Fodor's Expert Review La Selva Wild Animal Refuge & Zoo

This modest collection of mostly rescued small animals offers a great chance to see them up close in chest-high corrals under the shade of trees and shrubs. The Italian owners are a little eccentric, and the place is not terribly well kept. There are plenty of usually hard-to-see nocturnal animals, so the best time to visit is just before sunset, when the roly-poly armadillos and big-eyed kinkajous are starting to stir. There are also skunks, spotted pacas, raccoons, bats, and scarier species like boas, poison dart frogs, caimans, and crocodiles. A bromeliad and orchid collection is artistically arranged around the zoo. If you come early in the day (the best time to see the day animals in action) your ticket is also good for a return early-evening visit. It's pricey, but the ticket price helps to buy food for the animals. Crocodile feeding time is every Tuesday and Friday at 5 pm.