Atenas, day 3

September 14, 2023

Today Rosalie and I tried to leave at 8am to get to a tour of the Toucan Rescue Ranch by 10:00. We made it despite some heavy traffic near San José. Rosalie had been wanting to visit the refuge for a few years.

We got a hot drink and a snack and watched a film with the other visitors, a French couple who lived on St. Barts, a Caribbean island.

There was some beautiful stained glass in the center besides a souvenir shop. A stuffed sloth toy for $36!

Then we got to watch a sloth named Landon, a young male who was a two-toed type, slower than the 3-toed type, poop slowly ("Sloths descend about once every eight days to defecate on the ground" so we were very lucky indeed) and then slowly explore the trees in the enclosure near the visitors center. He was given hibiscus to munch on for his troubles.

Did you know two-toed sloths are omnivorous while three-toed sloths are herbivorous?

Then we started a tour and an Asian couple and their young daughter joined us. The tour was given in English by Alejandra, an enthusiastic young Tica who is an agronomic engineer by training. We were not allowed to take selfies with the animals. It's part of a great campaign here: https://stopanimalselfies.org/en/home/

Little girl wears the traditional outfit for el Día de Independencia

We saw a weasel or two, a badger, an ocelot, a cat not much bigger than a domestic cat called the oncilla, spider monkeys, owls, and, of course, toucans. Each had a sad story of human cruelty or technology (amputations due to electrocution) or, at best, misplaced good intentions. Very few can eventually be returned to the wild.

Maybe you, too, would want to join the Toucan Club?

We stopped to eat a quick lunch and headed home, lots of heavy traffic again, but Rosalie made it in time to attend her Zoom meeting of Democrats Abroad. And then the rain started.

At night the rain stopped and we were able to go to a celebration in the plaza in Atenas for Independence Day.