Territorio de Zaguates - Costa Rica

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If you are in Costa Rica, this is a place to visit without a doubt!!! A stones throw away from Heredia and San Jose!

With a day starting out riding up a curvy and newly paved road I was already enjoying the trip! Slowly creeping up mountainsides and small narrow bridge crossings, blind turns and all around great scenery I started to realize this is gonna be a better day than I could have imagined!
Pulling up to the front gate, pausing, then zooming past a great dirt and gravel road I was really starting to enjoy the atmosphere before me. I reached the top of the hill and I had to stop and just let the sensation of love set in!!! You dont need an offroad bike to get up there, BUT it does make it a lot more fun!

There were so many dogs just running freely and playing with everyone, having the time of their life! No judgement of their background, what breed, where they came from, or what they looked like. Over 700 stray dogs call this place home.....for me it seemed like heaven as a dog! Only took me a couple seconds to park my motorcycle and run to the hundreds of dogs to make some new 4 legged friends. I made a couple really close buddies that followed me around because I pet them in the right spot. I had a great conversation with Natalie and one of the owners Lya. Plenty of love to see from everyone that worked there and volunteered their time, it is not easy trying to leave there with clean clothes and why would you!!! There are hundreds of dogs to play with and run around with!! They are just looking for some love and yes you can adopt any of them if you like and its highly recommended. Me being on a motorcycle not sure how I would swing that, as well as seeing how I dont have a home to go back to, makes it hard to take that jump and be responsible for a traveling companion as much as I would want one! Nevertheless there is always a smiling doggy breath face nudging itself under your palm, or in the gap between your arm and rib cage, ready for a petting frenzy!! The place holds something special for me and it was great to see the mix and hear stories of where everyone came from! Great names, odd names, weird names, the staff has named every single one of these beings with a name to fit their character and or look! I think my favorite was Whiskers aka Vigotes. An older dog who was brought into the Territory and soon after taught hundreds of dogs how to dig holes to sit in while relaxing. I was told by Lya that before he showed up there weren't any holes,but when he came, it was short after there are holes everywhere haha Classic!

There were good back woods areas for the dogs to run around and chase each other, Bathing stations worked by volunteers and new comers alike. I was held back in awe to how clean the place was with over 700 dogs running around!!! Their poop was cleaned up, walkways and play areas free of debris giving the little furry friends a great place to just be themselves and enjoy the new life! They are always in need of help with funds. There is always a need for food, basic cleaning supplies, vaccinations, as well as vet help for sick or hurt dogs. They are currently trying to upgrade some of the facilities as well as complete 2 bathrooms for their visitors and staff, currently there is only one bathroom and its located in the caretakers home and it doesn't even have a door.