How to choose a sloth tour in La Fortuna
La Fortuna has several walks that promise sloths. Some are in the forest, with the animal up in a tree. Others put a sloth in your arms for a photo. That second option is not wildlife watching. The animal is usually off its routine, and often out of its forest.
Before you pay, ask these five questions. If the answer is vague, keep looking. We answer them with the numbers of this reserve, in El Tanque, 4 km from town.
If someone offers to let you hold a sloth, it is not a watching tour. It is something else.
A watching tour does not offer a selfie with the animal in your arms, food in your hand, or a flash. You watch from the trail. On ours, the guide sets the distance and the telescope does the close-up.
Ask for the maximum, not the number in the ad. Ours is up to 10. With more people, each stop gets shorter and the noise goes up. Ten is not a private group of four. It is also not a bus.
Sloths are high. Without optics, a lot of visits end as a green shape. Our day tour includes a naturalist guide and a telescope. The bird tour adds backup binoculars.
At Sloth's Territory, no. You make your own way. From downtown La Fortuna it is a short taxi. If another operator includes pickup, compare the full price, not only the trail fee. Ours starts at $45 per adult on the day tour.
Read Google and Tripadvisor, not only the quotes on a website. Look for notes about the guide, whether they saw sloths, and whether the group fit on the trail. A high score with old reviews says less than ten comments from this month.
The walk is about 1.3 km, easy, and lasts 1.5 to 2 hours. It is not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers. If it rains, the tour still goes out. The trail gets muddy.
Pick the place that tells you what is usual and what is luck. An ocelot at night, for example, is not promised. A sloth by day, in this forest, is the reason for the walk.
