Bienvenue a Jambeli!

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Jambeli

The nearest place on the map is Guayaquil but we're actually staying in a place called Hacienda Jambeli which is an animal rescue farm near the small town of Naranja.
But it's off the beaten track.

Jambeli is like being in another world. Chickens, peacocks, geese and the odd cat roam around freely but you are truly reminded that you're in the Amazon by the fact that occasionally a monkey will jump on your back out of the blue.
The centre mainly focuses on rescuing animals and attempting to eventually rehabilitate them back into the wild. Although for some of them it will never be possible.
Our daily routine consists of waking up and going straight to work to prepare the food for the Macaws which are becoming increasingly endangered and thus Jambeli are trying to set up a constant breeding program to increase their numbers. After preparing the food we return to the house where we have our own breakfast before we give the parrots theirs!
We trudge through swamps, past the special islands set up for the monkeys and the mud-pits for the giant tortoises, flicking bugs out of our eyes and arrive at the first of the parrot cages.
They are noisy creatures to say the least. Our jobs are to clean out the cages and to feed them and we are delighted when the smaller Paraqui's land on our heads when we enter. One pecks curiously at Jo's earring and we are reluctant to leave.
We are told there is usually a giant tapir but he has apparently escaped and has been missing for a little while now...but he usually returns at some point. I would quite like to meet him before we leave...
Aside from all the birds there are leopards, crocodiles, boars, horses, toucans, dogs, turtles, giant tortoises, spider monkeys, a sloth and a bear.

There is a very cheeky monkey that lives here. He is called Tomas and is prone to escaping, as we discovered quite quickly.
Our task one day was to peel some corn in preparation for tomorrows food and when I returned to my seat with a basket I was pleasantly surprised to find it had been comandeered by a monkey.
He sat on the back of this chair without a care in the world. At first I approached with caution as we had previously been told the monkeys could be quite aggressive...not Tomas. He roams around the farm like he owns the place and is very difficult to get back in his cage! He does not live on one of the islands like the majority of the monkeys here, but has his own cage near the office.
He 'helped' us work, climbing all over us and sitting on our laps. Occasionally leaning over to grab a maggot. By the end we were delving into the bag hoping to find rotten ones just so we could feed the catapillars to him. His little furry hands were so soft as they clung onto mine and it felt natural for his tail to be wrapped round my neck. That's definately one comfort blanket I could get used to.

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Comments

[Jade]

I'm literally brimming with envy!!!! awww Tomas sounds sooo perfect, just like a monkey should be!! I'm so thrilled that you're having a good time.....it sounds like a world away from lincoln and cambridge and normal life over the other side of the world! Keep enjoying and keep smiling girlies...most importantly, KEEP WRITING THESE BLOGS! i love them :):)