16th – 18th October

I have no power left in my iPhone, battery pack, cube, iPad or Surge watch as the solar charger upstairs is still not working even though we have complained for almost four days although I see the management have full power in their devices!

Thank goodness I have recovered (slightly) from my dysentery diarrhoea – gone from 1 to 2 😂 I wouldn’t have survived the journey to Curimana tomorrow if I still had the affliction. Can’t wait to phone tomorrow.

I was in the clinic today – no patients mind you – just more cleaning. Heard someone say we were “glorified cleaners”, not sure where she got the glorified bit from. 😉

I managed to do some microscope work on Coati faeces after I was first given a tutorial by the self taught head volunteer which was very much appreciated as I had forgotten all those skill after my 40+ years of experience! I found eggs and

cheyletiella parasites – great, now I can add worms and walking dandruff to the list of potential infections 😂 At least the clinic work was a rest from all the manually “shitty” work.

As a treat, I gave the wee Tamarin monkey a live cricket to eat (R.I.P wee cricket) and she was delighted – she ate it with gusto and I could almost see her smile. She caught it with lightening speed inside the bug cage, jumped onto a branch and flipped its head off before devouring the wee body – she was in total heaven.

The poor wee Night monkey who shares her cage couldn’t believe there was only one and looked at me in disbelief as she searched inside the bottle – I felt so guilty and promised her I do better tomorrow!

It was a less stressful day and at night I repainted my toenails – little things mean a lot!

Curimana tomorrow yippeee! Back to the Volo house to continue reading my borrowed book, Diving Rod by Michael Knight – reminds me a little of The Great Gatspy

Nite

😘

17th October’19

There was a huge storm last night, the works – thunder and lightening and the rain stoated off the corrugated roof like water balloons. It kept me awake all night and into the early hours of the morning. It was made worse by the sound of the little capachin and woolly monkeys crying pitifully outside my mesh window – hanging on for dear life with their little fingers and desperately peering in squeaking for attention. I shone my torch through the mesh as I found it hard to ignore their pleas but their was nothing I could do. I tossed and turned for hours until I eventually drifted off to sleep.

Although I never slept well, I rose at 6am and went outside in search of these wee monkeys – I dreaded the thought of them perishing in the middle,of the night, but thankfully I found nothing.

Today was an exciting day, I was heading to Curimana to phone Bill and Rachel. Because of my dysenteric diarrhoea, I have been unable to leave the compound in 10 days and as I lay in my bed listening to the storm last night I prayed that both the river would be ok to cross and the road would not be blocked by flood or fallen trees. It wouldn’t just be a disaster, it would be a complete catastrophe!

Quick breakfast – delicious oats, and I was off to the port to shout across to the canoe owners to come pick me up. “Hello…….HELLO” I shouted to be heard above the torrent river.

I love the journey to Curimana – the smells and sounds of the jungle, the tall trees that reach out from the rich vegetation and the wonderful variety of the lush green foliage.

Unfortunately I had to wait at the other side of the port until there was enough passengers to make a full truck load. In the village we “gringos” as they called us always attracted attention and today was no different. Unfortunately there is an alcohol problem with the local and I was the focus of attention by one such inhabitant. I’ve no idea what he was saying as I tried to avoid the little Spanish missile that exploded from his mouth, he was was waving money at me and trying to get me to go into the back of the car 🤢. Thankfully the driver chased him every time he came near the truck.

After almost an hour we were on our way and I couldn’t believe it, this pest got in the back seat, leaning over between the two front seats waving the money at me – eyes front the whole way!

As we continued our journey through the village, the people just kept piling in. At one point I counted 12 in all and that included a rather large lady that squeezed in beside me in the front! I had to sit on the handbrake and put my knees up on the dashboard.

Thankfully the lady got out at the next village and was replace by a young svelte girl who looked terrified of me & hung onto the door for dear life the whole way to Curimana. It was a long journey.

Eventually we reached our destination and piled out the truck. The road wasn’t without difficulties. The rain of the night before turned the road into mud slides and the driver did well to keep us on the road.

I went straight to the Internet cafe – always sound quite high tech when I say that 🤣 but as the owner saw me approach, he shouted “No internet……No internet” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, the storm has distrupted the signal and there was NO INTERNET 😱😱.

Well I hadn’t come all this way for nothing, I turned on my mobile data and phoned Bill – I didn’t care if it cost me the earth, I wasn’t going home without having a conversation.

I don’t know what came over me, as soon as I heard Bills voice I started to cry uncontrollably – I couldn’t even speak to him. I didn’t want to cry but I did and I was annoyed with myself because I knew he’d be worried and I didn’t want to worry him.

After I has composed my pathetic over emotional reaction. We spoke for ages and I told him I was leaving Esperanza early. I would finish after 3 weeks and not a single day more. He was actually relieved and we discussed the plan.

Next I phoned my beautiful daughter Rachel, my techno guru and (should be) professional tour operator. She has this wonderful upbeat cheerful voice “Hi Mum” she answered with lovely excitement and enthusiasm which made me dissolve again – OMG, they must have though I was having a complete breakdown.

We had an amazing conversation and I took compete control of my blubbering emotions. She was going to organise my early flight out of the jungle. 👏👏👏👏

My next day off was Sunday and I would be back then to hear what plans she had made for me – what a little star, what would I do without her!

I couldn’t believe how quick time had gone. It was almost 2pm and I hadn’t had lunch. I had to leave Curimana no later than 2:30 if I was to make the canoe crossing before the locals started drinking.

I went to the usual cafe, ate the usual omelette, drank the usual Coka-Cola and headed for the usual pickup.

Arriving back at the port, I was back on the other side and walking to Esperanza Verde in 10 mins.

It was quite an uneventful night. Olivia, one of the directors of the charity was returning from Holland and Douwe, the other director and her husband had picked her up from Pucallpa airport. She introduced herself over dinner and we chatted for a bit. My first impressions was that I liked her and wished I had got to know her sooner but it was too late for that – my plans were in motion.

Early to bed, I’m up at 6am again tomorrow. There’s no patients in the clinic and I’ve scrubbed it till it shines so I’ve been put on enrichment.

18th October ‘19

I have no idea what time it was when I woke up as my phone, iPad and fitbit are all out of battery (nope solar charges still not fixed) and Dylan the only clock for the volo house into his room so, I am clueless.

Anna and Sophie who share my room are both off today so I just have to get up and make my way to the kitchen for breakfast.

Thankfully it was just after 6am which meant I could have a relaxed breakfast and head to the jeugeteria to think of what enrichment I was going to invent to entertain and improve the quality of the lives of the animals in their cages.

I am on clinic duty again but as there is no patients, I have reassigned to enrichment responsibilities.

It was difficult to get started, I sat for a long time staring into space. I made a plan, first I decided which animal would receive my invention, choose their favourite food and decide which material to use.

I kept thinking of wee Tonka (the Tamarin monkey) and Mark (the night monkey). I didn’t want to do it just because they were my favourites, but they were, and it gave me so much pleasure to watch them get excited in solving puzzles as they had done with the cricket. They were my favourite couple in the whole campus. Teeny weeny Tonka with minute hands and face and who squeaked with sheer delight darting from branch to branch when you went in her cage and Mars, the night monkey, her exquisite huge saucer brown eyes that had to just stare into your face as if searching for an expression to communicate with. I loved this wee couple – so gentle, trusting and inquisitive.

So, with their size and acrobatic ability in mind, I began inventing a feeding puzzle with palm leaves, peanuts and sunflower seeds. I think I was more excited than them the see their reaction 🤣

If I say so myself, I was quite proud of my invention. I took 6 strands of long thin palm leaves, spaced out one peanut with one sunflower seed and tied them off in little individual pockets – 6-8 packages to each strand. Looking something like a runner bean tied in section up and down the stalk – perfect 👌

I hung the strands from the top of their cage not making access too easy and stood back to see how they would react.

Hilarious, without wasting a nano second, Tonka ripped swung across the mesh roof and open the little packages and devoured the seeds in seconds but left the peanuts. Maru just sat on the branch and watched from the sidelines so I picked up the nuts from the floor and fed them to her one by one. Maru is so much slower and deliberate compared to the hyperactive Tonka.

What great satisfaction, I hurried back to the jugeteria to think of something else.

Nothing to eat this time, a play thing. A deep pouch fixed onto a steel ring with three strands of rope tied onto the ring to enable it to be suspended from a branch. Bingo, another hit, never mind them, I was entertained and laughed for ages as they both jumped in and out rolling around – first one then the other then both together – simple pleasures! I shouldn’t have favourites but I did, and these two were mine! Last but not last, I gave them each a live cricket – grosses I know, but they need their protein fix.

So now to an unpleasant task. I had to tell the powers above about my decision to leaving 3 weeks early. There were lots of volunteers so I wasn’t feeling bad about giving them extra work and I was not expecting any of my £500 back but boy, it didn’t go down well – that’s all I’m going to say.

That evening Douwe returned from Curimana with three patients. A possum that was found in a yard, a capachin that was confiscated and poor wee night monkey that hard a complicated broken hind leg due to being attacked by a dog.

There was no nursing needed for the possum nor the capachin so they were put into cages with food and water but the wee night monkey was in so much pain. Douwe attempted to realign the broken bones and put him in a cage to recover – fingers crossed for the wee soul. There were no analgesics available for him 😢

Tomorrow is baby monkey duties, and if Rachel has changed my flight, it may be my last duty. I’ll find out on Sunday when I phone here from Curimana.

Tucked up under the safety of my mozzie net relaxed and secure listening to the playlist on my 4% charged phone 😍

Nite

😘