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.
