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3. Sun, Sea and Sloths: Alajuela Animal Rescue Center

As we drove away from San José and towards the Costa Rican countryside, the heat gradually intensified as we entered a new microclimate. Costa Rica has many different microclimates mostly due to the variety of latitudes in the country. This accounts for its record-breaking biodiversity levels. After about an hour and a half, we reached the rescue center. Paintings of flowers and animals ran up and down the walls, the singing (and screeching) of macaws filled the air, and volunteers of all ages hung about - some by the pool, others in hammocks, and some in the central area. It was like a secret haven in the middle of a small, isolated town. I was introduced to another girl from England who'd arrived that day too and we were shown to our dorm. Once we'd settled into our room (and unsuccessfully tried to put up mosquito nets over our beds!) we were given a tour by the center's lead animal behaviourist. During this, we were introduced to the resident wild sloth, Buddha, and we fed her some leaves.* The rest of the day was spent getting used to our new home and making friends with the other volunteers who were all so friendly and welcoming.

Me relaxing in a hammock at the center

The next several days were spent learning how the center operated. Each day, I'd be assigned to a group of volunteers and with them, I would look after a specific group of animals:

  • Sloths, deer, and pigs (my favourite group!): It was an experience like no other to be so close to sloths, who, despite their lazy reputation, were often quite active and curious. The deer were also extremely friendly and would come right up to you. On the other hand, the pigs were slightly vicious and made me quite nervous!

  • Monkeys: these included capuchin, howler and spider monkeys. We had to be quite wary of these cheeky creatures as if you went too close they would try to grab your hair and clothes!

  • Birds: parrots, macaws, toucans, parakeets and peacocks. So colourful and mischievous! The parrots loved gold jewellery and would try to take it off of us so we had to hide it before we went into their enclosures. Some of the macaws were very vocal - their favourite word was - 'hola!' which kept us entertained all day.

  • Nocturnals: these included kinkajous, raccoons, coatis and owls. They were fed later in the day. The coatis and raccoons would often climb up on us so we were left with muddy footprints on our legs and arms.

1. Sloth | 2. Parakeet | 3. Kinkajou | 4. Deer

On top of this, a litter of ten puppies (just one-month old) were brought in for us to take care of as their mother had unfortunately passed away. We all took turns to feed them every four hours, day and night - and everyone fell completely in love with them. A few of the volunteers ended up adopting some!

Puppy paradise!

When we weren't busy with work, we had spare time to swim in the pool, relax, read in the hammocks, go to the local shop and socialise with each other. Plus, there was the important task of creating enrichment activities for the animals to keep them entertained. For instance, we would cut out cardboard boxes and fill them with treats, wrap food in leaves and hide food around the enclosures. We also would walk down to a beautiful, little creek where we would go fishing. Raccoons absolutely loved receiving a bucket of fish to try to pick up and catch - I felt quite sorry for the poor fish but it did keep the raccoons extremely happy!


Raccoons playing with the fish we caught for them

In the evenings, we all had dinner together, chatted, played card games and tuned into our artsy side by painting the tables in the dining area - everyone was so talented. I painted a picture of one of the macaws saying their signature phrase!

My painting of one of the talkative macaws

At the weekend, I went to Jaco Beach with three other volunteers. It is the closest beach to Alajuela and it was here I finally saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. There, I had my first go at surfing, tasted delicious coconut water and got to see some of the vibrant night life that Costa Rica had to offer.


In my last few days at the center, I got the opportunity to assist with some physical therapy for one of the sloths who had sadly lost an arm to electrocution by a power line. We supported him as he made his way through some branches low to the ground. Despite his injury, he was in high spirits and an expert climber! On our last night, we had a bonfire, toasted marshmallows and played games like 'Heads Up'. The next day, me and a friend I'd made at the rescue center were up early and being driven back to San José. Here we would stay for one night with a host family, do some shopping and then we'd be off to Ostional - a turtle conservation project on the Pacific coast!

*We didn't know at the time but Buddha the sloth was pregnant and has just recently given birth and is now carrying a tiny little baby sloth, Gigi, around the rescue center! Check out photos of them here: https://www.instagram.com/costaricaanimalrescuecenter_/


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