Land of the Strays- The World`s Largest No-Kill Dog Shelter

Territorio de Zaguates (known in English as “Land of the Strays”) is the world`s largest no-kill dog shelter, located in Costa Rica.

We recently did the walk with the dogs and it was the most magical experience! Just imagine the amount of happiness and love 1 dog gives you and multiply that times 900! If you are a dog lover, you definitely need to make a point to visit this doggie paradise on your next trip to Costa Rica! At any given time, there could be up to 900 dogs that are free to roam in this gigantic mountain property. Of course the goal is to get these dogs adopted out, but in the meantime of rehabilitation and being taken care of, I cannot imagine a better place on earth!

Check out this video we took of the dogs running together. It`s so cute…

How to Visit

Where

Land of the Strays is located just about an hour outside of downtown San Jose, Costa Rica. The easiest way to get there is to drive yourself using the navigation app Waze.

When

The only time you can visit is on the weekends (usually twice a month) to do the walk with the dogs. This walk is 3 hour walk through their mountain property with hundreds of dogs! It is important to get there early (at least 8:45am) so you are ready to start the walk at 9:00am with the group. They are very strict about the start time and do not allow anyone else in the gates once they start the walk.

Since Territorio de Zaguates is located only an hour outside of San Jose (where the SJO airport is), I recommend planning to visit either at the beginning or end of your trip to Costa Rica. You should plan to stay at a hotel at least 1-2 nights in San Jose. Do not try to visit Land of the Strays the same day you have a flight, it will just not work out logistically. So for example, if you visit at the end of your trip, you could go to San Jose on Friday night, do the walk Saturday morning, stay in San Jose again on Saturday night and then fly out of SJO on Sunday.

What to Wear

Be sure to wear clothes you don´t mind getting dirty in. Dress in layers because you will be on top of the mountains and sometimes it can get a bit chilly or rain, so if you dress in layers, you will be comfortable no matter what the weather brings. Tennis shoes that you are comfortable hiking in are best (you will have a hard time in flip flops).

What to Bring

Pack light as you will be hiking for 3 hours and probably don`t want to carry too much. I suggest packing a small backpack with the following things: