markets, and toucans, and sloths, oh my!

¡Hola Mis Amores!

Well here we are, full day one in Costa Rica, and it was a doozy. After getting into town just in time for a dinner at what appears to be the TGIFridays of Costa Rica, RostiPollos (there was a lot of chicken,) and a crash course in currency conversion (from colónes to dollars, very roughly, you move the decimal to the left three times, and then double that, or at least I hope that’s what it is or we are going to owe Curtis a lot of money) we crashed out at our hotel in La Sabana.

(RostiPollos… aka LOTS OF CHICKEN!)

This morning, we woke early with the intent of exploring what the city of San José has to offer which, as we learned at the front desk, is not terribly much. This middling city, adjacent to the airport, is primarily a business district, with a couple of soccer stadiums and a nice little park (and the TGIFridays of Costa Rica.) We hopped in a cab and drove downtown, where we found a fantastic and strange little market, sort of akin to a mini airport hangar, a micro Grand Central Market, full of hand-carved keychains of sloths, beautifully painted wooden mugs (although they ensured us they were dishwasher/ microwave safe, we remain dubious,) tchotchkes like little wooden carts full of coffee beans and salad tongs and coasters, and all the embroidered mumus for which two little old ladies like ourselves could possibly want.

After exploring the market and having lunch alfresco on the very walkable Central Avenue, we were off to the star excursion of our day: The Toucan Rescue Ranch.

The Toucan Rescue Ranch is tucked into a tiny corner of San José and, for lack of a better word, is positively magical. We were greeted by the owner and founder, Leslie, and her husband Jorge; they are lovely and warm and charming, and absolutely passionate about what they do at the ranch: rehabilitating and re-releasing native Costa Rican wildlife.

For two California gals like ourselves, the ranch’s origin story sounds like a screenplay pitch. Leslie was born in the states; she grew up in Florida where she spent her childhood rescuing animals. After spending a few years in Costa Rica, she knew in her heart she would eventually return to live there. By the time she was invited to come work with the Costa Rica Macaw Project, she had ten rescued birds of her own to bring with her from the States, a number of which were endangered species, and extremely difficult to transport internationally. While arguing with Costa Rican customs officers over her bevy of birds, the man waiting behind her stepped in to help; he was friends with the officer and convinced him to let her and her birds into the country. That man was Jorge.

Leslie spent her first years back in Costa Rica working with The Macaw Project, rescuing and rehabilitating macaws. One day, an injured toucan was brought to the project, and it had to be turned away. It was at that moment when Leslie realized there was a need for a place for toucans, and the seed for the Toucan Rescue Ranch was planted. The rest is history; Leslie founded the ranch for toucans, but word quickly got around that she was a whiz at what she does, and she soon caught the attention of MINAE (Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Telecommunications.) They asked her if she would be willing to take parrots, too. She said sure. Then came the owls. She said sure. Then, Jorge fell in love with sloths, and Leslie begrudgingly invited a tiny baby sloth named Millie into their ranch. They now have a sloth nursery, college, and release program. As Ms. Hahn pointed out, The Toucan Rescue Ranch’s name has become a bit misleading, given their current denizens!

The Ranch is singularly dedicated to re-releasing these animals and preserving their natural wild instincts, so the volunteers are careful not to interact with them; they do not want these animals to become comfortable around humans. They release their rehabilitated animals (or babies raised carefully at the ranch) at a designated site about an hour away from the ranch; many of the animals take to that site immediately and return there to nest, so Leslie and Jorge often have the pleasure of seeing the babies and grandbabies of the animals they release. Some animals, however, cannot be released for any number of reasons: they are injured in such a way that they could no longer survive in the wild, they do not have the natural instincts, or they are too comfortable around people and would gravitate towards homes and businesses. These animals are cared for at the ranch for the remainder of their lives, and boy oh boy is it a good life at the ranch.

The first animal we met was Hershey, a type of weasel, who lived in a hotel where his curmudgeonly antics were adorable until his teeth got sharp enough to hurt the guests he bit. The team at the ranch thought his aggressive behaviors signified a natural distrust of humans, which meant he could be re-released into the wild, but they soon figured out that Hershey doesn’t just distrust humans; he actively enjoys attacking them (we’ve got a real soft spot for this hilarious little grump.) They decided it might be safer for everyone, including Hershey, if he made the ranch his forever home.

Another thing of note re: Hershey; he is an omnivore, which means that he eats everything: eggs, fruits, leaves, flowers. He eats everything except broccoli. He hates it. How do they know he hates it, you might ask? He either tosses it on the ground, or leaves it on his plate and then proceeds to pee on it. Message received.

There were so many amazing animals, owls, monkeys, toucans (did you know they have serrated beaks? And that they try and dive-bomb the volunteers at the ranch so they have to wear construction helmets when entering the enclosure to feed them? OUCH.) A baby otter named Emma stole our hearts. We met a Mexican hairy porcupine who adores peanuts and smells like B.O. There was Felicia, the ocelot, who was a pet for nine years before she was confiscated by MINAE. We met a cutie named Oz, a striped owl born at the Ranch, who needed a neck brace so Leslie fashioned one out of the bottom of a paper cup! We were charmed by a gaggle of tiny screech owls, who think they look tough if they stick together (but actually just look cuter, sorry guys.) We were awed by Costa Rica’s largest owl, the spectacled owl, who has a sort of muppet-like grumpiness to it that is painfully endearing.

(EMMA!)

(Mexican hairy porcupine!)

(spectacled owl!)

And then there was Ty.

Anyone who knows Ms. Hahn knows she is obsessed with sloths, so this was a watershed moment in our trip. Ty did not disappoint. He munched on hibiscus flowers while our guide, Pablo, told us some fun sloth facts: the sweat through their noses, they have virtually no smell so that they cannot be detected by potential predators, they can go weeks without peeing, they are very solitary creatures (except for when they are raising babies) and take all other contact with living beings as an attack, and they have a pretty surprisingly gnarly bite.

After the ranch, we left San Jose in a 70’s rainbow-colored minivan, and embarked on the five-hour drive to Limón, where we will stay for the remainder of our trip. Driving down unlit roads in torrential rain, at 90 kilometers per hour, the dulcet tones of Lynn Anderson crooning “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” crackling over the radio… well, let’s just say that if we come back in September with a few more gray hairs than last year, that drive is why. There was a lot of nail biting, and breath holding, and frantic mental translations of song titles playing on the soft rock radio station (“November Rain” = Llueve de Noviembre, “Bette Davis Eyes”= Los Ojos de Bette Davis, “Hungry Eyes”= Los Ojos quieren comida?, “That’s What Friends are For”= Eso esta porque tu tienes amigos? Don’t quote me on these… I’m pretty sure they’re all really wrong.)

And now, tucked into bed at the gorgeous, cozy Hotel Banana Azul, we bid you buenas noches for now. More adventures to come mañana!