Monkey see Monkey hear Monkey do...

Its been awhile! My adventures in South Africa have brought a lot of challenges and enrichment to my self as a person. There have been great fantastic times and also times that I wish I was anywhere but here. Altough, as most of us know, thats the way all of life goes.

I have more time to go into town. It is interesting because for a small farming town the city is very Western. There is a big mall about the size of Billings Mall or bigger. It is a beautiful town and you can sit at the country lodge drinking cocktails and feel like you are in hawaii. The vegitation and humitity feels the same as a tropical paradise. And when you are not shoveling monkey shit you can actually enjoy it.

Halloween at the foundation was an extreme blast. I am thinking it was the best halloween that I have ever had. Some of the staff really went to town decorating. We played ring of fire, danced, and drank the night away. I really dressed up for the first time in ages. Besides having to work my bum off the next day it was really great. I am really meeting some great people here.

I am working in quarentine on a regular basis. Alot of you want to know what my days are like.

I wake up at 6 am every morning to help pass out meds. Hand out meds in the morning to 34 monkeys. It is definitly a game of 'lets had meds and not die' It really takes a lot of skill. Because monkeys do not just play and share like good little monkeys you have to seperate the monkeys by standing on different sides of the cages and giving the bananas at the exact right time. Hilde and I have it down to a science so it is easier. After that it is off to chop a variety of foods for their breakfast. The foods we feed often include; carrots, gem squash, butternut squash, onion, beets, pineapple, sweet potatos...ect all really great stuff. We also make rehydration which is a combination of honey and himilian salt which the monkeys love and really rehydrates them on those really hot days. After that it is off to clean cages. There are small trap cages that we clean, rake, sweep, bleach. Then we must trap the monkeys using their breakfasts and clean their big cages scrubbing, rinsing, raking, and disinfecting all the surfaces. After we have clean and fed everyone we collect compost and do all the dishes. After our morning break it is time to give out sprouts and more rehydration. We often give out seed pods. Then its time to give out seed sprouts to all the monkeys that are tb suspects on the foundation. It is a long treck but one of my favorite things to do. All my monkeys are very sweet and look forward to you giving them out. The end of the day after lunch includes giving more meds and spending time with the monkeys that need that extra attention. Also we wait for main feed to be brought by the workers to make sure they all get fed properly. Grooming and being groomed. It makes for a long hard day but when you think about the bigger picture and the fact the monkeys would not be here without each of us working as hard as we do, it makes it easier to get through the day. I don't have a whole lot of free time.

I am on my way to Kruger on thursday so I am sure I will have a lot to write about when I get back! Miss you! Sending all the crazy monkey love your way!!!!

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Part of trip: Vervet Monkey Foundation

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