Another awesome chapter to our trip was working at the Inti Wara Yassi animal refuge in Villa Tunari to the east of La Paz.
After an overnight bus ride from La Paz to Cochabamba and then an interesting journey to Villa Tunari involving the negotiation of a landslide by
JCB and motorcycle, we finally arrived at the
refuge.
We were met by a bunch of friendly volunteers who seemed over happy to see us. It transpired that they were running short of volunteers and we were the first to turn up in 3 days. We were then given a brief tour around the refuge before being assigned our roles. Having only committed for two weeks we thought it would be unlikely to be working with the monkeys or big cats (they normally require 4 weeks for this) but I was gobsmacked to be asked to work with Roy an energetic Puma who's reputation seems to precede him. Roy is one of 6 pumas at the refuge who for differing reasons can never be released. Mel was a little less fortunate however when she was assigned to help look after the birds including 4 pairs of noisy macaws. She was even less happy to find whilst her working day was 7.30 to 6, mine would be 9 to 4.30 (those working with cats have a shorter day).
After finding some accomodation and some cheap second hand clothes we turned up the next morning for our first days work. I was to be helping Harold, a French volunteer, give Roy his two walks through the jungle. I was taken up to Roys cage where I got my first
sight of him. I cannot say that I wasn't a little bit nervous and my heart was pounding when he let him out of his cage and he came straight up to me to eat some grass from my hands (to aid digestion apparently). Luckily
Roy was tethered to a runner, a taut rope strung between his cage and a tree, such that he could only reach a certain distance either side.
My first few days with Roy would be just following him and Harold. There must always be two people with each cat as accidents can and have happened. Harold detached Roy from his runner and onto his lead which was fastened around the waist and off we went. It was such a strange feeling to be in such close proximity to a Puma and I was quite scared. Coupled with this, the terrain was quite treacherous with many steep climbs and descents and plenty of roots to twist your ankles on. So, most of my time was spent just trying to keep up and not fall over.
I was told that Roy would always have a go at new volunteers so I was very careful to stay right behind Harold. Also accompanying us was a French documentary maker called Julien who was in the process of producing a documntary about the park and thought he might get some good footage of Roy and a new volunteer.
Within the first 15 mins I was to see what Roy could be like as he sprung on me from within some bushes and quickly had his jaws around my knees. My adrenaline was pumping and his teeth and claws hurt quite a bit leaving some nice tears in my trousers. Harold managed to pull him off but not before the whole incident was captured on
video!
After a few more heart stopping moments with Roy including an awesome full flight leap at Julien we finally made it back to base where, after Roy was safely on his runner, I could finally calm down and try to work out what just happened.
The second walk of the day was shorter but no less unnerving with another attack on myself where he tried to taste my other knee.
When we descended at the end of the day my trousers were ripped to shreds and I was wondering if I could do this for two weeks. It seemed everyone knew about Roy and asked me how I felt being Roys new toy.
Mel, who doesn't really like birds, hadn't enjoyed her day cleaning and feeding the macaws whse incessant screeching was already driving her crazy. She convinced her to stay at it for t more days then ask if a transfer would be possible.
After another day in which I stroked Roy for the first time there followed a two day break whilst he was sedated so he could have his
collar changed. This was much easier said than done involving three volunteers to manouvre him onto place before the vet could insert the needle to put him under and change the collar. Whilst we waited for Roy to recover I went to visit Mel in the monkey park, where she had been transferred, to find her caring for an ill baby cappuccino
monkey called Colita and surrounded by a group of local children from a nearby orphanage. The
monkeys are amazing, each having a distinct personality and place within the monkey hierarchy. The group dynamics constantly shift with the arrival or departure of members of the group and it is endlessly fascinating to watch them adopt and change roles. They are not all friendly though and there are frequent intermonkey attacks and attacks on volunteers if they happen to try to intervene especially if it involves the larger
jeffes or alpha males. In fact, volunteers requiring stitches to quite deep bites is not an uncommon occurence.
So, the following day would be my first day taking the lead myself which I was very nervous about. I tentatively attached the lead to him and led him off up into the jungle. Every now and then he would take off into a sprint with me in tow trying desperately not to be pulled along the forest floor. Remarkarbly, for my first time on the lead, there were no attacks on either of the walks although his speed was testing me especially along the slippery river beds.
The next day it all went pairshaped when Harold was bitten hard by Roy on the afternoons walk. Although I wasn't to know this at the time this bite was to put Harold out of action for the next two weeks. This meant that after just two days leading him I was about to become Roy Walker (geddit?) number 1 with a new English volunteer Toni to assist me part time until Harold recoveed. This meant having to do everything myself; releasing him from the cage, cleaning the cage, walking him, feeding him and then coaxing him back into the cage at the end of the day (no easy task). I wasn't at all comfortable walking Roy without Harold, who knew and could avert most of Roys attacks, and the thought of two inexperienced Englishman walking a fully grown Puma around a jungle was as scary to us as it was funny to everyone else. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
As it happened, Roy was a model Puma, and in the next 4 days only attacked once and even then it was easily thwarted. I was now much more confident with the job and really enjoying it. I also felt that was gaining the trust of him and getting to know his personality.
A new volunteer Aaron would be taking over from Toni so we celebrated his survival with a few too many drinks and my first ever karaoke turn at the local disco. Well, it was St.Patricks Day!
For the next ten days I trained and then cowalked Roy with Aaron, a death metal fanatic from Perth. When we were not walking Roy, Aaron would subject him to Slayer and Metallica riffs on his guitar which I think Roy appreciated.
Our evenings were spent at local restaurants and marathon sessions of Uno, an uberaddictive cardgame that became very animated especially after a few drinks and with Aussies playing too.
In this time, Mel had got promoted to work with the spider monkeys but not before she sustained a nasty bite from a cappuccino that turned resulting in the need for stitches, the second time this trip!
It was with much sadness that after three weeks (we decided to stay one more) we had to say farewell to all our good friends at the refuge, both animal and human and make our way south to Cochabamba for a well deserved couple of days of luxury in a hotel (hot water, comfy beds!)
We moved on to Potosi on an overnight bus and arrived early morning and in time to check into a hostel and take a tour of the famous local silver and tin mines. Potosi, at 4000m, is a town built around the rich mineral resources of the local mountain Cerra Rico (Rich Mountain). After getting kitted out in overalls and headlamps and having bought coca leaves and dynamite for the miners, our guide took us down several levels of the mines to see the miners at work. It was incredibly claustrophic and the air was filled with dust making it hard to breath. It is impossible to believe that the miners work in these conditions, sometimes up to 24hrs a day, with no food (just chewing the coca) and barely any breaks. The average life expectancy of the miners is only 45 but the money is very good and for most there are no other job opportunites. The youngest worker is just 8yrs old. We watched a miner making a hole, in which to plant dynamite, that would take him 4hrs to chisel out using manual tools. It was painful to watch. The miners are self-employed but most work in co-operatives and share the profits equally. Electric tools eg drills, wagons are just starting to be introduced by the more wealthy of the co-operatives but still most of the work is manual and soul-destroyingly mundane.
On a lighter note, we did get to blow up a few sticks of dynamite afterwards which was great fun. See the video
here.
Pics
hereWe are stuck in Potosi now whilst national roadblocks are in place blocking our route to Uyuni and the salt flats. Hopefully we can get out soon...
Stuff:
Inti Wara Yassi - minimum 2wk commitment required, $90 donation plus extra $30 to stay in a local B&B if you chose not to take up their
very basic accomodation.
Hostel Villa Tunari B&B very good and clean, B35 per night
Aranjuez Hotel, Cochabamba $50 per double
Restaurant, Cochabamba: Bufalos, magnificent steak, all u can eat, carved off a skewer at your table
Koala Den, Potosi B90 for double
Koala Tours for mine tour B80
After leaving Bolivia, we take the bus from the border to the Chilean town of San Pedro de Atacama. This place, it has to be said, sucks and is only here as a tourist trap for those entering and leaving the country. It is a false town full of pricey hotels and boutique handicraft shops and American tourists who believe they are having an 'authentic' experience. We got the first bus we could out of there and over the border into Argentina.
