Sloth Sanctuary and canoe tour

[092306]

My wife and I will be going to Costa Rica in March on the Freedom. We were thinking about doing this tour. My wife is really interested in doing this tour, she REALLY REALLY wats to see a sloth. We were wondering if anyone has ever done this tour and would they recommend it to anyone. Also on this tour of the sloth sanctuary did you get to hold any sloths. My wife is dying for ME to hold one, while she gets a picture of it. Lucky me lol! If you have done it can you also give and idea of what to expect. Thank you in advance

[sheltielover256]

I haven't been able to find much on this either, but we're going over Thanksgiving break and I'll try and remember to post an answer when we get back!

[092306]

Thanks! I'm hoping one is able to hold a sloth on the tour and the canoe ride and jungle hike aren't anything too adventurous...Enjoy your cruise and the tour!

[TheDukes]

My wife and I will be going to Costa Rica in March on the Freedom. We were thinking about doing this tour. My wife is really interested in doing this tour, she REALLY REALLY wats to see a sloth. We were wondering if anyone has ever done this tour and would they recommend it to anyone. Also on this tour of the sloth sanctuary did you get to hold any sloths. My wife is dying for ME to hold one, while she gets a picture of it. Lucky me lol! If you have done it can you also give and idea of what to expect. Thank you in advance

 

My DH and I did this exact tour in 2006 while on the Brilliance and had the best time. Yes, you can hold a sloth and have your picture with it. They even show you quite a number of babies, they are too cute! The canoe ride was fascinating, the guide driving the canoe made alot of effort to point out the birds, monkeys, etc... We would go again. Here is the link to the sloth sanctuary that you visit - http://www.slothrescue.org/index.html

[Nukesailor]

Hi, Folks!

While we didn't do this tour, it has great reviews. Also, book it ahead, as it sold out on our cruise.

If you want to see sloths, and other critters, in the wild, go on any of the rainforest tours. Sloths are all over the place, especially in Costa Rica. We took the ecocruise on Lake Gatun and saw a mother sloth (3-toed) with baby. Also monkeys and many, many birds.

So many tours, so little time.

 

Art

[ncdachsiemom]

My wife and I will be going to Costa Rica in March on the Freedom. We were thinking about doing this tour. My wife is really interested in doing this tour, she REALLY REALLY wats to see a sloth. We were wondering if anyone has ever done this tour and would they recommend it to anyone. Also on this tour of the sloth sanctuary did you get to hold any sloths. My wife is dying for ME to hold one, while she gets a picture of it. Lucky me lol! If you have done it can you also give and idea of what to expect. Thank you in advance

 

That would be a wonderful tour....we did it with Oscar Brown a couple of years ago and are doing it again in December. Go to oscarbrowntours dot com or google him for a great trip. You would want tour 1 plus the sloth sanctuary. He is a lot cheaper than the ships tour and you get to see so much with him. Lots of cruise critic members have used him and I found out about him on this site.

 

Linda

[CCaroleAnn]

My wife and I will be going to Costa Rica in March on the Freedom. We were thinking about doing this tour. My wife is really interested in doing this tour, she REALLY REALLY wats to see a sloth. We were wondering if anyone has ever done this tour and would they recommend it to anyone. Also on this tour of the sloth sanctuary did you get to hold any sloths. My wife is dying for ME to hold one, while she gets a picture of it. Lucky me lol! If you have done it can you also give and idea of what to expect. Thank you in advance

 

 

Hello,

 

We just came back from a cruise on the HAL Zuiderdam (12/3/2009-12/13/2009) and we did this same tour. It was a ship sponsored tour. I would highly recommend this tour to any animal lover. I think it was around $72 per person.

 

We were picked up close to the pier. It was a nice bus and a short, 1/2 hour drive to the Sloth Sanctuary. There was lots to see on the way there. The road is along the ocean. The guide told us about Costa Rica on the way there. His name was George and he was very informative. Once there you will do 3 activities. The order in which you do them may change. They split up the larger groups. It never seemed crowded. The sanctuary seems to be run well and they are very organized. The place is clean and the animals seem happy. First there is a easy walk through the rain forest. The guide pointed out all the different plants. We didn't see any animals on the walk. :mad: Then you will take a canoe ride through the rain forest. The canoes hold 6 plus the guide/driver. We saw lots a plants, birds, bats, lizards, butterflies and a sloth. It was really nice. Then it's on to the sloths. They show you a cute movie about sloths and tell you how they started the sanctuary. It is a private sanctuary. They get no money from Costa Rica, just donations from people like us. Then a sloth "handler" comes in and everyone can get their picture taken with Buttercup an 18 year old sloth. You can pet her but you can't hold her. After that they take you into a small enclosure with sloths that have been hurt who are now recovering. Then we went onto a patio and had fresh fruit. The baby sloths were on the patio and they were so cute.:o They don't want you to pet the baby sloths but you can get really close. We we able to gets lots of cute pictures. The sanctuary has beautiful grounds. Lots of flowers and butterflies. There is a large outdoor enclosure for some of the 120 sloths they currently have living there. Most of which will never be able to be released back into the wild. You can walk around the enclosure and talk to the sloths. They really seem to like people and come over to look at you. Of course they have a gift shop full of sloth stuff. We really enjoyed our visit there. After leaving the sanctuary we stopped at a craft/tourist market for a little shopping. The prices in the market were much less than at the sloth sanctuary. :eek: I'm guessing the mark-up goes to help sloths.

 

Our dinner tablemates told us that evening, that they took a $20 taxi tour from the port. Along the way they stopped and some kids had a sloth in a box. They let them hold it and take pictures with it for $1. It is illegal to keep a sloth as a pet. That's part of what the sanctuary is all about.

 

 

Enjoy your trip and Costa Rica!!! We did.

[2tsquared]

CCaroleAnn,

 

Great review -- the best I've seen on these Boards!

 

tt

:)

[092306]

Thank you very much for the info. We are really looking forward to this now. Thank you again.

[The Scottish Kirks]

CCaroleAnn,

 

Thank you for your great review of the Sloth Sanctaury - I am considering going on that tour in February when we are on Celebrity Equinox. Just wanted to ask about the canoe ride - my husband is a non-swimmer and as such a bit nervous about water activity - did it feel quite safe on the water and how long did this part last. Do you think he woudl have the option to miss that part out or do you think it is really a big part of the tour ??

 

Thanks,

 

Linda

[ithaca gal]

It is funny how we all have different perspectives and opinions about the same topic. My husband and I just returned from the Panama Canal cruise on the Zuiderdam and we took the Sloth Sanctuary/Jungle Canoe Ride tour. I selected this for us because I couldn't face the two hour drive to the Rain Forest. I am very much an animal lover and was so looking forward to this close access to the sloths. Unfortunately, you cannot hold a sloth; you can only stand next to the owner of the sanctuary and have your photo taken while he holds the sloth. Also, the "jungle canoe ride" is very enjoyable, but very short (the brochure says 40 minutes but ours was less than 30) and the "jungle" is the backyard of the sanctuary (yes, there are sloths and some bats and a lizard, but it definitely isn't the primary "jungle"). As for your husband feeling comfortable, the canoe is very "tippy" if anyone leans over and/or turns quickly. While I was completely at ease, your husband might not be. I would recommend riding the longer distances to the real rain forest.

[amapola]

We also did this tour recently and found it very enjoyable. Our experience was similar to the other posters, although we had one not entirely pleasant (but funny in retrospect) experience. On the canoe ride, we saw a large group of howler monkeys, including a couple of babies, up on the trees. Everyone was looking up, quietly oohing and aahing, when the monkeys decided they'd had enough of us and started hurtling poop at us! :eek: They got the guy on the front seat of the canoe right on the shoulder. Another bit of poop landed on the seat next to me but didn't hit me. The canoe guy made a quick turnaround and paddled like mad to get us out of range! It was a National Geographic moment, that's for sure :D

 

Unfortunately, I thought DH had the camera and he thought I had it... but it was actually back on the ship. :rolleyes: Darn!

 

PS: this is my 1,000th post, how cool is that!! :p

[texancruzer]

CCaroleAnn,

 

Thank you for your great review of the Sloth Sanctaury - I am considering going on that tour in February when we are on Celebrity Equinox. Just wanted to ask about the canoe ride - my husband is a non-swimmer and as such a bit nervous about water activity - did it feel quite safe on the water and how long did this part last. Do you think he woudl have the option to miss that part out or do you think it is really a big part of the tour ??

 

Thanks,

 

Linda

 

 

Hey Linda - its TEX (Cheryl) from last Mays Celebrity Solstice cruise !!!! How are you guys ? See you are on another Celebrity cruise next month ! We (Mike and I + kids) are headed to Costa Rica for a land vacation over spring break (March 13th) I thought I would check out the ports of call for Costa Rica and see what I could find ! Do come back and post about your experiences while there !

[The Scottish Kirks]

Great to "meet" you again - we are good - this is our 50th birthday cruise coming up, travelling with my childhood friend and her husband (she and Alex have also just turned 50 so its a triple celebration),

 

Our eldest daughter has announced she is getting married in THAILAND in 2012 so this will be the last cruise a for quite a while so need to really enjoy it,

 

Will post a review on our cruise once we get back (27th Feb). i am trying to find out more about the Almonds and Coral Lodge area as their is an interesting ship's tour going there but no response so far - if you know anything about this, let me know.

 

Tell the Sultan we are asking for him ;)

 

Linda:)

[texancruzer]

Great to "meet" you again - we are good - this is our 50th birthday cruise coming up, travelling with my childhood friend and her husband (she and Alex have also just turned 50 so its a triple celebration),

 

Our eldest daughter has announced she is getting married in THAILAND in 2012 so this will be the last cruise a for quite a while so need to really enjoy it,

 

Will post a review on our cruise once we get back (27th Feb). i am trying to find out more about the Almonds and Coral Lodge area as their is an interesting ship's tour going there but no response so far - if you know anything about this, let me know.

 

Tell the Sultan we are asking for him ;)

 

Linda:)

 

Wow...... sounds like you are busy guys ! Hope you b'day trip is a good one. And congrats to your daughter. OOOOO Thailand - that is on my list of "must sees" Don't know a whole bunch about Costa Rica - researching alot right now myself. We are staying in 2 bedroom condo in Jaco. Plan to take some day trips as we will have a rental car. Ziplining is top of the list :) I will tell "Sultan" Mike you asked about him. We were actually looking at those pics/videos the other day -- what a trip !!! We have our 30th anniversary in September and Mike and I are trying to figure out what to do for that.....perhaps Tahiti cruise or Egypt trip. Not sure yet. Take care !