Zoo Ave

This splendid zoo (tel. 506/433-8989, fax 506/433-9140, zooave@racsa.co.cr, www.zooave.org, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., $9 admission adults, $4 children), at Dulce Nombre, on Hwy. 3, about 3.5 km east of the Pan-American Highway, is a must see. It covers 59 hectares of landscaped grounds and is a wildlife rescue center for injured and confiscated wildlife. The fantastic bird collection (the largest in Central America) includes dozens of toucans, cranes, curassows, and parrots, and a veritable Pantone chart of more than 100 other Costa Rican bird species. Zoo Ave is one of only two zoos in the world to display resplendent quetzals. Macaws fly free. You’ll also see crocodile, deer, turtles, ostrich, tapirs, peccaries, pumas, and all four species of indigenous monkeys in large enclosures. Noah would be proud: most creatures are in pairs or groups.

The goal is to breed national species for reintroduction into the wild. The zoo has successfully bred the scarlet macaw, green macaw, curassow, guan, and about 50 other native bird species with the help of a human-infant incubator. The breeding center is off-limits.

There’s a small soda and bathrooms, and a visitors center that shows video presentations and offers educational events twice monthly.

To get to Zoo Ave., take either the Atenas or the La Garita bus from Alajuela. Both pass by the zoo.