Reality Check

I arrived in Puyo late afternoon last Sunday. It was a difficult city to naviagte to say the least. There are few street signs and no one I asked seemed to know what street we were on, including one shop owner! I caught a passing gringo and asked him how to get to a hostel that had been recommended to me. He explained that he was also new in town having just been hired as director of an animal rescue center (meaning rescue from private collections or trafficking outfits) just outside of town. I asked if they were accpeting volunteers, and he said I would be the first and it would a pleasure. A week was the minimum and I promptly agreed.

We had to hang out in town a bit for him to finish some errands so I found a nice German hotel with wifi and settled in.

Afterwards, we went for a beer at a bar connected to the rescue center (see the sign in the background, it´s called Yana Cocha).

We got to the center after dark so I couldn´t really gauge how it was. We went to the main house where David, the director, and Jorge, the owner´s son, live. There were two recent arrivals waiting. One capichin monkey and another monkey that I don´t know the name of. By the way, this will be a theme throughout. I have enough trouble remembering all of the new Spanish I´m picking up, let alone Spanish names for exotic animals. They were just babies and the capichin was really sick and lifeless.

The other had a crazy endearing personality, and I named her Frederica.

Don´t ask why, I just have a thing with naming animals...and naming cars for that matter. Anyways, I was so entralled with the whole situation and just wanted to hang out and cuddle with these two but I had been told that animal food prep began at 630 every morning. That shook me out of it and I settled into bed.

Just before dawn, the skies opened up and released an incredible Amazonian rain storm.
I sat and watched in awe until I thought better of it and dozed off again. The alarm on my watch came much too soon. I´m not really a morning person...

I got up, skipped the shower and headed down to the main kitchen. No one was around so I took the liberty of giving myself a tour of the facility.

It´s quite large and really well manicured. The cages, enclosures and islands vary in in size and design but all of the animals seem to have it really good. My tour was cut short when I noticed a large monkey swinging from the trees.

An employee approached with a broom and a raincoat and explained that ´Thomas´had left his island. It was still pouring rain, but I didn´t mind a bit that I was getting drenched. Here I was in the Amazon, now charged with tracking down and capturing Thomas the Monkey. The hunt didn´t go exactly as planned. Manuel, the groundskeeper seemed to think the ´stick´ approach was best (meaning he would throw sticks at Thomas until Thomas was really upset, hoping that he would fall from the trees when we would pounce on him like cats). I eventually stepped in (even though I was brand new to the situation) and suggested a more mild method. I offered Thomas some fruit and he came right down. The problem then became catching him without hurting him or having him hurt me. Not being a primatologist, I was cautious and a little anxious that he would start biting and clawing if I grabbed him. After 3 hours of this, we gave up and moved on to feed all of the animals (110, if you include all of the 30 odd turtles). I was in heaven, having all of these really cool animals like ocelots, leopards, 6 types of monkeys, margays, cusumbros, tapirs, parrots, cabezas, pavas, etc. (don´t worry, I´m going to show pictures of all of these and explain them later) right at my finger tips. I learned what each ate, how long they had been there, who was dangerous, which were nocturnal, and a bit about their personalities and quirks. When we returned from feeding, I made it my personal mission to capture Thomas and be the hero of the day. I was convinced that my love for animals would be apparent to him and he would trust me. Manuel and David were occupied with some tourists (the center makes money by operating as a makeshift zoo, although the plan is to re-release all of the animals after rehabilitation), so I grabbed some bananas and guavas and went to work. My suspicions were confirmed and Thomas eventually nervously made his way out of the tree and into my arms. He latched on tight and I slowly walked over to the edge of his island trying to calm him with words and fruit. There was no bridge, I was alone, and I didn´t want to waste this chance I had to get Thomas home so I walked across the river. It was about chest deep and the mud didn´t want me to make it, but alas Thomas got home safe.

I was very pleased with myself and ran off to tell the others the good news. They didn´t seem as impressed but that didn´t phase me. I knew Thomas was appreciative and now I had a friend. The afternoon was spent cleaning some of the cages, refilling water, feeding the nocturnal animals their meat (which you´ll hear about later) and then we went into Puyo for the night. It became sort of a ritual because they had yet to install wifi at the center and David needed to check emails related to the center and future volunteers. We had dinner there, went grocery shopping for the week ($15 for 4 people for 7 days, not bad). When we returned, I figured that Frederica and I had earned a beer for our day´s hard work. (unfortunately, the unnamed capichin monkey had died in the night).

The next day was expected to be very interesting. Another animal rescue center about an hour away had been experiencing some serious problems. It is owned by an Ecuadorian family but operated but South African and British volunteers and naturalists. In recent weeks, animals were going missing, and there were reports that animals were not being cared for or fed. The center was expected to have to close, but then what becomes of the animals? Private collectors, zoos, and other rescue centers were lining up, including Yana Cocha. Check the website, I just saw that it was updated today to explain the situation http://www.amazoniarescue.org/en/index.php
Anyways, we awoke early to feed the animals and then headed to the Ministry of the Environment for the showdown.

The turnout was quite large and all of the volunteers from the other center had shown up. They were filling me in with their side of the story as we waited to begin. The meeting got very heated as the owner accused the director of theft, among other things. Their were enough witnesses and police reports to exonerate the South African director and her volunteers of any wrongdoing, but the owner was in for it. The minister ordered that the center be inspected immediately and that the volunteers be admitted so as to feed and care for the animals (something the owner could not do herself). I asked to tag along for the investigation and they agreed to let me! (as explained before, there aren´t really rules in Ecuador, so you have to know when to exploit a situation).

The place was a mess and the animals were hungry, dirty, and thirsty but ok. Some animals had been stolen by traffikers. Myself and the other volunteers quickly got to work preparing food for the animals, as the police and ministry continued their inspection.

Eventually, I had to get back to Yana Cocha. I bid farewell and good luck to all of the volunteers and the animals and hit the road.

I got back just in time for nocturnal feeding and then back into Puyo for our nightly internet excursion. This night we enjoyed the town a little, getting some beers and the watching a local pick-up soccer game. I was loving feeling part of the life here and Puyo was growing on me.

The family who owned the center treated me like one of their own. I was the first ever volunteer and they were happy to host me.

The morning began much like the other two. This fridge is full of hundreds of different fruits for the animals.

There is nearby banana shack and a container for veggies. I prepared everything myself, feeling confident I knew the proportions and system by then. David informed me that we would be going to every animal and spending lots of time so as to properly observe them, get to know them, and understand what and how they eat. Keep in mind this was also David´s first week so we were learning together. I was thrilled that we could take our time and play.

This is the tapir-like animal. Cute, but pretty shy and harmless. Since they don´t really play, I didn´t name them. The macaws would fly in and steal their food every day.

Their are various sorts of monkeys, all friendly in their own way and all playful. Many already had names. The one on the left is Pancho, the one on the middle and right is Manuel.

These are the guinea pigs (much different than the variety we have in the States). Some are popular for eating (and legal, consider it like cow or chicken), but not these jungle ones (they´re more rare). This particular one I named Blinken. He´s completely blind and extremely sweet. There were 7 total in three enclosures but most were skiddish.

This is Rocky. He and his girlfriend Penny (my names) loved to eat and were very mischievious. The sort of look like red raccoons mixed with anteaters.

Birds didn´t really get names, but they were gorgeous. Many were in bad shape thanks to traffickers.

Sorry, one bird got a name. This is the Toucan, Sam (not very original, but it was stuck in my head thanks to Fruit Loops)

The spider monkeys had no cage and stuck around because they were used to people and couldn´t get thier own food. Sometimes they would just jump on my head as I walked by. They were Alvin, Simon, and Theodore (although I later found out there was a fourth who got the name Rex).

There were two types of turtles, land and aquatic. The aquatic were nothing special.

The land ones were a little more agressive. This one I named Grandpa. He would follow me around the pen at a predictably slow pace but wanted to bite me. It was more annoying than anything.

The wild boar, Pancha (not to be confused with the capichin Pancho), was known to bite large chunks of flesh from victims legs so I just took this picture over the fence.

Of course it wouldn´t be a day at Yana Cocha if an animal didn´t escape. This time it was the wooly monkey, Nicholas. Manuel implemented another brash approach to capture. The wooly monkey was so scared that he jumped from about 60 feet from a tree into a shallow river. Manuel saved him from drowning and put him in this cage.

This is called a Pava de Monte. It´s pretty ugly but supposedly people capture it for it´s beautiful singing voice, no joke.

Then came Thomas. I made a point of saving 30 minutes for play time with him. I found a log and used it to cross the water. He came right down from his tree house and wanted to climb on me, be tickled, and hugged. His claws hurt a little, but he didn´t mean any harm.

He liked the taste of my shoe...

I had to leave eventually, so left him some bananas and walked back across the log.

After a late lunch, it was the turn of the nocturnals, several of whom are carnivores. We started with the very deceivingly cute looking cusumbros.

I say deceivingly because these guys were probably the most vicious creatures in the center. Manuel showed me scars from when one of them jumped on his head, slashed his face and partially scalped him! Yikes. David and I planned our entrance, cleaning, and feeding to be as efficient and safe as possible. It was my job to seal off the little hut where they live, and David would clean and fill the food and water dishes.

There are limited pictures because I was afriad to let go. We did our work and just as we were closing the door, one came flying at us, teeth barred and claws out. Holy Crap! Luckily we closed it just in time.

Next came the Cabeza de Mate. There are two and the name loosely translated means ´head of death.´ Slightly disconcerting, and they are scary looking and like to hiss and growl. Manuel explained that they really weren´t dangerous. The opposite of the cusumbros, you could say.

They were really nice, as Manuel had said but I wouldn´t want to upset them.

Next came the cats. Today was my third day there and being a cat lover, I really wanted to give the leopard, margay and ocelot a chance.

By the end of the week, I had entered the cage of the leopard and ocelot, pet the ocelot, although made no progress with the margay. He was sick and very irritable. Granted, I was always ready to run for the door and usually someone was nearby with a stick just in case, but it was nice to see that deep down they are all like Checkers (my wonderful cat from 1995-2007).

Admittedly I never befriended the Caiman (alligator),

nor the newly arrived porcupine.

That night, after feeding, there were some sick boa constrictors that needed tending to.

Two boas had infections in their mouths, which consequently meant they hadn´t eaten in weeks. It was up to us to apply iodine to their gums. My job was to hold a stick in it´s mouth so it wouldn´t bite anyone. A little frightening but they needed help.

Another long day. Time for bed.

The next day we had a project. We were going to build a cage for the porcupine with the money I had paid for the week. I literally got to buy the materials for enclosure as my donation. Pretty cool. And there is something particularly rewarding about building something from scratch. We cut down the trees, carved the wodd, cleared the land, and started to dig.

We are finishing construction on it today. I´ll have photos of the final thing. I think he´ll be a lot happier than in the small cage he´s in now.

I went back to prepare the meat for the cats and other nocturnals, and fed them.

By the time I was finished, it was time for dinner and it was my turn to cook (we rotated between the 4 of us). Lentils, rice, and some veggies...again.

After dinner, I just sat and listened to the sounds of the jungle and enjoyed a beer.

I skipped Puyo that night and watched ´Old School´ in Spanish on Jorge´s TV. David and Manuel weren´t back by the time I went to bed.

When I woke up in the morning, Giovanni (Manuel´s brother) explained that Manuel and David hadn´t gotten back until 6 that morning! I went to the house to see if they were there, and to my surprise, in I walked and there they were still drinking!!! They then explained that one beer had turned into 10 and before they knew it, the karaoke bar they had been at closed and it was 5am. They asked if I wanted to join them for a walk to a friend´s place. I replied that I would have to feed the animals first, but then I´d love to.

Well one beer at the friend´s place turned into about 35 beers between 5 of us. They were long gone by this point, now having drank for 18 hours straight.

We listened to music, chatted about nothing in particular, and enjoyed the off and on rain.

I found a cat.

Sadly, these friends had a monkey tied to a chain.

I talked to David and asked when he was going to report it and confiscate the monkey.
This is where things got sketchy. Here I am with the newly appointed director of an animal rescue center and he starts to tell me that he doesn´t feel right getting these guys in trouble. It really turned me off and opened my eyes. This was the reality. What I had been seeing was the ideal and dream that everyone imagines.

I was upset at that point and not wanting to babysit for the two guys anymore so I walked back.

I fed the turtles and snails (very uneventful, as you might imagine)

Frederika and I hung out.

I heard something strange outside. When I came out, in true Yana Cocha fashion, there was Pancha, the boar running around the center. He had miraculously escaped and I sure as heck wasn´t going to catch him, after the gouging stories they had told me. Giovanni spent the next 2 hours cautiously luring him back with a bucket of food.

Meanwhile, the dog sat and chewed on a bone, Manuel and David were still gone (now 24 hours straight) and I was thinking that it´s a good thing I´m leaving the day after next.

Just as things were settling down, a man drove up with a massive turtle he had found at a neighbor´s house. We carefully took him to the enclosure where he and Grandpa were bound to be best friends!

I found David passed out on his front porch a littel while later, and Manuel was alseep in the parking lot. I took the opportunity to have a nice shower and clean all of the blood, mud, and extrement off of myself and settle into a good nights sleep.

I leave early tomorrow morning for Quito, where my parents have gotten me and early birthday present of a night a fancy hotel where I can watch the Super Bowl! They have to be the best parents in the world, knowing exactly what I need when I need it.

Next time you´ll hear from me it will be early week in Otavalo, back to basecamp, ready to get started.

Lots of Muddy Love
Kent