tree of life wildlife rescue center and botanical gardens

Something about this place makes it feel almost healing! It is a calm, scerene and lovely way to spend an hour or so. Some sad stories about the animals they look after, but all look happy now. They also make and sell their own chocolate which is delicious.

This is the meanest review we ever had, you should have asked us about our animal rehabilitation program and hopefully you would have had a better understanding and would have written your review more based on facts."Beauty is all in the eye of the beholder "And the vast majority of our visitors do see the hard work and effort we put out here 365 days a year !SAD It makes me , people that write such a damaging review for our non profit organisation where we work daily to safe and rehabilitate costarican Wildlife.We do not "grab tourist dollars ", we have a small budget to work with and It is only visitors and donations that allow us to do our work. It is not an obligation to come in !!So you write ; " i would have the place closed down if i could "I would have refused your entrance if i could, we do not need people like you which have such a negative out look on life ,we need all the help we can to continue our important conservaron work.Patricia Vermeulen

The center is located within beautiful gardens, with labelled plants. The cages for the most part were suitable and large enough for the animals in it. I was there when Janel (sp?) was treating an injured spiny rat. As a retired zookeeper I was impressed with her technique and concern for this animal. When I first encountered her in the park, she had a rescued baby howler monkey on her shoulder -- these animals need hands-on attention just as they would if they were still with their mother. All in all I think this center is filling a much-needed gap in animal rescue. I would highly recommend a visit and a good donation so they can continue their work.

Our Cruise took us to Limon, Costa Rica which we had visited previously, so when we were given the opportunity by an american "expat", to travel along the coast road to the town of Cahuita. We took up the invitation. We were told about Tree of Life Wildlife Rescue Center for abandoned animals. It should not be missed especially since it is easy to reach from Limon (approx. 20 miles). We then continued on to Puerto Viejo, a quaint fishing village.

This is an exceptional place which obviously has the very best intentions for the animals it rescues. The lady who works at the sanctuary was fantastic at answering all our questions (we had a lot!) and it did not feel like a zoo at all. In fact, it was very obvious that this place revolves around caring for the animals rather than making a profit. Really, really excellent.

Very impressed with the work they do there. The self-guided walk is informative and leads trough the beautiful garden where the rescued and found animals can be seen (but not touched, a great policy me thinks). And, they´re chocolate is great!

A great place to spend a morning or afternoon n a park like setting amongst the local flora and fauna. Also their animal rehabilitation efforts make the price of admission worth it.

We stumbled upon Tree of Life while looking for a jaguar sanctuary and boy aren't we glad we did! We didn't know what to expect but we decided to venture anyway. First off, I love monkeys and coming to Costa Rica, all I wanted to see were monkeys. I was squealing with joy when I realized there were 3 types of monkeys. My only issue was I wanted to hold them and yet I know that it isn't natural and wouldn't be beneficial to them. When we walked into the sloth sanctuary, we couldn't find Minu and we thought maybe she just wasn't in there. We finally found her near the roof of her hut. She slowly started inching her way down the rope towards us. Of course we didn't touch her but having her so close, was breathtaking. She is such a beautiful animal with a horrible back story and I'm so happy that she is able to hang out and eat her leaves in peace. She did like the attention and having someone to talk to I think but is definitely a wild animal.The Tree of Life is amazing and full of so many amazing creatures and plants. It was exactly what we were wanting to see and experience. I would recommend this to everyone.

Thank you for your review. Happy to hear that you did enjoy our gardens.Also happy that you understand that all the white face monkeys (all are mis- used as pets) have a much happier life then before. What I do not understand (especially when you say you are extremely ethical) that you are not interested in an explanation ???Your review is important to us and to many possible visitors to Tree of Life.Without visitors we cannot do our work.We stimulate visitors to ask questions about the animals, their backgrounds and a rescue center in general.If you had done the same you would maybe have a better understanding !Ruby was found as a small baby (3 months old) without mother or group in the yard of somebody here in Cahuita. Ruby came at an age here to Tree of Life when they still cling on to the mother, so in the beginning we do function as a surrogate "mother". Ruby is now almost 10 months old and starts to be a big girl. She still likes to get a ride/walk with one of our employees/volunteers.She also has to get ready to become more social and interact with our other howler monkeys. So a very small part of the day she is going in the "getting used to the other ones cage". Little by little she will spend more time with her bigger companions, right now they are still a little bit too rough on her. We do try the best we can, it is a step by step program.When the howler monkeys become adults they have a good chance to get re-introduced to a natural group.Then you mention our raccoon in your review,We humans have taken over their natural habitats and a lot of animals like raccoons did get adapted to city life.. Of course that is not their natural habitat !!!This raccoon was found as a small baby on a garbage corner in San Jose center. A Costa rican girl saved it and brought it up with a bottle. It developed infections on its feet, tail, and ears and that is when she was brought to Tree of Life.Then she got a cataract in one eye and so she does not see well. We have successfully introduced many raccoon's already to their natural habitats. Raccoons that came in sick or without mother. In the case of Coco it is a bit different, she will not be able to survive without the help of Tree of Life. None of our employees or volunteers have heard the raccoon crying ever ..... ????, she never scratches and is overall very active and behaves happy.We did not "take" this raccoon out of her environment and put her in a cage. this raccoon is here for a reason and we try to provide it with the best care we can.Again without visitors we cannot do our work and make any investments for the animals. Animals which become residents here have to sometimes wait in order to get the perfect habitats, we do all the best we can to provide that for them.We are very sad that you rated us so low, while you did give us some positive feedback. It is sad you could not bring it a bit more in balance.Then at last your title "Okay, but more like a zoo" , let me explain the difference between a zoo and a wildlife rescue center like Tree of Life. A zoo might buy, sell, breed or even capture animals from the wild. A rescue center only acquires animals who cannot longer survive in the wild. This includes injured wildlife, orphans and confiscated illegal pets.A zoo is there for the entertainment of people, Tree of Life's main goal are the welfare of the animals (without visitors we cannot do our work).I hope you have a better understanding of the treatment of our animals, Thank you.

Yes, you did visit just after a very severe "tropical storm" in the Rainy season in " The Tropical RAIN forest " !! It is disappointing to me that you base you rating only on the leaves and moss !We do work very hard every day to clean walkways and undo them from leaves.We always have a very high humidity (around 90 %, it is tropical rain forest !) and so moss and fungus loves it here and grows very fast !! That is PART of the whole picture.If you love nature you would have maybe a better understanding of The tropical Rain Forest and all it's different faces !

Thank you so much, hope to see you back one day !

This rescue centre was amazing. The animals were extremely well cared for in very natural settings. The staff were pleasant and very informative. Certainly worth seeing! Certainly worth supporting the work that is done here!

Sorry to hear you had higher expectations.Most visitors take 1,5 hours to go around it but it for sure depends how big your interest is for animals and plants.I do not understand that you had a "zoo feel" about it . I like to explain the difference between a zoo and a sanctuary (like Tree of Life). A zoo might buy, sell, breed or trade animals or even capture animals from the wild.A sanctuary only acquires animals who can no longer survive in the wild. This include injured wildlife . orphans and confiscated illegal pets .Tree of Life does not receive any governmental funding. This means that admission sales help Tree of Life carry on its important conservation work.Your opinion is important to us because without the help of visitors we can not help the animals which are brought to Tree of Life.

Thank you for your review.

Thank you so much for your visit and your nice words.