If you like critters, the Costa Rican sloth can make you fall crazy with it

Just a 30-minute drive from Puerto Viejo, a research and rehabilitation centre for orphans and injured sloths, a famous town on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast, has been in operation for more than 20 years. There are about 150 growing sloths in the center.

More than 20 years ago, an orphan sloth crawled into the home of an American couple living in Costa Rica. An American couple decided to take care of him. Soon the animals began to recover, but did not want to leave the man. So the little buttercup stayed in the house.

Neighbors watched how Americans cared for injured animals and began to bring them wounded sloths. The family quickly converted the house into an animal care centre. Since then, the center has received more than 500 sloths, of which 149 survive permanently.

Now the descendants of the founders work here, with volunteers to help. Scientists trying to explore sloth lifestyles and nutrition have taken an interest in the center.

My friend and I drove to the city center on the road from Puerto Viejo. We were met by the daughter of ursula, the founder of the center, who introduced us to the project and took us to the pride of the center, the sloth buttercup. The 21-year-old buttercup greeted us with a smile. She swung slowly in a hinged swing, occasionally stretching out her paws to grab branches. Soon, Ursula's son Jeffrey took her to a small room where three-toed sloths, who were permanent residents of the center, were housed.

Three-toed sloths are a unique family of animals that are endangered due to the destruction of their natural habitat, the Rainforest of Latin America. In addition, sloths are the slowest animals in the world. They move so slowly that green algae attach to their skin, which helps them camouflage in the leaves. Animals sleep 15-20 hours a day, but they are motionless even when awake. Sloths eat leaves, flowers of tropical plants, and in the center they also eat vegetables and fruits. Jeffrey tells the story of each sloth and brings them to the children. Quite small sloths are placed in the air. Spacious cage with toys and food. At the center, they not only take care of the injured sloths, but also help the little sloths, feed them, teach them the necessary skills,

There were several people on the tour, so Jeffrey allowed us to feed the sloths. The animals are very cute and very friendly. Despite their large claws (they grow to 7-10 cm), sloths do not cause any harm to humans.

We are waiting for the trip to continue, but are already on the river boat. If you love nature, be sure to visit Costa Rica: you've rarely seen such a colorful flora and fauna!

From time to time, we encounter exotic flowers, magical lizards, and even a sloth.

The boatman spoke about the nature of Costa Rica. On the way to the center, he stopped the boat and climbed a cocoa tree with a huge machete. Have you ever seen how the ingredients used to make chocolate are grown?

Huge cocoa beans grow on thin stems.

Our trip is coming to an end. We thanked the host of the center for saying goodbye to buttercup again and driving to San Jose.