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On the 5th September 2009 Lynette and I finally made it to Inti Wara Yassi headquarters in Villa Tunari, Bolivia for a spot of volunteering with monkeys. We’d meant to spend two months here originally, but having had too much fun everywhere else it was stripped down to the bare minimum two weeks only. On the way we’d heard many stories of the place, both of its hard work and how many had been hospitalised through bites from various animals. Would we survive unscathed? Would we be able to leave? Would we even be able to find the place?
 Looking back at Inti Wara Yassi park from ‘The Bridge of Death’.
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On arrival in Cochabamba after a tortuous but successful set of buses from Potosi, we took another bus to Santa Cruz that would drop us off after four hours at Villa Tunari for 13 Bs. We landed on a dark kerb with our bags, a bit confused about where to go next. Thankfully, a local walking past turned out to be one of the vets Lewis who spoke pretty good English; we were literally the opposite side of the road from where we needed to be and there we met Nena who greeted us with open arms and was very excited to meet some new volunteers. It was a good feeling; we were worried we wouldn’t be needed but the exact opposite was true and we’d be starting first thing the next day.
 The Mirador with twenty monkeys on runners and twenty running free – every day hilarious.
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Lynette and I are going to write separate blog posts as I ended up with the Albifrons while she worked in quarantine. The Albifrons are white fronted Capuchin monkeys, there are only seven and ideally they will be released back into the wild one day so human contact is kept to a minimum; they are looked after by one person and for the next two weeks that would be me! About 50% of my day was also spent working in the Mirador, the main Capuchin monkey area with about twenty monkeys on runners (a washing line between trees) and another twenty roaming free. There are normally 3-5 volunteers working in this area so its a bit more of a laugh while the Albifrons area is very calm and peaceful – a good mix!
My typical day
- 8am : Start work with a fifteen minute walk up river and through the jungle. Say hello to the monkeys, look for signs of destruction and mayhem , and feed them Api (like porridge) and bananas for breakfast.
- 9ish : Head to the Mirador (a tough ten minute walk through the jungle with rope swings and rock hopping) and help take the monkeys out of cages and attach to the runners. Always interesting, each monkey is different!
- 10-12ish : Back at Albifronia cleaning cages, raking out multi-coloured monkey poo and bleaching down all surfaces. A bit of enrichment of Ivana’s separate cage also happens, involves wandering into the jungle with a large machete and hacking down leaves and branches to make her cage more ‘jungle-like’. Feed them Papaya for lunch.
- 12-1ish : Last bit before lunch is in the Mirador taking monkeys for walks; involves putting a monkey on your shoulder, unclipping him and taking him into the jungle, encouraging him to forage, explore and become familiar with his surroundings, eventually to be released.
- 1-2ish – Lunch! 10 Bs for a vegetarian Almuerzos in the volunteer’s cafe, possibly followed by nipping to the internet cafe or grabbing a banana and strawberry smoothie.
- 2-3ish : Back to the Mirador to help out with more monkey walking.
- 3-4 : Down to the Albifronia to enrich main cage, and then make up lunch of vegetables which are hidden around the cage like an Easter egg hunt to encourage foraging.
- 4-6 : Last bit of the day, back to the Mirador to help feed the monkeys and put them back in their cages without drawing too much human blood. Done!
 A star I found in a Papaya, what the monkeys eat for lunch.
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 The boys and girls in the biggest cage, which is cleaned and ‘enriched’ every day.
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Diary follows; humans denoted with a *!
Day One: Handover
 Sigmund up at the Mirador, adopting his ‘thinking’ pose…
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Took Soto for a walk, who then peed on me six times while sitting on my shoulder. Kaya escaped from the Mirador, another monkey drank a bottle of deet. Exceptionally k-nackered. Albrifon habitat, Albifronia, has amazing butterflies, a tempting waterfall and crickets with white wings. Helped putting the crazy Monto monkey away, made more interesting by his free roaming buddy Kotito leaping to his defence. Kaya later found. Machete accidentally left in Albifron’s cage, not my fault.
Day Two: Attempted Repairs
 Malfada is a kick ass monkey, always going for the high five hello!
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Got peed on again. Thankfully monkeys all have limbs still attached, machete retrieved. The escapee Albrifron monkey Miel wouldn’t get in her cage for the evening, suspect she saw me completing repairs. Kotito bit through Mike’s* welly enough to draw blood from his heel. Made bamboo feeder. Started typing up Albifrons’ notes. Was attacked by screaming monkey in the jungle, turned out to be a very scared and lost Eddie who clamped on to my neck and wouldn’t let go.
Day Three: Miel Fun & Storms
 Every night the walk home involved a different sunset over the mountains.
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Miel washed some of the cage for me. Also started tagging me. Ivana was freed by Miel, was put back in cage after 45 mins hunt. Did awesome job enriching main cage. Found out monkey was recently posted to Inti Wari Yassi, others come by bus, Gatto is fat Puma who had back legs broken while in the circus. One of the baby squirrel monkeys got eaten by another resident in the small animal’s area. Crazy evening; major thunderstorm which flooded hostel, silt blocked water pipes so no showers, found ant infestation in our room, then lost power. Ate porridge with cereal by candlelight. Almost continual sheet lightning till midnight, then standard yet ferocious thunderstorm all night with torrential rain.
Day Four: Monkey Trouble
 Miel, my arch enemy and best friend at the same time. Currently at large.
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High but not too bad river water, Relatively easy morning. Bamboo feeder pulled into cage by monkeys and ripped to shreds. Miel’s tagging turned to continual following, and then later the tightest grip around my neck known to man. Half hour to get her off, tempting with food no good, eventually had to feign dunking my head in river to get her off. Vet assures me this is just a sign of affection. Visited quarantine, Lynette suggested having a look at the Alpha male. Within two seconds my plastic poncho was reduced to shreds. Not all five monkeys managed to move cages at the end of the evening. Managed to pull shoulder muscle holding cage open, was eventually left as three in one and two in the other. Cooked Chilli in hostel, very tasty.
Day Five: Investigation
 Roy, one of the most demanding cats in the park. Get too close, he’ll claw you. Too far, his leash will hold him back, so he’ll turn around and claw you.
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Miel kept distance. Found out by reading back into the Albifrons’ files that there is supposed to be almost no human interaction. Have stopped singing in the day. Will investigate more files tomorrow, seems as though monkey handover has become a long game of Chinese whispers. In the Mirador, Monto’s feisty friend Kotito has been put in a cage. Marco immediately tried to be Alpha monkey. Still very cold and even slippier. Ate beautiful reheated Chilli. Finally managed to get all five monkeys in one cage. Have found a man with a beard trimmer.
Day Six: Winning
 Kikeen and Raulito mucking around, a Capuchin’s friendly greeting sounds like they are under attack!
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Managed to get all monkeys into the cage; even Miel! Success! New guy on Mirador got bitten in the head by Danieleto, did not take it well, might not turn up tomorrow. Have to scare off other Capuchin’s from Albifron’s cage, Mr. T is the main aggressor. Vet advised putting hole in tarpaulin to get rid of colossal levels of rain water. Will get wet tomorrow. Raul’s split personality shone through, one minute playing, next a bite in the hand. Took Danielito for a walk, he started by calling for his friends and when I didn’t get the message he took rocks from the river and hit me on the head to reinforce it. We went back.
Day Seven: Success?
 Ivana, on heat at this point, coily dancing and presenting herself to me at every opportunity.
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Miel was escaped from the cage. Found a suspect padlock, will replace tomorrow. New guy made it, however Danieleto attack was not a freak attack, went for him again twice. Ivana seeming overly friendly, remembered John’s* comments that occasionally she goes on heat. Combination of natural shyness and biological need creating strange personality. Matansita also completely loco, jumping on the spot until I look and then running away. Wondering now if Miel’s amorous behaviour earlier could also be explained by this. Mr. T steals piece of Papaya fruit when I’m not looking. Had average almuerzos and awesome shake for lunch. Will take Lynette next time. Repaired old cage, also managed to get Miel back in her cage today. Saw her checking old escape hole only to be frustrated. Perhaps the game is won. Notice just as I leave that somehow my safely locked away t-shirt ended up in the Albrifon’s cage for the day – Miel still had the last laugh.
Day Eight: New Starter
 Thankfull still very small, otherwise I wouldn’t get this close!
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Was on Api rota, means early start on a hangover, not a fan. Miel remains in the cage, success! Ivana and Malfada still on heat; Ivana keeps presenting her rear to me and looking for a cuddle while Malfada jumps up and down on the spot, about three feet air clearance. Mr. T stole a plastic bottle, I need to appear scarier. Danieleto attempted to attack new guy again, definitely not keen on him. Another new guy; has learnt nearly all the monkey’s names within half a day – very glad he has arrived! Monkey fight in Mirador, now have Nicholas’ blood all over my shirt. Head off from Albifron’s cage, thinking nearly a perfect day – notice have left machete in cage again. Damn. Find out that Api rota applies for the next three days. Double damn.
Day Nine: Bye to the Boys
 Monto, carefully calculating his attack radius.
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Did Api rota again, later found out completely wrong, third time lucky. Miel unsurprisingly escaped from cage, so one secure, one not. No armless monkeys or blood on the machete, bonus. Ivana and Matansita still on heat, Ivana possibly waning but Matansita is getting worse – lots of sheepish squeaking in my direction with as much bodily contact as possible. Lior* and James* have left the Mirador, sad loss but thankfully they managed to not kill any monkeys. Possibly might kill each other. James* was conned into a demonstration in Cochabamba on his way out. It is easy to volunteer, impossible to leave. Special surprise of an egg each for the Albifrons, must be their favourite food, everyone came to get one even those usually preoccupied with mating. Had several beers with the long timers, lamented the attitude of the newbies, felt strangely at peace. Cooked curry. Saw an Armadillo in the back garden.
Day Ten: Smooth Runnings
 Baloo is an endangered Spectacled bear. And pretty big when he stands up.
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Api rota pretty much successful! All monkeys yet again retained their appendages, retrieved machete. Mirador meeting missing a few attendees; didn’t happen. Repaired second cage, fairly sure Miel is now secured. Latest Mirador volunteer left early, thankfully also had replacement arrive today. Had Mirador meeting with Lewis the vet; latest replacement turned up late after having a shower – on dangerous ground. Surprisingly uneventful day; probably a good thing. Ate remaining curry.
Day Eleven: Smug Miel
 How to hold a demonstration, Bolivia style. Yesterday it blocked both directions, tomorrow it will be completely cleared by bull dozer.
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Enjoyed a lie in, got up at 7am. Arrived at Albifronia with fingers crossed; Miel was sitting outside the cage, smiling at me. She was celebrating her successful escape by munching some nuts she’d managed to steal from the toolbox overnight. Back to square one… Tree fell down while I walked Tima at the waterfall, thought about climbing over but it was swarming with fire ants. Took a different route. Later Adrian* and Yoav* were both bitten by fire ants. Printed out the Albifron guide I’d typed up, gave to the vets for clearance. Newest Mirador guy also bitten by Danieleto. Only me and Yoav left to handle him. So far I am still unbitten. Miel back in the secure cage, will take another look at the other cage tomorrow to see if I can emerge victorious before I leave. Saw large crowd of people sitting around in town, who later completely blocked the road with boulders and logs in a form of protest against the council. Apparently. Another relatively smooth, but incredibly hot day.
Day Twelve: Reverse Handover
 Villa Grande, our hostel, enjoying a slap up meal of beef carbonara and red wine. Yum!
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My replacement started today, have cruelly trained him with my least favourite tasks. Miel suddenly appeared outside the cage chewing a carrot, shortly after I explained to the new guy how only one cage was secure. Fairly convinced I know the new escape route… Town blockade cleared in about twenty minutes by bulldozer. Strangely suddenly know all the Mirador monkey’s names the day before I leave. Accidentally became head chef for a hostel wide meal, 20Bs for lots of wine and a bastardised spaghetti carbonara menu.
Day Thirteen: Last Day
 The diggers crashing down trees only 10m from the monkey’s cages.
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Our last working day. Enjoyed a relaxed morning, strange acceptance of Miel’s ultimate victory, she had stolen a broom and left it hanging out of the cage as a leaving present. Feeling slightly hungover, glad to have replacement to make work easier. On way back from lunch, hear sound of machinery. Find Mirador seemingly surrounded by diggers, call back to office on mobile phone as trees crash down around the scared monkeys. Other volunteers arrive and sit down in front of the digger to stop it. Thankfully Albifrons ok. Had very emotional meeting afterwards with all of Inti Wara Yassi, very sad to leave at what seems a crucial time. More detail on the Inti Wara Yassi destruction here. Have leaving drinks.
Day Fourteen: Heading out to Santa Cruz
 Chatting away with one of the more talkative birds!
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Dump monkey pee covered clothes and welly boots back in communcal pile. Pack stuff up, very excited and feeling clean and fresh. Took Colectivo from Villa Tunari to Shintao to Ivirgarzama to Bulo Bulo to Yapacani to Santa Cruz. Cost about 70 Bs each – not the cheapest but could not see any buses direct to Santa Cruz.
Looking back, it was a great two weeks that at the time seemed exceptionally hard and very tiring. Now though we remember the monkey’s fondly and have many stories to tell. Every day was different, and comparing life at the office and life with the monkeys it would be a difficult decision. I hope the monkeys miss me as much as I miss them – and I hope the next person beats my final tally of 7-4 with my nemesis and love of my monkey life, the awesome Miel.
Monkeys, done. Bring on the elephants!
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