Ok, this is an oldy but that does not take away from the awesomeness of what happened. It started out like any other story....it was a rainy day in the middle of the rainforest and I was taking inventory in a treehouse (ok, so maybe it doesn't start out like every other story 🤣).
Like I said, I was taking inventory in a treehouse, Mis Ojos to be exact (RIP). It was the the 20th of August 2013 (I checked my emails 😀) and as mentioned, it was raining. It's hard not to look outside and enjoy the beauty, especially considering the view you got from Mis Ojos - it was a 2 level treehouse built around three trees with front row seats of the Finca Bellavista waterfall.
Back then, the ziplines at Finca Bellavista would go right across the waterfall while passing in front of Mis Ojos - you could almost reach out and high five people from the deck.
The ziplines would actually continue further past Mis Ojos but sadly that crossing point/connection was also lost when Mis Ojos went. I'll write a piece about Mis Ojos one day - don't want to get sidetracked right now (as those you have read other things I've written will know).Right, so while doing inventory and taking a moment to stare out an the incredible view, I noticed the zipline cable gentle swaying up and down. I already mentioned it was raining but even so, it seemed to be swaying a little too much...
(I was doing inventory and was doing so on my Ipad 3, which is what I used to take the video 🤣)
0:00 - 0:30 The sloth makes its way along the zipline cable directly in front of Mis Ojos
0:30 - 0:33 It takes a break to eat off a nearby branch 😀
0:33 - 1:50 Makes its way to the platform shown in the picture above
1:50 - 4:00 Changes lines and starts coming straight towards me
4:00 - 4:57 Exits zipline cable and climbs down trees
4:00 - 6:30 Some of the last known footage of Mis Ojos 😥
That was quite a cool experience and still my favorite one with a sloth - it turned out to be quite a significant discovery here at Finca Bellavista because we discovered that a lot of animals were using the cables to cross the river. After the the sloth discovery and before the tragic passing of Mis Ojos (and the zipline platform), we added some camera traps to see who else was using the cables - what we discovered was amazing!
This is a perfect example of how nature and humans can coexist in such an environment, even help each other out - just maybe don't go ziplining at night!
If you are a guest of Finca Bellavista and using the ziplines for the first time, don't worry, a guide will go first every time to check the line but keep your eyes open, it's a jungle out there!
If you are reading this and have your own wildlife adventure from Finca Bellavista to share - please do!
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What an awesome read Matt! That video is top-notch.
My favorite sloth sighting was at Casa Perezosa (funny enough!) It was my first night off as a volunteer right after Make Promises Happen's stay. The volunteers and I were staying the night, and stood on the balcony with some drinks looking into the jungle. One of us realized the big grey lump in a close branch was actually a sloth! We scrambled to find our cameras and flashlights - then laughed as we realized the sloth wasn't exactly running away from us. We snapped some photos and he mozied his way over to a branch that was a bit quieter :)
Kind of hard to see in the photo, but that was my first of two sloths sightings at FBV!
Thanks Lance and awesome shot! I remember the story well 🤣. I think we are all due for another sloth sighting soon - let's manifest it!