So we´re going to keep the intro short and sweet as we have a whole lotta pics to get on here. The post has some pics from Santa Cruz but mostly from our time at Parque Ambue Ari, part of the Inti Wara Yassi organisation who have animal sanctuaries in Bolivia that work with rescued animals. You must excuse how atrociously sweaty we look (mainly Ian...mainly his hairline) from the intense humidity. Hope you like the pics!
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| Santa Cruz Cathedral |
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| Simon the resident toucan |
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| Santa Cruz zoo |
So we were sat eating our regular ´burger and chips´meal when we heard a polava as a crowd formed around something on the ground...we walked on
over and this little fella was freakily crawling across the floor like
something out of a japanese horror movie. We helped him get back into
the trees...was pretty awesome!
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| Spectacled bear laid flat on his back...catching some rays |
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| We spent the day at the Biocentre Guembe, which is sort of a posh spaz resort but it had an awesome butterfly farm, orchid house and Avery |
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| Celebrity spotting...em having her picture taken with David Guest |
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| The orchid house |
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| Lovely macaws |
So from Santa Cruz, 6 hours and two busses later, and the start of two days of torrential rainstorms we arrived at Ambue Ari to be greeted by a crowd of happy campers hiding from the rain. At first we couldnt understand why they all seemed so put out by the rain (it felt cooler than the blistering sun´and for once Ian wasn´t sweating like a b*stard) but after working there for a few days you realise sh*t all drys in that kind of weather so you wear your clothes wet through every mornng - 6.30 am start!
Ian was placed in Quarantine (becuase hes a filthy animal, they needed to keep their beady eye on him) where he was looking after lots of different animals before they´re relocated within the park, including howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys and Jeffreys cats. Em on the other hand was given house animals (including tapirs, avery, chanchos and Rudolpho the deer) and the Howler monkeys in the monkey park.
We had no mirrors, cold showers, no electricity, had to crap in a hole in floor, and were constantly bombarded by mosquitoes, hence we look positively endearing on the photos and Em has a monobrow the size of a tremor, we won´t even mention the body hair that grew over two weeks (it broke ems shaver...twice)
Had an absoloutley brilliant time and we tried to get good pics but they didn´t quite do it justice so we´ll be bringing home lots of vids too...
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| Good job they have a big sign...literally out in the middle of nowhere |
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| Entrance to the park |
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| Em ready for a hard days graft |
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| Looking pretty bad already... |
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| "Faustino!! Buenas Dias!! Get up good morning! " We were in UK dorm with Vic, Tim, Cate and Jamie...our reply "f**k off" |
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| Welcome to the jungle... |
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| Banos - instructions were pretty clear as below...although sometimes Ems daily task was to clean them and some people clearly don´t know how to take a dump actually inside the drop box... |
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| "We got all kinds of wellys for ya! Big wellys, dirty wellys, smelly wellys, wellys with holes in..." |
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| Laid back vibe |
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| Laid back vibe 2 |
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| Our mate vic getting ready to walk her puma... |
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| Herbie the Tapir, big softy, he escaped when Johnny one of the Bolivian kids left his door open, he had a three hour head start but Herb just eats everything so they found him just near the road...porker |
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| Tony, the smaller Tapir |
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| Rudolpho the deer, hes a beaut but he stabbed various volunteers with his antlers. Kept my back aganst the wall... |
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| Angela the Tejone |
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| Gordo! |
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| Big red, we were buddies becuase hes ginger... |
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| Julian the toucan...apparently blind but the little bleeder knows where my hand is, bit me enough f****in times |
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| Em and Johnny, hes a regular cheeky cad |
So Ems howler monkeys were being helped to form a group in the wild so that eventually they can be released into the jungle. The group consists of Biton (the alpha male of the group, 7 years old) and three young howlers Ellie, Riko and Fraiser (7 months old, formerly in quarantine with Ian for one day before they joined Biton).
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| Little Riko |
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| Ellie with Dallas, she´s more like a little whiny baby |
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| We built a platform in the jungle where the young howlers can climb and be independent but they know we´re around for any support |
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| Just chilling with big daddio...Biton likes to be around people when hes not chasing off other wild monkeys...hes just a big baby really...bloody love him |
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| Little Ellie |
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| Little Gizmo...Ellie loves a cuddle |
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| Fraiser´s a little porker |
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| Our buddy kiwi tom! |
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| My little bambinos (way better than real human kids) |
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| Ems muff hair dropped off and crawled away... |
In quarantine Ian looked after a couple of howler monkeys (baby Sabrina and Oso) who will join Bitons group in a few months time in the wild. He fed Sabrina with the bottle (just like a baby) and one of the Bolivian ladies (Ete) loved him ´tu novio es perfecto padre! Muy genteel!´ Oso was Ians favourite a melnacholy little teenager, he loved him!
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| Little Sabrina |
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| Oso in his favourite spot... Ians neck |
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| Raphaelle with the squirrel Monkeys |
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| Us Ginners have got to stick together |
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| Oso Sunbathing |
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| Having a snooze after being tickled by Ian for 30 mins |
Also in quaratine Ian worked with the Gatittos (Jeffreys cats) He got them out on leashes for a couple of hours a day, they ran round like crazy and he lost a stone in weight (I mean sweat)
So after two weeks working with mainly our howlers we get a treat on the last day and we´re allowed to walk with the big cats just before we leave. Em walked with the three sisters, Pumas (Inti, Wara and Yasi) and Ian walked with Carlos (a big friendly male puma). You can only walk with big cats that are safe around humans...having said that we were sh*tting bricks...
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| Yasi more interested in the leaves than the camera |
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| Wara looking gorgeous! |
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| Not getting too close like... |
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| Not everyday you get licked by a puma |
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| Good birds...Cate, Danni and Leslie |
We´re off now to Rurrenbaque in the next few days to do a jungle tour and spend some time at the National Parque Madidi...speak soon amigos!!
