Sloth Paradise in Costa Rica

 

Just getting back from an amazing trip to Costa Rica!  It's been a dream trip for us for so long and I have to credit the Dulera commercial that was popular about 2 years ago with wanting to go so badly.  I've always wanted to see wild monkeys and especially sloths but started seeing this commercial where the girl is taking Dulera for her asthma and now can go travel on her dream trip and she sees monkeys and sloths http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLLv2IErPaw  close up.  After doing much research we decided to spend half our trip at Manuel Antonio on the Pacific coast and the other half in the Arenal volcano area.  Originally I wanted to go to the Caribbean side where there is a sloth sanctuary that I saw on Animal Planet. 

 

But after checking hotel options there and speaking with friends who have visited Costa Rica, it seemed we might be more comfortable with the built up areas on the Pacific side.  Not that the Caribbean side isn't beautiful, but it seems to have a rustic, surfer dude feel to it and while that sounds gnarly and all, we didn't know if we wanted that vibe for a whole week.  And it seemed the sloths were everywhere in the country and we were bound to see them and see them we did!  Diaz y siete in total !  (That's 17 for you non-Spanish speaking folks, you know while in Rome and all that, so we got very in to trying to speak the language).  And there was nothing better than stating to anyone who would listen that we have seen "diaz y siete perezosos" so far.  And, yes perezoso is sloth in Spanish.  Literally means "lazy" since they basically move at a snails pace and sleep about 23 hours a day.  If you ever go, we highly recommend getting a private tour guide to tour through any of the national parks.  If you don't, you would probably never know that the lumpy wig in the tree is a sloth and if you don't have your super zoom birding scope with you, you will never be able to see them close up. 

This guy(2 toed) was snoozing and every few seconds would start scratching away as they do since they are a host for tons of different bugs.  (we all have a purpose for something right?)  He was so cute to watch and all the other group tours gathered around since our tour guide Elias had spotted him first.  Our first spotting was actually while we were in our pool at our Hotel Parador in Manuel Antonio.  We were lazing around in the warm water chatting with some folks and my husband got all excited after looking through his binoculars that he thinks he found a sloth.  He was pretty far away but unmistakably a hairy blob in a tree.  We saw another that night on our night walk with our Sloth Whisperer tour guide Elias (turned out he was the same private guide for the next day).  This guy was a piece of work, if you didn't pay close attention he would say your name until you did but we didn't care, we wanted to see sloths and sloths he found.  Our next day was the private tour (paid $100 per person for this one but if you are sloth obsessed like me, it is so worth it) through Manuel Antonio National Park.  We went at 7am hearing that it is best to view wildlife early before the crowds come through.  Shortly in to the tour, our guide was spotting iguanas, sloths, bats and all kinds of amazing flora.  We counted one by one all the sloths we saw and by the end of the tour I think we were up to about 6 or 7.  Towards the end of the park, you emerge out on to the beach and it is like paradise.  There are changing rooms and showers so you can slip in to your bathing suit and take a dip after spending a hot, sticky, humid time in the rainforest.  It is delightful.  And since we paid $100 each for the tour, we were also treated to fresh fruit, bottles of water and wet washcloths to wipe our faces with.  Halfway through the 4 hour tour we saw a guy from our hotel lugging a cooler along the dirt path, scurrying along passing us.  Well there you go, that's what the private tour gets you!  And it did feel special, we had our own private picnic bench to chill out at.  While on the beach, all of a sudden our guide shouts out "monkeys!".  And we were treated to the supposed daily show that the white faced Capuchin monkeys put on all day long.  About 5 of them came dancing through the trees down towards the visitors who were hanging about the picnic tables.  And of course monkeys are smart so why are people hanging at picnic tables?  Because they probably have food.  These little guys knew exactly what to do.  Reach in to a bag and pull out the food and then run to a tree just out of reach and consume your prize. 

 

We also were treated to a show of 3 sneaky raccoons who the guides called the "raccoon mafia".  They had no shame in running right up to a backpack on the sand as the unsuspecting owner of said bag was frolicking in the warm surf, and pulling out anything they could get their little raccoon teeth on.  One actually did a tug of war with a girl over her sandwich.  He wouldn't let go and neither would she but finally he was able to win out and ran off with his prize.  He was really funny to watch but the sad part is that people intentionally feed them and really shouldn't be so it's become quite a problem.  Monkeys getting sick and dying or becoming too comfortable with humans.

 

So after a lovely 3 nights in the Manuel Antonio area, we were off for our 5 hour trip to the Arenal Volcano area to stay at the beautiful Nyara resort.  This is a place out of a travel magazine as the travel sites had promised.  Lush gardens, luxurious rooms and all with the type of service you would expect from a 5 star hotel.  Our first tour the next day was to the Hanging Bridges but since it was a torrential downpour of rain the entire 3 hours, it was pretty much a bust.  We did spot a few howler monkeys towards the end (our guide missed them, I think he was cranky that it rained so hard and he didn't get a chance to use his guide skills too much) and a few cool birds but that was it, we were so ready to get back to the hotel and out of our wet clothes.  Thumbs up to Eastern Mountain Sports though for my awesome waterproof pants, they were a winner.  The water was just rolling off them like a duck's back as my husband watched in disbelief thinking about all this waterproof gear that he left at home. 

 

Next day was a boat tour at Cano Negro reserve near the Nicaragua border.  After the 3 hour drive to get there (they told us it would be 1 1/2 hrs) including 30 minutes on a dirt road along which the driver joked that we were getting "massaged" as we bumped and jolted along, we actually had a thoroughly enjoyable boat ride and saw amazing wildlife.  We saw another sloth, but he was quite far off in the distance. 

 

Back at the hotel, we had seen a sloth near the parking lot way up high in a tree (his name was Tony) but could never get a good look at him.  My husband was out and about bird watching in the early morning hours they next day and came back all excited about the other sloth he found(3 toed).  He gathered me up and we rushed off down this back area of the hotel where we probably were not supposed to be and sure enough, there was a sloth, in his green mossy grandeur, crawling around, low in the tree, hanging and scratching and doing all sorts of "sloth things."  I was so excited to see him up so close and observe his activity, I could have stayed all day.  The only problem is the stiff neck you get from looking up so long.  We watched him move about, crawl to a new branch, hang upside down, scratch a bit more and then when a bellman realized we found him and brought some hotel guests to witness, our sloth moved deeper in to cover and the show was over.  It was a very special time for me to sit and watch him for so long.  He was like our own private perezoso. 
 

The next day we went to this beautiful local eco reserve, Danaus Eco Center and had a wonderful tour with.....you guessed, Elias...(different guy though, I'm guessing Elias is as common as John in the US).  As soon as we arrived, he brought us to a back area which leads to the reserve and sure enough, another sloth (2-toed) about 5 feet above my head.  Overjoyed, we snapped away pictures as he also crawled about, soaking wet from the rain we had all day so far.  The tour was great, nice level paths to walk along and we saw so many colorful birds, lizards, wading birds and frogs and a few more sloths.  Elias showed us the whistle they do to get the sloth to wake up.  It's like the sloth looks up so suddenly as if to say "what, what happened, what's going on, did I miss something?" and then after a few seconds he tucks his head back in and resumes his snooze for another 23 hours. 

Well, I've gone on long enough with my sloth stories....if you are a sloth lover as I am, visit Costa Rica, it is a beautiful place with warm, friendly people who can't do enough for you, especially find some perezosos for you. 





Appreciation of Water

With a water main break last week, it reminded me again how fortunate we are to have access to clean drinking water just by turning on the faucet.  I often think of how lucky we are each day while I wash a dish, brush my teeth or take a shower.  In many parts of our world, people go without clean water most of their lives.  They might walk miles a day just for a gallon or 2 of dirty water.  Can you imagine the stress of doing that every day? 



Last week, we were inconvenienced for a few days needing to boil our water before we drank it or brushed our teeth with it.  It made me irritable that I needed to do this as it was a busy week and I didn't have time to do this manual task.  But my water still flowed freely so I could shower and I luxuriated in a dip in our pool yesterday.  So I will remind myself again how lucky we are and think of those less fortunate throughout the world.  Be grateful, be thankful.  Hopefully some day everyone will have access to water.  And if we are without for a few days, maybe it is meant to be a helpful reminder.

Doo Wop Wildwood and Vegetarian Cape May

Did you make almost annual trips to Wildwood, NJ as a child as my family did?  Do you remember renting bikes and riding the boardwalk early in the morning?  Didn't it feel like it was at least 10 miles long and you never wanted it to end?  (It's about 2 miles)  Do you remember your same motel that your family stayed in year after year and you loved it but you were always amazed at all the other motels and secretly wanted to stay in the one called a Hawaiian name or the one with giant sized animals around the pool?  Wildwood has a special place in my heart and is filled with nostalgic memories that I treasure.  We always stayed at the All Star Motel on Buttercup Rd.  As we would enter in to Wildwood, we would watch the streets go by and we couldn't wait to see the sign for Buttercup knowing we were close to the fun beginning.  My dad chose this motel because it was right at the start of the boardwalk and he liked that it was owned by professional baseball players.  It used to be connected to the Aqua Beach which is still in existence.  Sadly the All Star name is no more.  Recently we stayed at the Pan American hotel and have really enjoyed this renovated retro hotel.  The outside still has the spinning globe which was placed there in the '60s and has the retro feel to it but the inside looks like a modern hotel.  They have a lovely pool area and are right on the beach.  They have a wonderful collection of historic photos inside when the hotel first opened.  Back then, they offered the ultimate in luxury and it was touted as a modern almost futuristic establishment.  You might be familiar with Morey's Pier today.  Well the Morey family originally opened the Pan Am hotel and still own it along with a few other motels in the town along with the pier. 

A definite must see while in Wildwood is the Doo Wop Museum.  Not to be confused with Doo Wop music although that was very much popular at the time, Doo Wop is a term relating to the bright, funky architecture that Wildwood was famous for. Opened a few years ago, the museum is housed inside the original Surfside restaurant that was disassembled and moved to a location directly across from the Wildwood Convention Center on the boardwalk.  They have a wonderful collection of old neon signs from now non-existent motels and restaurants.  It is also set up as a cafe with old vinyl tables so you can sit and have a bite to eat as you gaze at all the cool signs and furniture.  The highlight of the museum is an electronic wall that has videos and photos from the 1960's featuring the Doo Wop architecture, the music, the motels and the beach scene.  We sat and enjoyed this feature, it was a real throwback to that time.  Sadly there were about 100 hotels and motels in the height of the Doo Wop architecture era and today there are only about 50 left.  Most have been replaced by condos which look very pleasant but there is something about those neon lights and tacky buildings that just felt fun and childlike no matter what age you are.

One of my favorite rides as a kid (circa approximately 1975) was The Golden Nugget rollercoaster.  It was so exciting back then but to today's standards it would seem tame, almost kiddie-like.  The ride had an Old West theme to it and much of the ride was indoors with then scary coal miners and cow skulls about.  In the beginning of the ride, you were up very high and had a birds eye view of the ocean and boardwalk.  We also enjoyed watching the Go-Karts ride underneath the boardwalk and I was in awe and jealous as my brothers raced around the track.  I guess since I was a girl and too young I wasn't able to go on. Check out this video, it has footage of an actual ride on the Golden Nugget. (it's the 2nd roller coaster in the video)

While in Wildwood, we always spend an afternoon or two in Cape May.  We were happy to see a few new vegetarian options in the area.  Good Earth Organic Eatery just opened and has a nice selection of vegan and vegetarian options. They are located in West Cape May which has become our favorite section.  We thoroughly enjoyed an almond nut spread sandwich made on freshly baked grain bread with freshly grated carrots and lettuce.  They also have herbal teas, juices and they house Bliss Organic Ice Cream which offers a few vegan ice cream options which we had the fun of sampling(they were delicious!)  And then there's our favorite standby, Bella Vida which has such an extensive list of vegetarian options that it becomes a tough choice of what to order!  We really enjoy their Tempeh Reuben and Tempeh Quesadillas.  They have great vegan options with vegan bacon and vegan cheese and many gluten free options too.  We didn't get a chance to check out Ella's Good to Go, but the folks who own Bliss also own this cafe which serves smoothies and sandwiches so it will definitely be a stop on our next trip. 

If you haven't been to Wildwood or Cape May in a while (maybe it's been since childhood) I fully recommend taking the trip to enjoy all the nostagia and memories.  You won't regret it! 

New Summer Clothing!

We are so excited to find our new Fair Trade vendor from Nepal offering beautiful organic cotton summer tops and dresses.  They work hard to support women in impoverished areas who have very little income opportunities.  They were exactly the type of items we were hoping to find for this summer.  Thanks to GreenFest in New York for having such a wonderful show with so many awesome vendors that we can now offer to you.  We had a great day shopping and meeting with like minded businesses and came home with quite a few connections.  We continuously try to offer reasonably priced organic clothing fairly made.  We try to dispell the myth that organic is more expensive.  All of our clothing is more reasonably priced than what you would typically find in a department store.  Come and take a look at all we have to offer!

10 Year Olds....Hunting?

There is a new bill being pushed through the senate, Bill S1083 - The Hunter Apprentice Bill which will allow children ages 10-16 to obtain a hunting license without going through any type of safety training program. The child would need to hunt with an adult 21 years or older. So basically the law would allow a 10 year old to pick up a rifle and go out hunting with his oh so responsible 21 year old brother without ever having shot a gun or handled a gun before and off he can go in to the woods and start shooting. Our local senator Jennifer Beck is helping to push this bill along. At a preliminary senate hearing on February 9, she encouraged the bill, stating that it was a good way for a child to see if he liked hunting. Even afer those who opposed the bill stated the facts regarding the accidents which are sure to occur and needless to say, the animals who will be cruelly wounded by an untrained child, she still continued to state her support for the bill. It's a terrifying world we live in with crime, terrorism and war yet we find no problem with recruiting our children to go out into the woods with guns to kill? This bill is simply a way for the pro-hunting groups to try to build up their numbers which are in severe decline. In the past 2 decades, the number of hunters has fallen as much as 50% in some states. So now the hunting lobbyists are pushing bills such as this one to recruit younger and younger aged hunters so they can support the hunting groups who in turn promise to support and fund political campaigns. It's not about common sense when these decisions are made.

Monsanto - The Evil Villain

So picture you are an organic farmer. Your farm is a few acres away from a non-organic farm that uses genetically modified seeds from Monsanto, the corporate agriculture giant. A few seeds drift over to your field permanently ruining your certified organic field yet now you can be accused of stealing Monsanto's seeds. This unimaginable thought has already happened believe it or not. Monsanto has actually sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement.
Many of our food supply has quickly become genetically modified. Original heirloom canola seed has actually become extinct. Monsanto has so widely taken over so much of farming that their seeds have taken over and pretty much pushed out the only surviving heirloom seeds. Sounds like no big deal right? It's just a seed. But do we really know what these genetically modified foods will do to us in the next 50 years? There's an alarming rise in cancer rates. What's it going to be like in 50 years from now as we continue to pollute and scientifically modify our food source. Even animals have been genetically modified. Pigs are not meant to be these massively huge animals who can not even walk on their legs. Have you ever seen a wild pig? That is the true size pigs were meant to be. But they are bred today to grow bigger and faster so they can be slaughtered sooner.
Public Patent Foundation director Dan Ravicher writes "It's actually in Monsanto's interest to eliminate organic seed so that they can have a total monopoly over our food supply." Scary thought. Sounds like a futuristic horror film. Only thing is, it's happening to us right now.

Baby Elephants abused in circuses

Did you ever stop and think where they get all the elephants in the circuses? They look so cute all performing their acts. They look so well behaved and sweet and docile. Even the babies running along behind the others holding their tails look so happy and playful. The truth is that elephants are stolen from the wild, being beaten and tranquilized to endure a usually long and terrifying journey to their new captivity and horror, the circus. Typically babies are stolen since they can be beaten and abused into performing unnatural acts easier than the adults. They are beaten bloody with bullhooks to force them to stand on their hind legs or their front legs, on each other or even on their heads. They perform these acts due to sheer terror of being beaten again. This is their whole life and elephants live well into their 60's. Can you imagine being chained every day in a concrete cell, only able to move a few feet left to right and then forced to perform and also travel thousands of miles in crowded filthy conditions? Sounds slightly familiar doesn't it? Well, this is pretty close to how we treated human slaves in the United States as recently as 100 years ago (and as we know, many countries continue to still enslave others today). We finally realized this was cruel and barbaric even though we had to kill each other in a war to finally end it. So why is it so different for the animals? Why did we finally "get it" that it was not ok to abuse and hold another human being in slavery yet the animals have no rights and don't deserve to be protected and saved?


Ringling Bros is constantly being sued for acts of abuse towards their animals. Their CEO has admitted to these claims in a courtroom. But what happens? They get a fine and they just keep on doing what they do and millions and millions of people continue going to the circus. We don't like to feel uncomfortable, we don't like to think of things that make us sad so we just go and try not to think of how the animals might be treated behind the scenes. I urge you to think about the suffering they endure their entire lives. Do you really want to support an industry that is based on cruelty? Can you ever go to a circus again and not think about it?