At the center there are 14 capuchin monkeys, two other monkeys (Wolley Monkey and Songa Songa), two coatis, a kinkajou, a margay, three tortoises, six pecaries (wild pigs) and about 20 different kinds of birds including a pava, toucan, parrots and macaws. There is also a rogue gang of squirrel monkeys that lives in the trees around the center and has perfected the art of jumping on you and stealing food as you try and feed the other animals.
Our work schedule each day consists of working from 8 am to 1 pm and then we break for lunch and rest and work again from 4-6 pm. We do this because the animals eat in the morning and so we give them time to eat (and poop) and spend the afternoon shift cleaning up said food and poop.
But our first day was chaotic. The night we arrive on of the girls was taking care of baby Diego who was a capuchin monkey that had been very sick. Basically Diego curled up around her neck and slept all day, waking up to pee on her and eat a bit of milk she hand-fed him from a spoon. The next morning Diego woke up and was doing well until around 8:00 am when he went unconscious. Because the center is an hour away from Puyo, the coordinator (Helen) had to wait for a cab to pick her up to take him to the vet. But Diego didn't make it and he passed away that morning.
Because there was only three volunteers on Monday, Tuesday was spent cleaning. We cleaned all of the cages in the morning and then fed the animals and then had to go back and clean all of the cages again in the afternoon. It wasn't so much fun. At this point there were seven volunteers so it went a little faster but picking up poop for 7 hours is no picnic, no matter whose it is.
In short, the week's Cliff Notes included: On Wednesday I dug Diego's grave and then we watched the margay (spotted cat) eat a live chicken. On Thursday there were some rogue Ecuadorians who snuck up to the property at night. Helen said that sometimes when business is slow for the poachers they try to steal the animals from the center. Friday we made jungle pizza and used the last $20 in our food jar (everyone pitches in $20 a week and we cooked together each night) to buy beer and watched movies. Saturday we just fed the animals and then got to spend the night in Puyo where we slept (with a pillow!) and had Chinese food with the other volunteers. Monday it poured all morning and we had a bonfire that night where we met our first tarantula and ginormous roach. Matt taught our Swiss friends how to roast the perfect marshmellow and they could not have been more excited.
Each afternoon you could pick what group you wanted to clean: birds, mammals or monkeys. Basically the whole week was spent like that. You could generally chose what you wanted to do, but mornings consisted of feeding (more on that later) and special projects and everyone cleaned in the afternoon. The center has only been up and running for three months so there was a lot that needed to be done and it really felt like we left the place better than we found it. Some of the projects we worked on were building new enclosures for animals, digging a new "shit pit" (literally, a giant hole in the ground where you throw the poop and leftover food from the animals after you clean their enclosures), raking, building pathways out of fallen bamboo, fishing for fish to feed the monkeys, using the machete to hack at various objects, cleaning the house where we lived, etc. It was very tiring work but it was nice to have something else to do besides pick up poop.
Basically I got to do everything at least once and Matt pretty much did all the backbreaking labor and monkeys everyday. He was the only guy there for the first week so all the heavy lifting fell to him. I think he was handsomely rewarded becuase every afternoon he got to clean the capuchin cage which was by far the best job. I'm going to do a separate post on the monkeys, because they were the highlight of the week so stay tuned for that and some fantastic pictures.
I cleaned the birds (which I really hate birds, but no one else volunteered and there was a long awkward silenece so I caved). As thanks for that one of the green parrots pooped on me. There is also another cage of green parrots that are so mean, one person has to go in and clean or feed and the other person has to hold a stick above their head as a warning to any bird who would otherwise peck at their head. Needless to say, I did that once and never again
Another day I cleaned mammals which was fun because we got to clean three of the capuchin monkey cages. Three of the capuchins are in quarantine away from the big group of them for various reasons (more on them in the monkey post.) I also got to do the feeding a few times. Basically all of the animals eat a combination of fruit, vegetables, eggs, oats and peanuts. Every morning we collected guavas from the jungle and then spend two or three hours cutting up watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, apples, papaya, grapes, bananas and then shucking corn, boiling eggs and weighing food for each animal. For the birds everything has to be finely chopped, the pecaries get all the leftovers, and the monkeys must all be handed their eggs individually so as not to have the dominant males steal them all. Eating is also stimulation for the animals and the food has to be strategically placed on top of their houses, in holes, on logs etc, so that the animals have to work to find it like they would in the wild. I have to say, there is no better sound than the one a capuchin monkey makes when it has a hard-boiled egg in one hand and a corn cob in the other.
If you are interested in Santa Martha and learning more about it, go here: http://www.oriente.santamartharescue.org/en/
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