Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

I had emailed several weeks ago about taking a tour of a Sloth Rescue Center at this port. They never replied. We assumed we could grab a cab or something once we were off the ship, and were right. They were lined up with about 10 different tours to choose from. For $30 each, the cab took us about 50 minutes south of the port, along the coastal highway. The Center was originally set up as a bed & breakfast. Someone brought the owners an injured sloth, and there it began. People just kept bring sloths to them so they started the rescue center. If a sloth can be rehabilitated, it will be returned to the wild. If not, it lives out it's life at the Center. They had about 6 adults and a dozen babies there. One of our guides was the grandson of the owners. He had grown up in the USA, visiting his grandparents in summers. As an adult he decided to stay in Costa Rica to study the sloths and help our his grandparents.

The tour started with a video about the animals. After that we took a ride in a canoe for about an hour. We saw 2 sloths in the wild, way up in the trees. Also saw many pretty birds and lots of tiny crabs in the mud along the shore. After the canoe ride, we went to see the sloths in their "zoo". I reached out my hand to one little guy, the only one that was awake, and he immediately came closer and grabbed my finger. Very cute. The babies were being kept in cat carriers or plastic tubs. One hissed at me. They had one that was very tiny. Most of the babies had lost their mothers. In the store, everything was sloth of course. Grand Cayman was rays, Puerto Limon, sloths.

On the way back to town, I asked the driver to stop so we could walk down to the beach. It was really nice. Would have been nice to swim. The sand was almost black. Once in town, the driver dropped us at the market set up on the pier. We made a couple of purchases then returned to the ship for lunch.

After lunch we returned to the town. There wasn't much to see. The church is a very modern, cement building. On one side was an old tower, most likely the only part to remain standing after their large earthquake in 1991. Our driver had pointed out all the old bridges on our ride. All of the bridges had fallen during that earthquake also. There was a concert on a different pier so all the towns people were headed that way. Very small town, with only a few of the shops open since it is Sunday. Not a great stop, but we did really enjoy seeing and learning about the sloths.