Tiempos de bebes!

This post is dedicated to my favourite time of the day- BABY TIME!

Poco and Shiloh getting ready for baby time

At around 10am each day we are allocated "baby time". As all of the babies are still gaining strength, their enclosures do not have elaborate climbing structures. So there is a jungle gym in one of the clearings in the sanctuary where we take the babies out to get some climbing experience. First of all, we have to take them out of their enclosures by having them hold on to the front of our bodies while we take them over to the gym.

Taking Mateo out for a climb

When we reach the gym, the babies are encouraged to start climbing by using their hands to grip onto the branches, whilst we support their body weight until they are balanced... and then off they go!

It's amazing, because each baby is different. Some are superstars, and race around as soon as they reach the gym. Others are a bit more hesitant, and take a bit of encouragement... sometimes they will start climbing but quickly return to you and reach out so you can take them again. Either way, the best thing you can do is support them when they need it, but really encourage them to climb on different areas of the gym.

The cutest thing is watching them go to the toilet. You have to place them at the bottom of a post, and they do this cute little bopping movement while they do a poop.

Becky getting Mateo ready for a toilet break 

Perfect position!

Except that he fell asleep :(

My first baby time adventure was with Shiloh who is the smallest of the "big" babies (little babies stay inside in the house in incubators because, amazingly, sloths can't regulate their body temperatures like most mammals, and rely on external heat and cooling sources). He's usually inseparable from his bed buddy, Poco, but over the past week he has gained so much confidence and is now climbing faster and further than any of the other babies!

Go Shiloh, go!

But then he has enough, and starts to cry...

So he reaches out for a helping hand :)

It is such a wonderful experience to be able to watch these animals problem solve and strategise! Sometimes they get a bit too close to each other, and it creates a bit of a traffic jam... but with a bit of redirection you can usually help them sort it out before someone gets too fed up and starts to bite or scratch.

One of the cutest parts is watching the 3-fingered Bradypus sloths (there are two species- two fingered and three fingered) go for a climb. They are so much slower than the two fingered babies, but they still love getting out and showing off their skills!

Bindi and Arthur about to get into a traffic jam

Hang on tightly!

Corey prefers the ground

But sometimes we can get him on the baby jungle gym!

So as you guys can imagine, I'm counting the seconds until 10am each day! But my next update will definitely be an adult one- I am getting to know all of the personalities now, and I am still learning new and amazing sloth facts every single day! Until next time, here are some cutesy shots :)

Baby Luigi

Harpo stuffing his face with almond leaves

Poco! (with Shiloh coming up from behind)

Sussing out the situation...

Token Harpo sleeping position

Baby Violet working the baby jungle gym

Change of plans...

Well, I ALMOST made it to Panama yesterday... but not quite. Instead, my travel plans have changed, and I am volunteering at a sloth sanctuary near Cahuita where we did the snorkelling. I was lucky enough to spot on their website that they take volunteers, and had a sudden change of heart and thought "damn, I really want to be doing this!". And so after a bit of miscommunication (long story, not interesting) Jono and I went our separate ways- me to the sanctuary to learn to care for sloths, and he to Bocas del Torro in Panama to surf. We'll meet back up for our boat trip to Colombia on the 14th to sail on the 15th.

But in the meantime, I'm going to be writing about my experiences here at Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary. My first day was pretty short, I arrived at 12 and by this time more than half of the work has been done. But I did get to see one of the most amazing things ever- the baby sloths being fed!

I am in love with these guys, especially Shiloh, the teeny one, and Rollo, the one in the last few pictures. Hopefully tomorrow we will take them out to play on their jungle gym- so excited! Will post more soon!

Pura Vida, bro

These are the words that you keep hearing EVERYWHERE- Pura Vida, bro. Pura Vida translates literally as "Pure Life", and it's kind of the national motto- people say it to greet each other, to say goodbye, when they are excited about something... pretty much everything is Pura Vida. So what have we been doing since Monteverde?

Our first adventure was to a place called Santa Teresa, which I have artistically filled in for you guys with a yellow "S.T" since it wasn't on the map :) This is a quiet beach town and is perfect for beginners learning to surf i.e me! So I hired a board for 4 days and got into it. Great news is that I'm starting to catch actual waves now... I am making the transition from whitewash warrior to crappy surfer chick. Bad news was that my whole body was SORE- but I guess that's also a good thing... means that I have really worked it. It was also a bit of a pain since there were rocks everywhere, and since the guy at the shop scared me when I rented the board, quoting all of the costs that would add up if I even so much as scratched the bloody thing, I was freaking out anytime I came near shore where the evil rocks were waiting for me. But I survived, and so did the board. Yippee!

Rainy day on Santa Teresa

Casa Zen

We stayed at a really chilled out place called Casa Zen (how appropriate!) It was an awesome place to stay, filled with hammocks surrounding a quiet garden and even a yoga studio up on a balcony to use! It is also the place where I fell in love with the resident gato (cat), Fritzina. Her favourite past time was pouncing on killer moths and eating them to protect us. I felt she was worthy of a photo in the blog because she is totally awesome. 

Fritzina!

So after Santa Teresa we travelled on to another beach town called Jaco. It was kind of a mix between Tamarindo and Santa Teresa- still tacky and touristy but some of it was ok. All in all, not really fussed on it, but we did stay at a pretty cool hostel and met a crazy South African chef who was a bit of a laugh :) Oh, and they did an amazing burger/smoothie combo which was the absolute bomb, so that kept the tummy nice and happy!

Following on from Jaco we moved across the country to the Carribean. Apart from my short stint in Livingston, we have only been on the Pacific side but since we met a girl on the Nicaragua/Costa Rican border who lived in a place called Cahuita and told us to visit her we thought that it would be a good time to check it out before we ventured into Panama. We travelled through the capital of San Jose and 8 hours later ended up in Cahuita. First impressions were the Carribean influences! Everyone has a Cool Runnings accent and the whole vibe is very very lazy. It was a nice place to check out, and it was even better having someone who lived there show you around. We went snorkelling one day which was amazing... I really want to look into getting my PADI somewhere along the way because the feeling I get underwater is so tranquil, I think that I would really enjoy diving as well. So we saw lots of cool fish and coral, saw some tiny sharks and just hung out in crystal blue water for hours, it was paradise! And then that afternoon as we were walking along the beach of a national park we looked up into a tree and saw a mother sloth and her baby just hanging out! Now, I have been in search of a sloth ever since we entered Costa Rica, and this sighting was just amazing- the mother was passed out in true sloth style, and then the baby was so tiny and nuzzling her face- so priceless! 

All in all, Cahuita is a strange town- everyone knows everyone's business and there's also a bit of incest and druggo business but on the flip side the people can be pretty cool, they have awesome food and an awesome setting as well... bit hard to beat!

Now we have moved on from Cahuita and are in the next town called Puerto Viejo. In the next few days we will be travelling into Panama which is our last stop on the Central America circuit- really hard to believe that this part of the trip is also coming to an end in the next month or so. Will write again from Panama :) xxx