Amara & the Sweetest Sloths

One of the purposes of traveling to Panama this past February was so that Amara could do some of her required High School community service hours. She wanted to get a jump on that but with there being a pandemic, it was not that easy a task. We usually travel in February but with a global pandemic, travel overseas was not an option. However, with things sort of returning to to normal, we thought about taking the plunge. But, if we went away for break, I felt we had to find a way to incorporate Amara's community service. Travel is a luxury and I don't want either of the girls to take travel for granted. Thus, doing service work, while having an amazing experience abroad felt like a win-win. 

Four years ago, we met an amazing and inspiring couple, Ursula and Harry, at their guest house, Casa Mariposa, in El Valle de Anton, Panama. We spent a magical few days with them and their rescued sloths. We feel in love with the sloths and came to have deep admiration for this couple who become sloth parents by default. For the past four years, we talked about them and the desire to return.

2018

Ursula and Harry had no idea they would end up the human parents to two adorable, orphaned sloths, Sammy and Dahabie ten years prior. Those two had a baby, who we met when she was 1. Since then they adopted two more, Goldie and Moncherie. They make quite an unusual but extremely loving family! In addition, there are currently 4 other sloths with them but whose contact with humans is limited, due to plans to relocate them back to the wild. Sadly, the other 5 can no longer survive in the wild since they were found and raised since babies by Ursula and Harry.

Ursula and Harry, 2018

Over the years, Ursula and Harry have helped dozens of injured, abused and/or orphaned sloths. They have helped to rehabilitate them and return them to the wild when possible. Sadly, there have been some that had injuries too severe to recover from. Ursula and Harry run their little rescue space on their own; funds from their guest house help to cover some of the costs. But it is mostly the two of them who look after these very special, very loving animals. It is a 24/7 operation. The sloths live in the main house with them. There are ropes and tree branches permanently in place for them to rest and play. They go out in the yard during the day for exercise, fresh air and to do their business (which is only once every few days.) It is an extensive and exhausting act of love towards these often misunderstood creatures. 

The pandemic caused almost all tourism to cease, thus cutting off most income for Casa Mariposa. When it came time to think about traveling and community service Amara and I talked about reaching out to Casa Mariposa to see if they would welcome some help. We did and they did. We then got the okay from Amara's school and we were then set to go. About 4 weeks prior to our departure, Amara set up a gofundme to support the sloths and she later surprised them with the $500 she raised. (which they were most appreciative of.)

We spent 4 days in El Valle, where Amara got up every morning at 6 am to go with Harry on an hour hike to collect plants and flowers that the sloths eat. She would then return to feed the chickens and other animals in their pen. After breakfast, she'd babysit them in the yard, while they climbed high in the trees. Some days, Harry and Amara went to the market in the afternoon, to collect unsellable fruits from the vendors, to bring back for the animals. There were also some teaching moments when Amara helped other guests learn about the sloths as well as play bodyguard, not letting the humans get too close to the sloths. Amara learned a lot about the sloths from Harry on their morning walks and she took great care with them. She even got to clean up poop and wash and wipe a sloth butt! It was a lot of work and attention but it was deeply fulfilling. Sloths are loving, gentle, spiritual animals and it was such a gift that she was able to serve and care for them for those 4 days.

When we left El Valle to carry on with the rest of our time in Panama, we left a piece of us there. While Amara spent almost twenty hours in service, myself and Havana also often helped out. Don was there too but took the time to be more of an observer. 

When we left Amara, Harry told her it was up to her to carry on the care of the sloths when she got older. A tall order but maybe one that may come true.