Bolivia 2 – Monkey paradise: volunteering at La Senda Verde

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Imagine cuddling baby monkeys all day...

I could wistfully write about our 10 days volunteering at the animal refuge, La Senda Verde (LSV) for hours. It was a beautiful, unique experience that we are sure we could never replicate. I’ll try to keep it brief!

After meeting an Irish guy in La Paz’s Wild Rover hostel, we were convinced that LSV would be a great thing to do. Not only would we be in a lush rainforest setting but we’d get to see amazing animals, and of course volunteer for a good cause.

A little bit about the place. Just over eight years old, LSV was created by Vicki and Marcelo with just one old female Spider Monkey – Maruka or ‘Grandma’ as she is affectionately known because of her old grumpy face and huge big belly. From there it exploded and now houses over 200 neglected, abused animals that cannot be released into the wild. There are wild cats, a fox, a boa constrictor, caimans, turtles, tortoises, a toucan, parrots of all varieties, a huge Andean (Spectacled) Bear, dogs, cats, coatis and of course around six varieties of monkeys. It also has a number of guest facilities to bring income into the refuge from tourists.

Set on a huge property criss-crossed with sometimes raging rivers, in lush rain forest, it is a piece of heaven that needs a lot of work to keep running. We joined a team of around 10 other volunteers from all over the world – New Zealand, England, Holland, France and Chile – and were assigned to a group of animals.

Our first group was ‘Miscellaneous’ animals – dogs, cats, the bear, fox, wild cat and turtles/tortoise, then a few days later the ‘Monkeys’, and then lastly we went on to look after the birds in the days leading up to our departure. It was hard work. The majority of the 200 animals require three meals a day and the animals always had to be looked after before we ate our meals.

Our days began at around 8am with the first animal feeding, then we’d feed again at lunch then at dinner time – we’d prepare most of the food – chopped up mango/banana and seed for the macaws and parrots, diced tomato for the toucan, honey sandwiches, fruit/veggies and porridge for Aruma the bear (no kidding), fruit/veggies and pasta for the monkeys, veggies for the tortoises, chicken feet and heads for the wild cats... etc. During the feeding we’d also need to clean the enclosures or food areas, a very gross but necessary job.

During our time at LSV David and a few of the boys tried to ‘rat proof’ our preparation room. With limited supplies they did a great job of concreting and meshing the walls. We hope the next set of volunteers will finish the job when more supplies arrive.

Some memorable moments included feeding Aruma the 150kg bear peanuts by hand (with a ‘fake’ electric fence dividing us... long story), cleaning Aruma’s cage while he was distracted by the peanuts (your heart beats very fast), cleaning out the Toucan’s cage whilst being gentle pecked away at by the cheeky devils huge beak, having ‘Mr Bean’ the tiny balding parrot stuck to your shoulder like glue and having him stay there... for hours, and doing the ‘night monkey’ sprint – being chased by a nocturnal owl monkey that hated females.

Every day during our spare time we would have cuddles with the monkeys. They were the cutest, most adorable creatures in the world. Our favourites:

Nina – young female Spider monkey. Nina would walk up to you gracefully on her two back legs (hence ‘Nina the Ballerina’) and climb up to hug you, she would wrap her legs around your waist, arms around your neck and tuck her tail around your middle or neck and just snuggle into you, tucking her head in for a snooze or staring into your eyes wanting some conmforting noises. It was heaven! Nina only liked cuddles from girls. What David missed out on from Nina, he certainly got in spades from Cacao!

Cacao – young, alpha male Spider monkey. Cacao loved boys and only boys. He would pick the tallest boy and walk over on all fours, take their hand with his little hand or wrap his tail around their wrist and walk them away for a private cuddle. Just like Nina he would wrap himself around the boys and snuggle in. Often Cacao would roam the property and David would get him randomly coming up to him near our room for a cheeky cuddle. David also had another admirer, Wara, who one day stalked him and tried to break into the bathroom while he was showering, then followed him back to our cabana and tried to pry away the flyscreen to get into our cabana. Poor David was praying I’d come back and rescue him... oops.

Paprika – baby Howler Monkey. Named for her breed’s rich paprika colour, this little one was shy and reclusive so when you got a cuddle it was special! Her favourite position was snuggled up behind the bottom of your head with his tailed wrapped around your neck. I use to put my rain coat hood on to keep her nice and warm. She was tiny and adorable, even though she had the face of a little old woman!

Ringo – tiny baby squirrel monkey. These guys have the cutest little faces and bodies with yellow, white and grey fur. Ringo would fit in the palm of your hand. He hated the rain and cold and would often seek us out to snuggle the hours away in the crook of our arms – even when we were eating our meals! He would just jump up, snuggle and then fall asleep (or try and steal our food). He loved human company – but only when he was sleepy or cold, at all other times he was on the endless and manic hunt for bugs to eat!

The Capuchin Monkeys – These guys are the smartest of all the monkeys above. They have the largest brain to body ratio. As such they seemed to have been the most abused by their previous owners. Some were trained as pick-pockets or as ‘dancing’ monkeys. One had a missing eye and another was missing teeth – his previous owner dressed him as a child and fed him lollies. Because of this abuse some of the monkeys were extremely violent (mainly to females, a sad legacy of their abuser) and had to remain tethered on long, flexible ropes affixed to trees. They had little houses and would get cuddles (where possible) from male volunteers three times a day. In my view they lived happy lives and LSV was the best place for them.

David’s favourite Capuchins were the little baby males – Leo (wild long hair like a lion), Mr Spock (he had crazy spiky eyebrows) and Pistachio. They were little fluffy things and were just like naughty toddlers. They would play pro-wrestling and throw each other around and make us all laugh a lot. Leo loved to play but when he wasn’t playing you could find him down one of the boys’ shirts having a sleep – sometimes with Mr Spock and Pistachio as well!

My favourite Capuchin was Mora, a heavily pregnant female that had her beautiful healthy little baby just a few days before we left. Before the birth Mora would just sit and chat with you for ages, chirping and tutting away as you made equivalent noises back. Then she would snuggle in your lap for cuddles and would love getting your hand and patting her bulging belly – she was a very proud little pregnant monkey! Her pregnancy was a huge surprise to LSV. They do not encourage breeding, they are a sanctuary and would fast run out of room. Mora was deemed too young to get pregnant but nature played its course! She will now be sterilised which is very sad but if it helps make more room for more abused animals I guess you have to support it.

Last but not least is Camillo, a ‘teenager’ capuchin(and the next alpha male in line) with a cheeky ugly face. He was such a little Jeckle and Hyde – one moment cuddling and sleeping on your lap, the next minute biting your finger or dive tackling another monkey that you were cuddling. He had a LOT of personality... sometimes too much... but we loved him. I still have a little mark on my finger from a bite he gave me whilst snoozing contentedly on my lap!

During our breaks, when we weren’t cleaning or working on things (we did a bit of gardening as well) we would all sit around the monkey area and just let the monkeys play on, around, with us or if it was snuggle time we would all be sitting around with numerous monkeys passed out snoozing in our laps or on a cold day, under our shirts! Yes we got peed and pooped on a number of times but it was worth it.
I could go on... we loved the monkeys and David would often reminisce when we left LSV about our times with them. They were darlings.

Sometimes it was hard and thankless work volunteering at LSV, we were fed very little, we had no uniforms except an old tatty shirt and it rained and rained and rained making the site a giant mud pit (thank god we decided to buy some gum boots before we arrived). We also still carry the scars from the little sand fly bastards that are the tiniest of creates (like a fruit fly) but bite you by sticking their whole head in you, drink your blood then leave you with a blood blister welt that stays with you for weeks! grrrrrr they itched us for days and days.

The other monkeys we loved were the other volunteers. All happy-go-lucky backpackers that loved animals – Claire, Mahara, Elene, Vanessa, Dani, Ariel and Glynn were legends! Many a night was spent in the guest’s rec room playing pool, having drinks and watching DVDs.

Our memories of LSV are fond and happy and we miss the place insanely. We will remember the time at LSV forever...

Check out their website for more animal pics and info: www.lasendeverde.com(CHECK)

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Comments

[Sally Clements]

wow oh wow
Hi guys now when i say to joel i am going to come at you like a spider monkey i actually know what one is now he he. You guys are seeing so much its insane and great to read some of it too scary for me to live. Keep well guy all is good here in Tassi xxxx