COSTA RICA – CANAS

February 28 – March 2, 2024

We arrived in Canas and were pleased to see our hotel (yes, we stayed in a hotel) was just a few blocks in front of where the bus dropped us off. Hotel Canas was not ready for us and had us wait over an hour while they prepared our room. Being a former motel manager, I can tell you this is unacceptable. When I asked the receptionist to check on our room (at the time they had given for it to be ready), it still was not. We waited another half hour. After seeing how the housekeeper does her rounds, I can understand why. Rather than do one room and have it ready, she was trying to do 6 at the same time. Six rooms tied up, rather than getting them ready one at a time.

It was a small room, but it had A/C – sort of – it kept cutting in and out. It had no kitchen but it did have a fridge. There was a chicken place on the corner. We went in and ordered 4 piece”s of chicken. I noticed that she was not putting any wings in the bag. I did the Red Skeleton thing of putting my fists in my armpits and flapped my elbows, while saying “Me gusta” She laughed and said “Es un ala” Wing is ala. I learned a new word. Perfect. The next night we went back to the chicken place and she immediately said, “Recuerdo que te gustan las alas” As I was walking up on the third night, she said, “Sin alas. Solo piernas” as she mimed wings and slapped her thigh. I pretended to be upset, but we both laughed.

The only reason we were staying in Canas was to go to Santuario los Pumas.

It is a wildlife sanctuary founded in 1960 by husband and wife, Werner Hagnauer and Lilly Bodmer, as a refuge for wildlife affected by illegal trade and injuries. They rescue about 250 animals annually. About 50% have been returned to the wild.

However, in cases where the animal has been a pet, or has lost its mother as an infant, it cannot be taught to be wild again. Baby cats need to be taught hunting and survival skills from their mother. If they don’t get it from her, they can never be taught. Animals that have been pets are too friendly with humans and therefore too trusting to be turned loose. Some animals have injured limbs that do not allow them to climb trees or run fast. These animals are permanent residents of the facility. Since they started keeping record in 1983, nearly 2700 animals have entered through their gates. I was hoping to see some sloths and jaguars.

We hired a taxi to take us the 7 kilometers to the reserve. The cages are huge, with lots of natural trees growing in them and lots of shade and climbing apparatus. It was not like a zoo, where animals are cramped. There were nice paths that brought us from enclosure to enclosure. In front of each enclosure was the story of the animal in it – what kind of animal, its natural habitat, its name, and its story.

The first thing we saw were spider monkeys that were rescued house pets.

There were wild howler monkeys swinging through the trees above. Were they tormenting their cousins or offering support?

There were a few enclosures with pumas. I can only gather they don’t play well together or the risk of having babies is too high. One puma, Bruno, was quite active. He was in a tree, then moved to a shady spot on the ground, then back into the tree. We were told that feeding time was at 3:00 PM and also the route the food would be going. We waited until the allotted time. Bruno was supposed to be the first to feed. He knew it. He began to pace along the fence, by his feeding platform. I could almost hear Archie Bunker asking Edith where his dinner was. When the meal came, the handlers closed and locked the sliding gate between the main enclosure and the feeding area. Only then did the worker go into the feeding area and deposit a huge slab of raw meat. Bruno sat waiting, literally licking his chops. When the worker was out of the cage. The locked that gate, unlocked the separation gate and let Bruno have his dinner. He casually walked in, grabbed the meat in his massive jaws, then went back into his little forest.

Other cats were ocelots – very good at hiding in plain sight

The shy tigrillo is only the size of a housecat size

The jaguarundi was the hardest to spot.

There were lots of macaws, toucans and parrots. And the odd cheeky squirrel.

This 2-toed sloth has damaged back legs, and cannot climb. It lives on the ground and was lovingly had fed by a worker.

The railings to keep people back from the cages also doubled as the water supply pipe.

There were a couple of greater grisons. They looked like badgers (same family) but ran around and played like otters.

I wanted to see the jaguar, so we were diligent in hanging around their enclosures waiting for them to be fed. Even after the huge chunk of meat was dropped off for them, they were in no hurry to come eat. One stayed on his platform on the opposite side of the pen. In the other pen, he finally appeared. OMG, what a beautiful creature! Granted they are regularly fed and cared for, but his coat was sleek and shiny. He came in, picked up that 5 kilos of meat and casually walked off. It took all of one minute but I was in awe the entire time.

I was satisfied. I had come to see a jaguar and I did.

There was not much else to see or do in town. As we searched for a grocery store for some fresh fruit, we passed a church covered in broken glass mosaic. It shone brilliantly in the setting sun.

We were headed for Santa Elena and Monteverde. We needed to change buses in Tilaran. We decided to spent a couple days there.