Costa Rica Day 7 – Sloth Trail and Maleku Tribe

After a very busy day yesterday, the group took a relaxing hike along a sloth trail this morning. The walk was filled with all different kinds of wildlife, from lichen growing on the trees to small poisonous frogs and multiple species of birds. Fabian, our tour guide, along with Mr Faulkner taught us all about relationships between multiple species, known as mutualism. Nearing the end of our trail we managed to spot three sloths, one very high up in the trees and the others a mother with her baby, a highlight of our trip so far. Credits to Samuel for being the sloth spotter.

After an hour’s drive to visit the Maleku tribe of Costa Rica, we were taught everything about the tribe’s history and culture. This was shown through beautiful home created spiritual masks with the chief of the tribe’s mask being a jaguar. A hike through the local jungle exhibited multiple species in their natural habitat. We came across numerous poisonous snakes, ant trails, monkeys both friendly and unfriendly. At the end of our hike, we were allowed a go at firing the homemade bow and arrows that have been used by the tribe for hundreds of years. With everybody having go, George P came out on top being the only one to hit the banana tree target.

With a couple of hours free in the afternoon we checked out the hotels pool facilities with multiple slides and hot springs allowing us to relax before going out to a local restaurant called Lava Rocks for supper. A wander around the town to explore and many getting an ice cream lead us back to the hotel ready for a good night’s sleep.

Henny P