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Our jungalow hut
This is where we slept whilst at Rainsong. Cute cozy cabin with hammocks to lounge in.So for those of you keeping track, my freckle abundance has doubled due to the sun. It is still so hot and humid, even when it rains (which it does every few days as booming thunderstorms), we sweat or get wet from the rain and our clothes stay wet, never dry and start to smell sweet and damp. We were supposed to get our own rooms at a local’s guesthouse but no one is organized at Rainsong so we ended up having to stay at a hostel; we have to share a hut outside, which is fine, there is more room in the huts we share than in the rooms. And people stay up all night inside the hostel anyway so it’s better we are secluded.
Most days we get up before 7 am, eat stodgy oats with loads of sugar so it’s edible, then walk the 20 minutes along a dirt road to Rainsong. The road is full of potholes and usually filled with puddles. The locals are quite friendly but the whole place is set up for tourists and Rainsong volunteers so everything is a bit more expensive. The people take care of their dogs (for the most
Our jungalow hut inside
My mosquito-net covered bed, quite a mess! part) and many have collars but will follow you around. A lot of people ride motorcycles in their usual clothes (shorts, no shirt or tank tops and sandals) no helmet and usually with other passengers or children on the back or even babies in the front. At Rainsong, there we usually have a ‘meeting’ which is just Mary yammering on about the most ridiculous things, then she makes us all meditate for a few minutes because she says we need to clear our auras before we work with the animals- it’s a bit annoying since we just want to work and not meditate! She is also convinced the meditation sessions direct the weather! Then we work until noon, walk back to the hostel and have lunch, i usually have a nap after and read my book, and do stuff to occupy my time before dinner.
Mary is the woman in charge of Rainsong... she has not studied anything to do with animals, she has never worked on a farm or in rehabilitation at all, she knows nothing or very very little about animal well-being and care and even less about hygiene and sanitation. She is a larger woman from
Texas who loves to smoke cigarettes around everyone and the animals, she just wants to cuddle and pet the animals who are supposed to be released to the wild eventually, she doesn’t listen to anyone’s advice about animal care, she just babbles on about her plants and garden and how she wants to plant things but has to wait for the ‘right moon’. She walks around in her dresses too small for her and points to things and asks for people to do everything for her. She never spends any time with the animals or checks up on them, aside from when she is cuddling and petting them, so she never knows when something is wrong or if they are getting the wrong food.
Right away, Step and i noticed a lot of things that needed improvement at the sanctuary. For starters, a majority of the cages are WAY TOO SMALL!! Many of the animals have no enrichment. They feed pasta and cooked beans to porcupines, they aren’t giving the coati anything other than mangos and dogfood. The coati has no where to climb, a tiny enclosure with nothing to do, then people
Baby Squirrels
Unnecessarily syringe-fed, kept in a tiny bird cage and played with constantly by their human ´caretakers´... ah, Rainsong, habituating animals into pets one at a time... get scared when he seems aggressive. Coatis are very hyper animals who need to run and climb and catch insects all day long and he can’t do anything but sit in his cement cell and eat dog food! There are other animals she keeps as ‘pets’ or just for show, there is no reason for them to be there and they can never survive in the wild (such as domestic guinea pigs or Russian pigeons or peacocks) and she knows nothing about them. I have suggested several times things she can do to help the animals or try doing things a different way and she always has some dumb excuse and blows me off!
There is no clean way to clean anything. They have a few buckets and a few brushes that they use for EVERYTHING, they use them to clean animal poo, to carry animal drinking water or food... Then they use them for ALL of the cages, so if one animal in one cage gets sick, they are all going to get it. They don’t use soap or disinfectant on anything. Step and i arrived and were cleaning cages while we were feeding because they need their
Baby Turtle
Swimming in food cages cleaned everyday and several volunteers were shocked we were doing ‘so much work’ and said no one has cleaned those cages--ever!! It’s so frustrating because Mary isn’t the kind of person who listens to anyone else and if we do change something, it’s going to go back to old routine as soon as we leave since we are not here long. But if we were here any longer and not able to make changes, we would go insane! A few of the other volunteers also note there are a few things that need changing but no one here other than Step and i have worked with animals or even studied them, so people aren’t sure what’s the best way to do it. And some of the others don't even see what the big deal is or why what we are saying is an issue!
One volunteer, Ben, is studying to be a vet, but he doesn’t know anything about the animals or rehab care. When Mary asks him a question, he doesn’t know the answer, but she still thinks he is the most qualified person to ask and takes his word on whatever he says. We’ll see how
Porcupines
Hanging out with faces only a mother could love things progress... we want to talk to her, as frustrating as it is, since she doesn’t listen.
Otherwise things are fine; many of the other volunteers are American or Australian, they are all nice but a bit annoying. We don’t have too much in common with them so Step and i do our things by ourselves or hang out with each other. They are all here since it’s “paradise” to them and like to go surfing and drink every night and have parties whenever they can. We are supposed to have a party on Friday but i am afraid if i drink anything i will let Mary know a thing or three! If the crazy woman doesn’t kill me, i shall keep updating.
^Út Í Óvissuna^
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