Osos perezosos - get ready for CUTENESS!!
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2011
1
11
14
Trip End
Jul 24, 2011
Montezuma, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Sunday, July 17, 2011
We are on the way to Montezuma! We should be there tomorrow afternoon. We have to drive, then take a ferry from Punarenas on the Pacific coast to get there. (A ferry is a boat that takes cars and people accross the water to nearby land.) We just drove to three different towns to find a place with internet so I could post this story for you. We are in a noisy restaurant in a town called Cartago, up in the mountains near San Jose. My story will be short, but I will be able to write more after we get to Montezuma.
In Spanish, osos perezosos means 'lazy bears' and it is the Spanish name for 'tree sloths.' But a few days ago we learned all about sloths at the Sloth Sanctuary near Manzanillo. Well, they are not lazy, nor are they bears. They are fascinating creatures! We learned about how they move slowly so predators won't notice them, how moss grows on their fur to help them camouflage up in the trees, and also that several species of moths also grow in their fur. There are two kinds of sloths in Costa Rica, two-toed and three-toed, and the sanctuary has both types. They have rescued all of the sloths who live there, most of them as babies, when they got hurt. Sometimes they get hurt by cars, if they try to cross the road (see the sloth crossing sign below), electrical wires (they try to hold onto them when they are crossing into another tree). The sanctuary gives them medical care, and releases them back into nature if they can. Sometimes the sloths need to stay at the sactuary forever, and they get very good care there. (Buttercup was the first baby they rescued. She is grown up now, and you can see her in the hanging basket in the last picture).
I can't wait to tell you more on my next blog! Check back soon!
