what I'm saying, is that they should give a heads up, because a lot of people go there to actually see a slot on a tree or even be able to touch one, that's why I'm pointing...

I would like to share my experience yesterday. We arrived early in the morning, the lady told us the there is no space left for the guided tours yesterday and to come back at 1pm local time. Just to let you know we made 4.5 h to visit the sanctuary… and 3 h more to get in. 30dollars of entry fee pp. The Guide was very prepared and kind, and we saw the rescued sloths, what was very kind and interesting. The tour of the 2 ROOMS of the sanctuary that are just open to the public. After an hour of explanation and the 2 rooms the tour was finished. They told us they have a lot of sloths in the nursery but no chance to see. I’mean i don’t pretend to enter the nursery or be disrispectful towards the animals. But nowadays are so many ways to show animals (trough live webcams, or preregistered videos… etc…)

If i’have known it was like this i have not waisted my time and 2 day of holiday for this. I’m really sorry, i wish i had known so that way i’have just made the donation and not waisted so much time for 1 hour of theory that nowadays can read by yourself. I’m sorry but evidently the sanctuary has not clear that people come from long distances to visit. So for me it was quite disrespectful.

Suggestment: better a donation than a visit, because the visit is a...