Cebadilla Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center

Cebadilla Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center

5:35 AM Animals , Donate & Volunteer , Optimism 2 Comments

We recently moved closer to San Jose for more opportunities. We began our journey in Atenas and while we love the town and location of Atenas, we always wanted a bit more land. This drove us to venture further out to Grecia. We met a ton of great people in Grecia and we lived there for 3 years. Grecia is magical, great weather - although a bit too cold for swimming, and a beautiful town, but still, we found ourselves needing to be closer to the hustle and bustle of the the big city of San Jose for business purposes and we simply wanted a bit more culture for our kids.

We found a sleepy ranch town called Cebadilla just minutes from San Jose across the highway from La Garita and Atenas. It has everything we wanted from sprawling rolling ranch land at a great value plus mountain views. The town also has terrific weather, just warm enough for a pool, but cool enough to not need air conditioning, basically the same climate as Atenas. The location far exceeds our expectations, just 20 minutes to San Jose, less than 30 minutes to the airport and less than an hour to our favorite beaches.

We found paradise in Valle Verde Quintas, an estate subdivision with acreage ranch style lots, and the best part, is the it is fairly flat here. We have amazing views of the surrounding mountains, but the land here is flat, great for riding bikes with the kids and easy to explore with our 3 year old. During our exploration and adventures, we stumbled upon 2 amazing spots less than a mile either direction.

Our first adventure led us to the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center. We were fishing in the pond on the property and noticed what we thought was a duck spreading his wings and flailing about at the water's edge. Our friend Missy ran over and folded the struggling bird's wings in and asked if we could take the bird to the nearby animal shelter. Our kids were amazed at the opportunity to help and we wrapped the scared bird in a soft bag. We jumped in the car allowing Sara, our almost 6 year old to hold the bird on the way, just a mile up the road to the shelter. This is when we noticed this was no duck, more like an egret, but with lovely orange and copper colored feathers and a long orange beak.

When we arrived at the shelter, the volunteers raced out to help us, allowing Sara to carry the bird to the hospital on the grounds. They examined the bird, telling us it was a Sundiver egret. While there were no apparent wounds, we all knew the bird was very weak. They quickly gave him medicine and food by a dropper. Sara and Missy named the bird "Copper" and he went to sleep. The staff encouraged us to come back the next day to check on Copper. After that, we were introduced to some other animals in the shelter. There was a mother sloth and her baby, a few other sick and electrocuted sloths and several loud parrots. They explained to us that many of the animals were rescued from falling from trees, falling from electric lines, healing from other animal attacks or seized from homes by the government. It is illegal for anyone to keep an exotic animal as a pet in Costa Rica, so the government sometimes seizes animals and brings them to shelters like this one to live out their lives. Since most of them were raised in captivity, they can't survive in the wild any longer.

Our children learned so much from the experiences. We promised to come back the next day with some food and donations. The shelter needs basic items like blankets, animal toys and food supplies. Money is also accepted. The next day, we were so sad to hear that Copper did not make it. The girls cried, so one of the staff members named Sarita brought them over to see some puppies that had been dropped off at the gate that day. The shelter is not allowed to accept domestic animals, but they can't turn away a box of puppies either. The kids cries quickly turned into smiles and laughter as the puppies licked their cheeks.

The rescue center is magical and needs support. The facility makes a great day tour and also encourages volunteers to come and stay a day, a week or even a month. Please like and share this post to get the word out. We met young adults from all over the world, some of them sad at the thought of having to go back to their homes because their time at the rescue center meant so much to them. If you love animals, this is the place for you! And if you know anyone looking for a puppy, there are some cute little puppies needing a good home. Visit their page at Costa Rica Animal Shelter, send them an email or contact them.

After the visit to the shelter, we were up for some fun so we visited the nearby water hole called Laguito Phillips. This is a rustic, spring fed lake just 1 kilometer from our subdivision. There is a large lake for swimming, spring fed naturally by the bubbling waterfalls and spring geysers in the ground. We live on a large water table so water is abundant and cool and fresh here. There is a small restaurant and music. This is a cool local hangout, but great for families with picnic tables and a diving board. The kids had a great day. We love our new home in paradise. For more info about our location or subdivision, visit the webpage here, or check out our pictures and videos! Pura Vida!