Implicit Self
Images from my soul, dedicated to the world that makes me
Shall we sloth? in Costa Rica
In the Amazon, we saw many sloths. They were miles away and above (on kapok trees). It took the strength of my powerful binoculars to make out their hanging forms, and if we were lucky, there faces. Since then, I thought that sloths can be seen in nature only in that distance.
Obviously, I was wrong. Our wonderful guide Jonathan asked us to take our binoculars while stopping for lunch, on our way to Sarapiqui. There were some woods, but in Costa Rica we were always in thicker woods, so I hadn’t expected much. He beckoned excitedly, while we were taking a round of the premise before lunch, as I was engaged with army ants and how no one in CR cares if you walk around them (or they march around you) and leaves them alone, I moved quickly towards where he was. And there she was. My first three toed sloth at about 40 ft above on a slender tree, a tree that I could touch. She is a she (see photo) as she has no orange patch on her back, only that greenish moss and she is small (that of course is too hard to tell without experience or comparison). She moves quickly, changing her original tree, that started to bend, and getting on another one in well under a few minutes. The moss actually grows on her fur at the back.
She wasn’t alone in that little patch of woods by the highway. For the first time ever, we saw a two toed sloth. It was much higher up, as they are expected to be. Itching away contentedly, with even greater wooly fur and the cute rodent-like nose.
Here they are, my sloths. Very active and ready to dance!
Implicit Self 