Friday 04th October

Day off today 😍 – not sure what to do – some photography with my new camera per chance? But 1st, a leisurely breakfast and then I will decide.

Curimana was the choice of the day, with two of the girls (Sophie and Anna) to phone Bill and Rachel (a canoe and 1 hr taxi with a river crossing).

I was excited to let them know of my adventures so far and also to reassure them and let them know I was fine – more than fine, life was good.

Why do some people see vulnerable foreigners and decide to take advantage and rob them of their hard earned cash. Communicating is almost impossible and I have to rely on trust which is often a huge mistake. A tuk-tuk picked me up, ran me 200 yards to the Internet cafe because I had no idea where it was and charged me 10 sol, it could have been 1 sol max – b…….d, hope he gets his comeuppance in the next life 😡

I phoned Bill and Rachel and what a wonderful surprise they had, I could hear it in their voices. It was exciting to talk to them, to describe my experience in Esperanza Verde so far.

The electricity went off and we lost communication for a while which was frustrating but after 30 mins we were chatting again – bliss 😍

I tried hard but failed to add anything onto my blog, couldn’t even copy and paste it to Rachel as the strength of the internet didn’t allow it which was a great shame as it would have given them an insight into the daily events at Esperanza Verde.

Meeting up with the girls, we went for lunch which was omelete and rice (£1.25 and 50p for a bottle of coke)

Anna and I went to the market to buy oil, a cup, chocolate and flipflops. Ripped off again – she charged me 15 soles for the flipflops – almost £4!!! Gave up having high expectations of honesty and trust, I just won’t go back!

The taxi returning to Esperanza Verde was leaving around 3 and we all piled into the taxi but unfortunately I had an acute onset of stomach cramps and had to vacate the taxi toot suite and make haste to the nearest loo – maybe lunch wasn’t such a good idea after all 🤮

It was going to be a long apprehensive hot long journey back to the river – I even took precautions by looking the translation app on my phone to say ” I need to go to the toilet – Yo tengo que ir al baño” 🤣 thankfully I didn’t need to use the phrase.

Almost home, just the canoe trip back across the river

Back in the safety of Esperanza Verde, we all decided to go to the waterfall to shower and swim. it was my first experience and it was brill. The pond was full of lots little fish that loved to get up close and personal 🐟. Sophie, Holly and I had such a great chat for ages then headed back for a debriefing of the daily events inside the compound and slipped off for a rest before dinner.

As I was writing this diary lying on my bed, a huge cockroach cllmbed up my leg – god I hate the thought of these beasts crawling all over me as I sleep but I can’t think about it or I’d never sleep!!

The toad that lives in the pipe outside the bedroom and keeps everyone awake came out of his hole, he was huge and beautiful

Off for dinner soon and I bought some (overcharged) beer at Bella Horizonte – my first one since I left the house almost a week ago.

Quick tea (assortment of beans in a tomatoes sauce) Bed at 21:45 🛏😴

Saturday 5th October

Well, back to getting up at 6am, oats for breakfast and headed for the Bodego to start work at 7:30. I had a change of duties today, I was put in the Monkey tour which is feeding the semi-wild monkeys running round camp – capuchine, woolly, howlers, spider, night monkeys and tamarin species. Cleaning the cage of ……the little wild cat, the capybara and the enclosure of over 100 parakeets that were confiscated from an animal trafficker who had stuffed over 200 into a suitcase.

The heat and humidity was almost unbearable at 8am and I knew it was going to be a long hot day even the monkeys were lying about in heaps but there was no getting away from the responsibilities and the animals had to be looked after.

After lunch (more beans, pasta, cabbage, carrots in a tomato sauce) Bella and I had an extra duty, to clean the kitchen.

Just as I moved the food bucket, this enormous hairy tarantula spider came scuttling out from the side of the couch. It was huge, brown and grosse!! I let out a scream as it startled me and I certainly didn’t want to be any closer. Bella quickly captured it under a Tupperware dish and took it outside – OMG 🕷

The chores of the morning were repeated I the afternoon and I was exhausted when we finished at 4:30pm

It had been a long hot sticky day and the thought of floating in that cool pool under the waterfall filled me with hope!

It was belisemo!!! I was reborn and ready to face the evening.

Did my washing, prepared my blog and waited on the shout for dinner (CAMEDA!!!!)

Left the kitchen to feed the raccoons at 8pm who were eagerly ready and waiting for their supper and encountered a few bats on the way who swooped to catch the moths that were attracted by my headtorch

Played a music team quiz and bed for 10pm. I’ve a busy day tomorrow – (Monkey tour on my own and toilets) 👏👏👏👏

Sunday 6th October

Up bright and early (6am) to hang out the washing I had done the night before. The drying enclosure was clipped, a wire wound round the bolt like every other gate in the campus and the flies inside would swarm making it difficult to hang the washing on the line without them bouncing off my face ……bugs!!!!!!

As in the resident tour, I was left alone to carry out the duties of the monkey tour on the second day. It was an extremely steep learning curve!! .

Firstly, I had to clean the monkey feeding platforms that were swinging high up in the canopy and to do this I had to lower them down using the pulley system after which I went along to the Bodega to cut up the cooked banana.

After all the food was put in the bowls, the distribution began. We all left the Bodega like an efficient line of factory workers with great intentions.

Before any other animals could get fed I had to put food on the three monkey tables because in the past when the Peccaries were fed the naive little monkeys went into their enclosure to steal their food and met with a very traumatic ending ( RIP little greedy ones).

Once the food was put on the clean table I took hold of the rope to haul it 5mtrs above my head but the spider monkeys and the woolly monkeys took umbridge at this and launched a full scale attack on me and I was bitten on the ankle – little shits – thank goodness Charly was there to scare them off.

The rest of my duties went well considering I had acute stomach pains and was working in the intense heat – oh and I had an extra responsibility to , the banyo that’s bogs ( toilets) to you and me!!! Oooeee!!

Mon 7th Oct

Well, I hardly slept a wink last night what with a very luminous electric storm, the roaring, clapping thunder and the waterfall of rain just outside my window and if that wasn’t enough, I thought I heard the pityful whimpering cries of a monkey that I thought might have got lost in the storm. I shone my torch through the wire mesh from beside my bed but I couldnt see anything. I drifted back off to sleep around 4am.

Today was a new tour – baby monkey tour, giving all the baby monkeys their milk – some in enclosures and the ones lucky enough to be wandering around the campus – spider monkeys, woolly monkeys and howler monkeys

They are adorable but it is a ‘no touch no communications’ policy which means no affection nor looking at them is allowed!!!

My entire career has been spent talking to and reassuring vulnerable and insecure animals and although I can understand the reason for this approach and see the bigger picture, it is completely alien to me and extremely difficult not to ignore their plea and searching arms and not respond by giving these babies emotional support.

So today my feeding and cleaning duties include the deer, agouti, baby monkeys, semi wild woolly, spider, night and howler monkeys, helping in the chaotic Bodego (by far my least favourite task), tortoises, turtles and the massive Avery with Macaws, Amazons, parakeets and a funny little ground feeding blue bird – more than enough to keep me busy and made a trillion more times more difficult by the torrential rain which has turned the paths and steep stairs into a treturous quadmire.

Just to add to the challenge of working in these almost impossible conditions, the weekly shopping arrived by canoes from Currimana and the huge heavy sacks had to be transported up the steep slippery embankment and taken by wheelbarrow and unloaded into the stores – what a bloody day and one I was glad to see the back of 😱

There quite a variety of nationalities in the camp who can all speak and understand a bit of English – Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Austrslian, English, New Zealanders and me a wee Scots lassie who everyone can understand the least)

After all the torrential rain, the wee stream leading to the waterfall had become a cascading river making it impossible to reach to bathe and shower but besides that, now that the stream had become quite deep, the Caymen from the main Ukaylia river could easily come upstream. A long line of muddy volunteers quickly formed to wash under the dripping cold water shower in the bedroom area !!

In the evening after dinner, I taught them all how to play Rummy, a card game I had learned in my youth and was always a good way to pass the time. There were so many players we had to use two packs of cards and Charlie added his own twist. We drank some beer and had such until 10pm. I was off tomorrow so a late night wasn’t a problem for me.