Halle here–We had another long drive on a bumpy dirt road to get to the Kids Saving the Rainforest animal sanctuary, but it was super worth it! We started the day doing a tour of the sanctuary with our guide, and he told us lots of cool stories and facts of the animals they had there. We saw parrots that shrieked back to you when you said Hola! A Coati named [insert] that instantly stole everyone’s hearts (especially Blake), An aggressive spider monkey named Darwin who did not like anyone male, tiny marmoset monkeys, Don Pedro the Black Guan turkey, who thought he was a chicken , Kinkajous sleeping, and of course the showstopper: sloths. They are literally the cutest things. After the tour we had a provided lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs, rice, beans, and salad. It was really good!

But the best parts happened after lunch. The group thinned out until there were only 8 people total which already made it much better. Our first task was to go find new leaves to feed the sloths. Apparently they are very picky and like new, tender leaves. While Josh, Dad and I did this, Blake and mom got stuck sweeping the sidewalks.

We then went up to the feed house where mom and I and two from the other family got to peel, chop, and dice fresh fruits and vegetables for the animals.

The boys went out to find worms for the Coati.

Once all the food was ready to go, we loaded it into dishes and into a wagon and took it down the row of enclosures. We got to go into the enclosures and change out the food bowls, and it was so cool!

The animals know when food is coming so they became much more active than before and we could see so much more of them. The Kinkajous that Josh got to feed were especially funny, running out of their box to grab food, eat some, then take the rest of it right back to their box.

Wendy the sloth also was very excited to get food, and it was so fun to watch her climb on the branches then hang upside down to get to the food.

Here’s me, staring down a marmoset.

Blake got to feed the Coati and was overjoyed.

After the animals were fed, we helped clean up and then Blake and Dad played in the pool for a while. We then went home for a rest, then out to dinner at a restaurant with very loud live music and an amazing view. I had fish tacos and they were good! We also got a few virgin Piña Coladas to share. The sunset here was especially pretty, and at one point you could see the whole gradient of the rainbow.