I'm Still Here

For anyone who saw the train wreck of a movie "I'm Still Here" by Joaquin Phoenix, I apologize for reminding you of that. For those of you who haven't seen it, I'm sure you remember when Joaquin Phoenix grew that big beard and started acting like a demented crazy person on all the talk shows; that was the period in which he made this movie. Anyways, at least it gave Ben Stiller a chance to make one of the funniest appearances ever at the Oscar's when he came out dressed as the disheveled Joaquin, chewing gum and acting apathetic.

But enough about pop culture history, I really just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive; I feel very bad that I have not posted any photos or blogs for about 2 weeks. The good news is I'm not dead. The bad news is that in my first two weeks at Sacha Yacu animal rescue center I have had no time to blog or upload photos. I'm living about an hour and a half outside of Puyo in a jungle lodge, so obviously there's not internet access. It really is very "Heart of Darkness" out here, I feel a bit like some 18th century explorer venturing into the uncharted Amazon. The only time I can blog, email, Facebook, or look anything up is on the weekends. The upside to not having internet is that I get plenty of time to relax and enjoy the paradise in which I'm living, however that also means I have about 20 blogs I would like to write and no time in which to do it. For now I'm going to try to get as much in as possible, but I think I'll just start by giving you the basic run down of my new daily routine. 

This is the view down into the jungle where I live, our center is plunked right down in there, about a 15 minute walk from where this picture was taken.

Sacha Yacu is a well established animal rescue center that works with the environmental police in Ecuador to help fight animal trafficking and illegal possession of animals by taking in these confiscated animals and rehabilitating them. The ultimate goal is to be able to one day release the animals back into the wild, however for many this is simply not possible.  The center is run by a family who built and coordinates the program. There are really only about 3 people who work there full time, the rest of the work is done by volunteers. So, the jobs of the volunteers include feeding the animal and cleaning their cages, and helping with construction and other various projects at the center. 

This is part of the center where I live, it really is a paradise, sometimes I just sit in a hammock for hours and stare.

My day begins at 7:00 with breakfast, at 8:00 we begin to prepare the animal's food and move out in groups of two or three to feed them and clean their cages. Between about 10:30 and 12:00 we usually work on some type of construction project like building a new quarantine or repairing cages. Around 12:00 we eat lunch, and then have free time to relax until 2:30, most of this time is spent sleeping in hammocks. Then from 2:30 until about 5:30 we continue with a construction project or do something else like collecting insects for the animals, or cutting down sugar cane to bring back for the animals. After dinner we just relax around the center reading or watching movies, there's only electricity when they turn on the generator between 6:30 and 8:00, so once the generator is off, it's pretty much bedtime. 

This is me at a waterfall near the center.

So far I'm absolutely loving my time at the center. For animals we have several types or birds, mammals, monkeys, turtles, and peccaries. I will do a whole other post about the animals, but suffice to say for now that I've become very accustomed to hand feeding red macaws, and getting de-liced by monkeys. It's really a lot of fun to have a monkey jump on your back and start pulling through your hair looking for lice. In addition to the animals, it's very nice to be living so rustically for a while. So far I've learned to build a door with nothing but a hammer, nails, and saw; I've vastly improved my masonry skills (previously nonexistent); and I've become a master of catching grasshoppers with bare hands. Some of the work we do is very stone age, literally. For example, we spent two days and about 6 hours throwing 60 pound boulders. The reason for this was to collect these large stones to build a new pool for the monkeys, but the stones were in a river that was a long ways away from the pool, so we set up an assembly line and just spent hours tossing boulders back and forth, usually uphill. After spending two weeks here the whole idea of "going to the gym" now seems very stupid to me. If you want to get in shape it's quite simple, just spend a couple of hours lifting and throwing rocks, or harvesting plantains, or cutting down bamboo and carrying it several kilometers, or building a house. Not only will you save money on a gym membership, but you'll actually accomplish something. 

This is our Blue Macaw, Houdini, enjoying a banana.

A blurry picture of me with Ada, one of our Capuchin monkeys.

On the weekends, all of the volunteers leave the center and go to one of the surrounding towns, so far I've gone to Banos both weekends. Banos is really really cool, I'm going to devote a separate post to Banos and some weekend adventures. But this is definitely a place where I could see myself getting a job in a hostal or restaurant and just settling down for a few months.

A picture of me doing canyoning last weekend in Banos, tons of fun!

Anyways, I have to get going back to the center now, I wish I could have posted more but time is limited... those animals aren't going to feed themselves! I updated the Flickr if you want more pictures, and I should be getting more pictures for this coming weekend, when I will hopefully have some more blogs prepared. Hasta luego; y te acuerda, ama la vida!