Plan your visit to Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center-Zoave in La Garita, Alajuela. Choose from self-guided sanctuary admission, guided wildlife tours, hands-on enrichment experiences with lunch, or educational group tours for schools and universities. Explore botanical garden trails, meet Costa Rica’s rescued wildlife, and learn about conservation, rehabilitation, and endangered species breeding programs.
Get special rates on Tickets and Tours. Click here to get further information.
General Admission
Access to 2.5 km of trails through beautiful botanical gardens
The opportunity to see over 125 different species of wild animals
Guided Tour
2.5–3 hour tour led by wildlife education specialists
Hear the stories of our Sanctuary residents and why they are here.
The guides know the best hiding places, so you have a much better chance of seeing more animals.
Find out about our wildlife hospital, and the thousands of animals that get returned back into their natural habitat
Learn about conservation, breeding programs, challenges we face, and how you can make a difference!
Tour + Volunteering
2.5–3 hour tour led by wildlife education specialists
Participate in a hands-on environmental enrichment activity that supports animal welfare
Help create enrichment items designed to encourage natural animal behaviors
Traditional Costa Rican lunch included
About the Tour
Description
There are hundreds of fascinating animals living in the Lifetime Care Sanctuary at Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center. Each one of them has a unique rescue story to tell, such as Guapo, the jaguar who was found floating on a log in a hurricane or Coco the 6-foot crocodile who was kept as a pet in someone’s backyard!
Take a guided tour of the Lifetime Care Sanctuary and learn all about the various residents who call Rescate their home. Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center’s experienced guides will not only share the stories about the various animal residents living in the sanctuary but also the thousands of animals who have been released back into the wild!
This is an highly educational tour, in which you can learn about conservation, endangered species and the Costa Rican flora and fauna.
DURATION
2.5–3 hours,
approx. 2.5 km of pathway
LANGUAGE
Our tours can be booked in Spanish or English
Why is the cost of a guided tour so low?
There are actually 3 reasons why we really want to keep the price for a tour low, even though sometimes we have booking with only one person. Here are the reasons why our rescate wildlife Sanctuary tour is so low:
One of our main pilars is Education. It is important to us, that you will not only enjoy your visit, but learn something too!
So that you have a chance to learn about Costa Ricas flora, fauna and conservation efforts.
We want you to have the best experience possible, and a tour is the best way for us to have a personal experience with you. Since the Sanctuary is the only part of our projects that is open to the public, many people do not realize that have we so many other important projects going on “behind the scenes” and this gives us a chance to educate and teach you about them.
The tour takes approximately 2.5 hrs.
We have a tour at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.
With the guided tour you will get to hear the personal stories of the animals, why they are in the sanctuary, our behind the scenes programs that are not open to the public, and ways that you can make a difference not only on your visit to Costa Rica, but in your regular life as well. You also have a better chance of spotting the animals, as our guides know their favorite spots! With the regular entrance you will be able to explore the sanctuary on your own.
It is not included, but you are more than welcome to enjoy lunch in our onsite restaurant Kivu before or after your tour.
No transport is not included, but it is easily accessible via Uber, Taxi, or bus if you do not have your own transportation. Click HERE for more information about how to get to us.
Yes, you can bring your own food apart from alcoholic beverages, or BBQs. We ask that you not feed the animals.
Yes, there are about 2 km of paved trails, with rest stops if needed.
Yes! There are sloths within the Sanctuary and also wild ones are around if you are lucky!
We have over 700 residents in the sanctuary with over 120 different species of animals. Including sloths, felines and big cats, various monkey species, a Tapir or Danta, Macaws and many bird species, and so much more!
We have a minimum of 2 people up to 15 with the regular reservation. Though generally it is less than 10 people.
Yes, we have lockers available for 1,000 colones for the day.
You get wet! The tour will always run as long as conditions are safe. We do recommend that you bring rain gear during certain times of the year. Or we do sell ponchos at the main entrance as well.
We often have howler monkeys in our clinic and rehabilitation center, but at the moment we do not have any in our sanctuary.
Yes! This is a tour for everyone, and we hope that your little ones will enjoy it as much as you.
In general no. If you would like to check availability and schedule a private tour, please email reservations(at)rescatewildlife.org.
Yes, you do need a reservation ahead of time. We might have certain dates blocked out for big groups or schools. You need to reserve at least 24 hrs ahead of time, but it will always be subject to availability.
Yes, you can pay with any major credit card, in US Dollar, Colones, or Apple Pay.
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