How do you relax after a long week?
People choose their leisure activities carefully and there sure is a large variety to choose from. You can go to the beach with friends, hang out at the dog park or stay at home and read your favorite book. Well, what if I told you that there is a preserve in Louisianna where you can swim with otters and play with sloths?
That’s right…you can spend your day off swimming with otters and playing with sloths.
Barn Hill Preserve in Ethel, Louisianna allows their visitors to spend an hour swimming with Asian small-clawed otters. This particular type of otter is the smallest species in the entire world. They are also the most adorable species of otter in the entire world. These little guys are 11 pounds of pure adorableness.
The otter swim comes in a package.
This package includes a preserve tour, up-close interactions with some other critters (kangaroos, pythons, armadillos, and lynx), and time in the water with the fun-sized otters. You have to be at least 16-years-old to sign up for this three-hour experience. Barn Hill preserve is dedicated to keeping their animals happy, so the otters only swim with you for 35 minutes at a time.
Don’t worry about your limited time with the otters, Barn Hill preserve also allows their visitors to play with their sloths. You can cuddle the sloth, pet the sloth, and feed the sloth. You can do basically anything with the sloth just make sure they can keep up with you.
This preserve has been open for seven years.
It is dedicated to educating the community about conservation efforts. They also allow children to get an up-close look at some animals they would never have seen before in real life.
“We’ve been offering otter swims for three years and sloth encounters for five years,” Barn Hill says in an interview with Scary Mommy. “We see upwards of 20 thousand people a year and over one million students with our outreach program that visits schools.”
Their animal education programs are completely free for schools and students. They are able to fund these programs by allowing students to purchase photos of themselves with some of the critters on the preserve. These photographs are 6×4 and are $10 each.
This is a good way to fund education programs because it allows students with a bit of extra cash to support their mission while still providing free education for those less fortunate.
How much does it cost?
The otter swim tour costs $153 per person. If you want to spend some time with the sloths or other critters that would cost you $44 for adults and $38 for children (you can bring your kiddos under two years of age for free).
It may seem rather costly to visit Barn Hill preserve, but I can’t think of a better way to spend my money. I gotta get myself to Ethel, Louisianna as soon as I can! Fun-sized otter here I come!
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