Blogs from Villa Tunari, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia, South America - page 2

I had quite an interesting day in Villa Tunari. In the morning I visited the park, where I unsuccesfully fought with a monkey to recover the tissues she has skilfully stolen from my pocket. Apparently she is quite keen on cameras too so I guess I can call myself lucky. In the afternoon I went to the other park 7km away from the village, walked to a river and ended up going in the water with all my clothes on. The night journey to Santa Cruz also proved to be interesting, though in a more negative way. The bus was full and I was accomodated in the aisle, travelling for six hours in the most uncomfortable position, surrounded by the smell of dirty feet. When the driver refused to give me my change and mumbled something ... read more

Her er nogle billeder fra parken. Jeg startede med at arbejde 3 dage med en Puma, men den var lidt vild-Senere har den ogsa hoppet paa en af dens frivillige, saa han skulle syes alle mulige steder. Men efter det kom jeg saa paa bjornen Balu. Rigtig nuttet, men pludselig havde de brug for mig hos en Ocelot der hedder Millie, rigtig nuttet, saa hende har jeg vaeret hos i 2 dage nu.... read more

Det her hoerer til Rafting, men vi kan ikke faa billederne paa-Vi har vaeret paa rafing. En kanon tur, med masser af spaending:) Alle andre end Ann fik en ordentligt tur i baljen paa vej ned af floden, det var lidt vildt, men det gik udemaerket. Det var rigtig sjovt, og sammen med 3 bolivianere som var paa weekend, og 2 guider. De 3 bolivianere vi har moedt, har inviteret os til Cochabamba, hvor mor tager hen torsdag, for at se byen og senere sove paa den enes mors bed and breakfast. Hun skal vist ogsaa have noget massage :) Trekking. Idag var vi ude at trekke og vi rappellede ned af et vandfald og fik i floden, rigtig spaendende og lang dag. ... read more

Sorry for the *huge* post, but there is much to say about the past 5 weeks volunteering and living with the monkeys at Parque Machia in the jungle in Bolivia. There are three main types of monkeys at Inti Wara Yassi. The first, the capuchins are hightly intelligent. One of the smarter capuchins, Boodie (the alpha male) has actually escaped three times from a locked cage in the clinic. It is thought in one of his escapes he bribed or convinced another capuchin to steal the keys and let him out (the capuchins are also highly adept at opening locks). Another of his escapes was even more impressive. He started to become very attached to the blanket in his cage and refused to let the volunteers take it for washing. Eventually they gave up as he ... read more

Communidad Inti Wara Yassi is a wildlife refuge in Bolivia that is home to an enormous array of previously injured, poached, domesticated, sick and circus animals including pumas, oscillots, tayras, tajons, monkeys of many sorts, birds, tortoises and one enormous Andean bear. It is staffed almost entirely by volunteers who work with one sort of animal or in one area of the park. The park gets no government funding and survives solely on donations and volunteer fees (around $7 a night for accommodation). At peak times, volunteer numbers swell to around 70. They are office workers, travellers, management consultants, vets and random travellers from tens of nations. But they all have the commitment to stick around for gruelling 12-hour working days (with only one day off every fortnight) in the mosquito-riddled jungle where you are not ... read more