Tours in Puerto Jimenez - Dos Brazos de Río Tigre and The Sloth Garden

The tours we did while staying in Puerto Jimenez during our eco-tourism trip to Costa Rica were really magical! The Salon Eco Cultural Dos Brazos de Río Tigre was a very welcoming place. The people we interacted with had all been living in the area for generations, knew so much, and shared their knowledge.


The Sloth Garden was also a homey, knowledgeable place where we saw sloths all over the place! The Valverde family is dedicated to wildlife conservation.

While we stayed in Puerto Jimenez we stayed at the Corcovado Beach Lodge and did some exploring. click on the above link to read about that.

I'm not trying to advertise for anyone, but I am telling about my experiences in Costa Rica - most of which were absolutely fantastic.

Salon Eco Cultural Dos Brazos de Río Tigre

Esther sitting in front of Salon Eco Cultural Dos Brazos de Río Tigre smiling broadly

We had three tours near Corcovado National Park arranged by Esther at Salon Eco Cultural Dos Brazos de Río Tigre. Thanks Esther!

Rolando standing ourside with a pack giving us a thumbs up

This is a small, friendly community where it seems like everybody knows each other and is happy to talk and help out. It was nice to meet everyone. We had a day hike with Rolando,


Me and Andy and Jairo standing outside in the dark

an evening walk with Jairo (who likes to be called John),

Jessica stirring mesa flour and water in a bowl in her kitchen

and a cooking class with Jessica.

Day Hike

A very lush forest

This was a pretty strenuous hike for us with an amazing treat. Rolando took us through the forest,

Me and Rolando walking through a river

and across rivers.

A dog frolicking by the river

He showed us interesting things along the way. We were accompanied by a very happy dog. I don’t know where the dog came from but he kept running ahead and cheering us on.

A heron in the river

We saw some birds.

A bird among leaves
A yellow bird sitting on some wires

And ended up at a waterfall with a pool at the bottom that we took full advantage of! We were hot and tired and the water was really refreshing. I don’t have any pictures of that because I was too busy enjoying it. But take my word for it, it was great.

I had a problem with proper footwear during this hike. I should have had water sneakers, but I had boots and flip-flopsbut they just weren’t up to working for my feet during the hike. On the way back I just used my regular shoes. They got wet, but they are comfortable and sturdy and they dried eventually. So if you go on a hike like this through water, make sure you have good water shoes that work for hiking.

Night Walk

A close up of a frog in the mud at night

We saw plenty of animals on our night walk. We walked along the roads and sometimes along easy paths. We saw lots of frogs,

A close up of a frog on a leaf at night
A frog among leaves at night
A close up of a frog on a leaf at night
A spider on a fern leaf at night

and spiders, 
but no snakes. I’m sort of glad we didn’t see any snakes. People described really big constrictors that get into their houses.

An owl in a tree at night

We also saw owls

Caiman's eyes sticking out of the water as seen through a telescope at night

and a caiman from a safe distance.


So that was a great night.

Cooking Class

Jessica taught us how to make empanadas and tortillas. We were pretty full after all that because we got to eat the fruits of our labor. It was tons of fun to learn how to do this cooking. I’ve always ordered empanadas at restaurants and thought they were too complicated to make myself.  It’s not that hard and I’ve made some at home and enjoyed them!

A picture of a maseca flour bag

This is the flour she used, and I can but it at the grocery store at home.

Andy rolling out a ball of dough for empanadas in Jessica's kitchen

Just mix it with water and salt and roll it out.

Jessica standing at the stove cooking the empanadas

We put cheese on the inside and fried it.

chopped up vegetables in a pot

We also made tortillas. We chopped up some ayote tierno (a type of squash) and cooked it.

the spices we added to the vegetables called achiote

Added some spices

A tortilla frying in a pan


And spooned it on top of the tortilla. The tortilla was made from the same dough as the empanada and just cooked by itself flattened, instead of wrapping the dough around cheese

Our Spanish came in handy and we were able to chat with Jessica about her family. Her daughter had just turned one year old. She also had a brother who lives in New Jersey now!

Looking out of Jessica's house when it was raining

We had a brief rain storm and some ice cream. We left with very full stomachs!


La Perica Sloth Garden

La Perica Sloth Garden is a family-run business for the Valverde family. It all started with a desire to get Grandma out of the house and walking around paths. The family then discovered all the wildlife around and came up with the idea of giving tours. The whole family is glad to share their love of nature with people.

Sloths

We saw 11 sloths during our walk on the paths for a couple of hours. Some were mom and baby pairs and some were singles. The guides said their record was seeing 17 sloths in one tour.

A mom sloth in a tree with her babt
A sloth peeking out through the leaves
A mom sloth looking after her baby in a tree
A sloth laying on its back in a tree

Other Animals

Two bats hanging upside down on a branch surrounded by leaves

We also saw bats,

a bird with a red head sitting in a tree

birds,

A horse looking up at the camera in the forest

their horses,

A parrot sitting in a tree

And a parrot.

Lunch

A plate with an empanada wrapped in a napkin and fruit. There is a glass of jiuce and a hibiscus flower. More fruit in the background

It was really exciting to see the sloths just hanging around in the wild! The bats were cool, too. It was a great morning and our guides were fantastic.

Our Sloth Garden guides

Conclusion

All three tours at Dos Brazos de Río Tigre were really special. The Salon Eco Cultural Dos Brazos de Río Tigre is a true center for the community nice place. They had some exhibits in the cultural center about their gold mining past. There was gold in the area and companies came to mine it. After a while, they took all that was easy to get and the government started passing laws to protect the environment from over-mining. Sometimes still today individuals go in the river and look for gold. We saw a few families doing just that.

And the Sloth Garden was just magical. The family was extremely welcoming. Some of the guides went around looking for the sloths while others talked to us about sloth habits and what it’s like to live in the area. If you want to see sloths in nature (and who doesn't?), this is the place to do it.

We also enjoyed staying at the Corcovado Beach Lodge and exploring the area.

After Puerto Jimenez we travelled north a bit more for our last stop Esterillos Oeste on our eco-tourism trip to Costa Rica.

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