Sloth Park & La Fortuna to San Jose
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La Fortuna to San Jose
Sloth Watching Trail
February 23
Luckily, the sun came out for our final full day in Costa Rica. We enjoyed one last breakfast at the resort before checking out around 11:00 a.m. With an early flight the next morning, we had the whole day to make our way to our hotel near the airport in San José—a drive of about three hours if we went straight there. But we had other plans.
One more day meant one more chance to find sloths.
We headed to the Sloth Watching Trail, located very close to the Bogarin Trail, where Em and I had explored on our first day in La Fortuna and seen sloths in the wild. As soon as we arrived, we both noticed something familiar—the forest looked exactly like an area we had already walked. Then we realized Em still had her Bogarin Trail wristband on, and she remembered it was valid for two days. She asked at the counter if it would work here. After a brief discussion among the staff, they surprised us by letting all four of us in for free.
It didn’t take long to figure out why. As we started down the trail, it became clear: the Sloth Watching Trail and the Bogarin Trail are actually the same forest and trail system, just with different entrances. Charging us twice wouldn’t have made much sense—so we scored free admission for all four of us.
Of course, going in for free meant no guide, so we set out on our own in search of poison frogs and sloths. Luckily, Em and I remembered some of the hotspots from before. Thanks to her sharp eye, we spotted a tiny poison dart frog early on.
But the highlight came near the end of the loop, close to where we’d seen a vine-climbing sloth days earlier.
When you see a group of people gathered, all staring up and taking pictures, it doesn’t take a genius to guess what’s going on. Sure enough—there was a sloth up in the tree. And not just any sloth encounter—this one was active, climbing, and relatively low in the branches. It was easily our best wild sloth sighting of the trip.
After our final sloth encounter, we finally began the drive toward San José. The road from La Fortuna is hilly and winding but generally manageable.
Loveat Restaurant
About an hour in, we were ready for lunch. Most of what we passed were small roadside sodas that didn’t quite appeal to us. Then we spotted a place on the GPS that looked promising—and even had a website.
What we found in San Ramon was completely unexpected.
Loveat, a vegan restaurant tucked just off the roadside and into the forest, turned out to be part restaurant, part hotel, and part animal rescue—home to about one thousand dogs and cats! Run by Israeli immigrants, it had a quirky, hipster vibe, excellent food, and an incredibly welcoming owner. It felt like a hidden oasis in the middle of nowhere and ended up being one of the most memorable stops.
The restaurant and hotel are revenue sources for the primary mission of the owners, a no-kill animal rescue called Animal Love.
From there, we continued on to our final stay: Los Villas Candiles, a boutique hotel about 20 minutes from the airport. This one might have been my favorite of the trip. Like Loveat, it felt like a peaceful oasis—quietly tucked away from the busy city streets surrounding it. Its small restaurant and cozy patio bar made for the perfect place to unwind and reflect on an unforgettable Costa Rica adventure.
We all had early flights the next morning so off to bed early.
