Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Travel: Toucan Rescue Ranch

We had an incredible time hiking through the rain forest, bathing in natural hot springs, laying out on the beach, surfing in Manuel Antonio and eating casado or typical dish at every meal. However, the highlight of our vacation came on the last day when we stayed at the Toucan Rescue Ranch. The Toucan Rescue Ranch is a privately owned wildlife rescue facility that initially focused on the care and rehabilitation of the Costa Rican Toucans, but expanded to include other species of birds including macaws, pygmy owls,
whistling ducks to name a few and other animals including a prehensile-tailed (rainforest) porcupine,
a spider monkey, three slothsand seven dogs.The couple that runs the Toucan Rescue Ranch, Leslie and Jorge, just opened the bed and breakfast part this past year and they were such incredible hosts. They made us feel like we were old friends. They really made us feel at home and Leslie told very engaging stories about the animals which would make an amazing blog. They work with different organizations and accepts almost any animal that is brought in including this rescued spider monkey, Isadora, that was chained up to a pole. Leslie emailed us to inform us that Isadora got out of her cage and just walked right into their house.Since the rescue is privately run, they rely on donations and revenue from their tours, the B&B and their small gift shop. We visited three different rainforest to catch a quick glimpse of sloths, monkeys and birds at the distance,all of which we got to hang out with at the ranch. In addition, they have two farms near a rainforest where they release rehabilitated animals that are capable to be back in the wild. What was shocking to us was to see their dedication to the health of all of the animals. Almost all of the animals are on different feeding schedules, so they spend pretty much all day and night preparing meals, feeding the animals, cleaning out their living spaces, and then preparing the animals for bed. They even built a separate sink as a food preparation station for the animals with a specific sponge for each animal. And we thought it was hard for us to feed two dogs on the same feeding schedule.
In addition, their latest sloth, Georgie must be hand fed every three hours, which is almost like having a newborn human.
We regret that we only had one night, because we didn't get to see their farms which backs into the rainforest where they release rehabilitated animals and drink their homegrown coffee. The amazing thing is that most of the funds for all of their great work comes out of their pocket, so we are developing ways to incorporate their work into our curriculum and come up with fundraising ideas at our schools.

20 comments:

Unknown said...

I love that you're trying to incorporate it into your curriculum! This place sounds incredible and I want to take both of those dobermans home with me!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us. The sloth is cute!

SusanA said...

What an incredible vacation - and geared so beautifully to animal lovers. I kept trying to figure out if that first picture was a real animal or just an awesome stuffed toy :) Glad you had fun.

Backcountry Brodie said...

Wot a nice rescue place and great ideer that you be teaching childruns about that. I learned as a yungun to respect wildlifes so I don't chase them on hikes. Only in my own yard. That do be different.

You asked if'n my sis Sydney has an overattention problem. Mebbe in a way coz she do be stubborn, stubborn, stubborn! She pays way too much attention to not listening to mom. She should just give it up coz mom be just as stubborn and always gets her way so they always bump heads. But we love Sydney anyways.

Meredith Travels said...

There are so many amazing people in the world!

Now I would really like to pet a baby sloth :)

Anonymous said...

baby sloth: squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Anonymous said...

My mom says that you have NO idea how much she needed to read today abouts people like these making such a happy difference in the world. Thank you, thank you for sharing them with us! It looks like you made lots of wonderful life-long memories!

Wiggles & Wags,
mayzie

George The Lad said...

When I saw the first photo I thought you had brought a sloth home!! What a great place to stay, and a sloth named Georgie!!!
See Yea George xxx

Two French Bulldogs said...

What an awesome time. Mom wants to go there so bad. We love that sloth picture and all those other furry kids. Thanks for the links
Benny & Lily

HoundDogMom said...

That just looks like an awesome spot for a vacation. What a great idea to try to help with fundraising for them. Thanks for sharing your vacation. That little sloth, never even heard of one before your blog. HoundDogMom

Sue said...

What a wonderful place to stay. Living with animals is better than a hotel any time.

Shauna (Fido and Wino) said...

Oh wow. That must have been such an incredible visit. Wow!

houndstooth said...

What a great experience! You sure took some great pictures. Their dedication is amazing! I agree, feeding the dogs and ourselves is enough for us to keep track of!

Granite State Pet Sitting said...

We were in Costa Rica and think it is such an amazing place to Vacation. Thanks for sharing the great pictures

Anonymous said...

That sloth is the cutest thing ever, but I love the photos of all the other animals also. Costa Rica is on our list of places to visit, so we're definitely going to look into this! Ironically I'm an occupational therapist and I noticed on their website that Leslie once worked as an occupational therapist in the U.S. :) I think all occupational therapists live animals - haha!

Anonymous said...

Oops - typo! I obviously meant "all occupational therapists LOVE animals" rather than live :)

Mary said...

That place looks so cool! How did you hear about it? Did you get to touch the animals? But most importantly, do they have room for a cockatiel? Just kidding. Wow, I would have been in complete heaven being around all those animals.

Aren't howler monkeys crazy? Their voices are so much deeper than I expected.

Is it true that Costa Rica is not very good for snorkeling and SCUBA? That's when it seemed like from my very small amount of research. You mentioned you surfed, and I remember it's good for surfing, so maybe it's too rough for snorkeling.

Kari in Alaska said...

we went fishing while in Costa Rica and caught a lot of Mahi Mahi. The chef at our hotel cooked it up for us a couple nights. It was amazing


Don't forget, we moved to http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

mart said...

Dubai Safari with the best desert safari dubai deals is a great place to take the whole family for a day of fun. There are plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained, from watching the animals roam free in their natural habitats to riding on thrilling amusement park rides. There is something for everyone at Dubai Safari, so be sure to check it out during your next visit to Dubai!

mart said...

Dubai Safari with the best desert safari dubai deals is a great place to take the whole family for a day of fun. There are plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained, from watching the animals roam free in their natural habitats to riding on thrilling amusement park rides. There is something for everyone at Dubai Safari, so be sure to check it out during your next visit to Dubai!

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