The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Life in the slow lane – inspired by a sloth
Philip Wilson learns how to take it easy on a visit to a sloth sanctuary at a boutique hotel in Costa Rica
‘Oh, look,” says Edson. “There’s my friend, Mike. He’s taking a sun bath.” Edson Zúñiga, I should explain, is a naturalist and our guide; and Mike is a four-yearold sloth.
My partner and I are staying at Nayara Springs in Costa Rica. This five-star boutique hotel – nestled in the jungle at the base of the Arenal volcano, three hours drive north of the capital San Jose – regularly scoops up top travel awards: and I can see why.
Each of its luxury villas, with a footprint larger than the average flat, has its own private plunge pool fed by natural mineral hot springs. For visitors to this popular Central American country looking to kick back with maximum comfort and minimum effort, Nayara Springs has become something of a one-stop shop. The greatest anxiety is deciding which of its five restaurants to eat at.
Now, the hotel has embarked on some visual stimuli – or should that be sedative? – to further encourage its guests to relax, with the addition of an on-site sloth sanctuary. About seven years ago, the owners planted more than 300 cecropia trees (the animals’ preferred habitat) behind the villas, creating their own luxury accommodation. As many as 15 of the arboreal herbivores now reside here – including Mike (the animals have been named by the guides). We take a closer look at him through Edson’s telescope. And there he is, sunning himself, with a characteristic broad smile on his face. Which brings one to mine.
“The sloth is the coolest of the warm-blooded mammals,” Edson explains. “They face the sun to warm up. And he likes it when the wind blows his branch – it’s like a rocking chair.” Movement without exertion – what’s not to like?
We all know sloths are slow. So much so that algae grows on their fur (unlike a rolling stone avoiding moss). Cunningly, this works as camouflage, and protects them from insects. They move slowly to conserve energy: they can move faster, but choose not to, which I consider to be agood plan. They eat mainly leaves, preferably cecropia, which they digest, very slowly, in their four stomachs. In fact, it takes 20-30 days to process the cellulose and extract nutrition. No wonder they only poo once a week: the only time they come down to the ground (and where they are most vulnerable). A sloth could spend its whole life in one tree. They exemplify the country’s motto, “Pura Vida” (the pure, or simple, life).
“He looks so peaceful,” I say. “How do you know it’s a male?”
“By the orange patch on his back, along the spine. The brighter the orange, the stronger the male. They expose their backs to the female, to demonstrate their prowess. When they fight over a possible mate, it’s like The Matrix.” I envisage slow-mo battles as they try to pull their opponent’s claws off the branches. It all seems a bit energetic for an animal that’s called perezoso (lazy) in Spanish.
“Oh, he’s moving now,” Edson observes. “He’s doing yoga.” That’s more like it. Mike hangs from the upper branches, demonstrating his Upward Salute. Sloths can even sleep while in this position, by locking their claws. A useful skill.
Leaving Mike to his meditation, we move on, and I try my hand at being a sloth spotter.
“Is that one?”
“No,” says Edson, gently. “That’s a bromeliad ... or maybe a nest.”
Clearly, I need a bit more practice – Edson, meanwhile, has been a guide for 10 years, following three years’ training to be a naturalist. As if to prove his point, “Oh, I see Maggie now,” he says, “but she’s sleeping.” Sloths sleep a lot. “And she has her baby with her. But you can’t see the little one, as she is protecting it in her lap as she sleeps.”
“Does the baby have a name?” I ask.
“Not yet, because we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl – we might name him James and she becomes Jean!”
As we move on, I ask who else is usually around. “Well, Sophia is Toni’s wife; Vicki is another adult female; and there’s Jack, a very old two-toed sloth – they are larger, but hide during the day, and move at night. Although I haven’t seen him in a while.” Apparently his tree fell down, so he is currently homeless. I wonder if Jack can muster an opinion on this.
“And there’s Toni! Toni’s awake.”
‘First spotting the sloths really gives you a buzz of excitement, but then seeing them just hanging around makes you smile – and think about slowing your pace’