****Apologies in advance for this post - It is still very much a draft entry, but as we post this we have arrived home and probably won't ever get around to tidying it up in the near future. It is a shame because it is about the best place we visited on our entire trip. Feel free to skip it if you like. One day we might come back to it..but it's doubtful now we are home....****


Right now as we write this paragraph it is about ten thirty in the morning and we are sat in rickety old deck chairs on the step outside our very own little red cabin. The sun is shining and the rain from the nightly thunderstorm seems to have dried away. Next to us are 3 more little huts, each a different colour: a yellow one, a green one and a blue one. In front of us is a green grassy area with a solitary large tree in the middle. All we can hear is the sound of the many rare and exotic amazon parrots that also live here behind the little cabins. Surely, this sounds like a lovely place to be?

Not convinced? Well what about the monkeys? Currently a young spider monkey restlessly sits on David's shoulders watching every word he types. Claire has two lady spider monkeys fast asleep on her lap with their tails wrapped around her arms whilst a young howler monkey named Baloo wraps himself around her neck looking bored. Across at the blue cabin an elderly spider monkey who in the past has been beaten and so now has an oddly shaped mouth now relaxes swinging in the hammock outside. Playing in the tree are three little yellow squirrel monkeys chasing around after other and just next to us are two capuchin monkeys running around talking to each other and showing off their latest stolen item - a toilet brush.
It is just another morning at La Sende Verde. Another morning at our most favourite place we have ever visited.

It's going to be hard to write just how much we have enjoyed our time here. And if you don't like animals, specifically monkeys, then its not going to be very interesting and you might as well skip this blog!

We initially came for two weeks and to be completely honest we nearly cancelled at the last minute. We are so glad we didnt! Two weeks turned to three and then four and soon to five. If we had any more time we could sacrifice in our trip we would definitely do it here!
We were reccomended the place by the same Australian couple (Bree and Cameron) that told us about the W trek in Patagonia. We loved that so much we thought we would follow their advice again. We caught a collectivo to Coroico which is 3 hours from La Paz and then a taxi to take us 20 minutes down the hill to La Sende Verde.

The taxi driver dumped us outside a huge padlocked door with a sign in Spanish telling us to press the bell and wait for five minutes. We did as instructed and five minutes later a young Bolivian man opened the door for us and showed us in. Behind the door there was a huge footbridge hanging over a large river which we crossed and then followed a small trail through some trees where we were led to a cage. The cage was for us and provided a small corridor to the restaurant where we would meet the other volunteers as lunch had just been served. We sat down at a long table and quickly met everyone. The lunch was awful which would be a recurring theme for the coming weeks. Rice served with bananas and stale bread (David actually loved it) but the unusual thing about the lunch was that we were being watched!
All around us on each side of the restaurant hung monkeys, clinging to the walls, dangling from the roof and staring in inquisitively. We were amazed how close we were to them and already we were in love with the place!

What else was strange was that everybody else, namely the other volunteers, weren't particularly interested. Not in a bad way at all, it had just simply become the norm.

La Sende Verde.

La Sende Verde was originally set up in 2003 as an ecotourism resort, located at the end of the famous Bolivian death road. Vicky and Marcelo, the owners, never intended on it becoming the animal refuge that it is today. It started when soon after opening Marcelo learnt of a capuchin monkey being illegally traded nearby. Marcelo arranged that the monkey could come and live at La Sende Verde and be given a happier life. Soon after they adopted the monkey, Cirelo. They also adopted two macaws who also were due to be illegally traded. Word got out in the community and soon more and more animals were being rescued from the mass of illegal trade that was happening along the death road.

It wasnt long before more animals were arriving including tropical birds, monkeys, turtles and tortoises, wild cats and in 2007 they even rescued their first Andean Spectacled bear! At this time the Bolivian government declared the place an official animal refuge, giving them added responsibilty and an obligation to recieve more animals. It should be pointed out that at no time were they given any official funding. All funding is provided by tourism, volunteers and donations.

As an animal refuge in Bolivia it is important to realise that these animals will never be released into the wild. Bolivian law does not allow the release into the wild of captured or domesticated animals. There are a few reasons for this. There is a big risk animals could carry disease, an animal that has been to close to humans could easily be carrying a human born disease that could be passed on to hundreds of animals if ever released. A lot of animals rescued here are former pets and are used to humans so if released into the wild, they may well try to seek out humans which could cause a host of problems or even getting themselves shot. Money, whilst other countries have animal rehabilitation programmes their success is very hit and miss and to do it properly requires a lot of money and funding which Bolivia doesn't provide at present.

So it is best to think of La Sende Verde as a sanctuary for animals. It is a place where animals who have been taken from the wild for one reason or another are now getting a second chance, as close to the wild as possible whilst still being looked after by people that care and who ultimatley put them first. There are currently over 400 animals at La Sende Verde, each one has a story, that is sometimes tragic but each one now is living a life that is relatively happy. And well fed.

The Animals.(A brief list of some of the animals and some facts about them that we learned as we helped to look after over our stay at La Senda Verde)

Macaws

Throughout the gardens and above the restaurant area there are numerous macaws. Macaws are the largest Amazonian parrots are the most popular parrot pet. They have the ability to speak and are extremely intelligent. When they get mad or angry which seems to be all day, every day, their faces turn a shade of pink. It's best to avoid a mad parrot as their beaks can easily snap a broom handle, let alone an exposed toe in a flip flop. When macaws fall in love it is usualy for life which can be a very longtime as they live up to 80 years old. Most of the macaws at La Sende Verde can't fly, when they are young they get their tail feathers pulled out or wing bones snapped. This makes them better pets you see.

There are several other breeds of Amazonian birds and parrots currently at LSV. They are all nice but the most memorable is probably the toucan, Sam. Sam is a white throated toucan, the second largest toucan breed in the world. Sam has to be kept in his own enclosure because Sam likes to eat other small birds. If another toucan was to be rescued by the refuge they would have to be kept seperate from each other because it is a well known fact that toucans don't like toucans.

Tortoises

There are lots of tortoises and turtles. Again they have backgrounds that are usually tragic. Many of these animals outlive their owners and so have to be found new homes when the owners die. Lots of them have drill marks through the back of their shells from where they been kept chained up in the past and obviously because of their speed where their owners can attach a lead... Tortoises dont like being drilled - imagine the feeling of having a filling done in your tooth but without anaesthetic. A few years ago several turtles were rescued from La Paz zoo of all places due to being kept in cruel conditions. These days the tortoises and turltes only real danger is the monkeys who regularly flip them on to their backs for a laugh, throw them in the river, or occasionally being used as scrubbing brushes.

Caiman

There is just one caiman presently at LSV. He's about half the size of what he should be due to being kept inside a small tank in a restaurant for most of his younger years. These days he spends all day being really really still. Unless he's being fed when he moves into the water and death rolls his chicken dinner.

The bears.

There are two Andean Spectacled bears within the sanctuary a 7 year old male and 2 year old female. These are the same bear as Paddington bear and are endangered throughout the Andes.

The male, Aruma, was found being sold for about 200$ on the black market. These days he lives in the largest bear enclosure in the world st 3 square kilometres and is probably the laziest bear in the world. He spe ds most of his day relaxing in the sun only reallymoving when its feeding time. Feeding the bears is a very scientific process, volonteers (this was Claires job) go to the fence and distract him with phis favourite snack, peanuts, whilst 50 yards away another volunteer sneaks in and cleans his feeding area and drops off his meal - Marmalade sandwiches obviously.

The female, Titmus, has to be kept in a sepwrate enclosure as there is a danger that they would create baby bears if they ever got to eat each other. This enclosure is also a huge area. Aruma was found tied up in a back garden in La Paz. Her owners say she was found on the street after geting chased by some street dogs. This is highly doubtful as Titmus would make short work of a couple of scratty street dogs. Titmusis is a bit more energetic than Aruma and so requires slightly more care when being fed.

Alongside these animals there is also a margay cat, a river pig, a capiberi, lukachis, a kinkajou, tyras, and a coati.

But the most noticable animals in LaSende Verde are without doubt the monkeys. There are over 100 monkeys living there and most of them are completely free. There are primarily four breeds of monkeys - Howlers, Squirrels, Spiders and Capuchins. In the wild these animals would almost certainly live apart from each other but here, they all live together in a fun filled peaceful environment. Sometimes.

Squirrel monkeys

There's about 20 squirrel monkeys, and they are all supposed to live on a small island in the middle of the huge river that flows past the refuge, unfortunately the river's dam has burst and the monkeys can easily get across into the refuge where they spend most of their time stealing food from the macaws. They are the smallest monkey there and are often commented as being the cutest. They are about the size of a kitten and a their bodies are bright yellow with black and white pixie facial features. They are probably the least interactive of the monkeys at LSV. They occasionally jump on people as they pass but it is usually only to bounce in between trees or to steal food from volunteers that was destined for the birds.

Howler monkeys.

Howlers are the loudest land mammal in the world. Their howl, made by the alpha male can be heard up to 5kms away. There are about 12 howlers at LSV and they are usually led by their fierce and heroic alpha male leader - Canelo. Unfortunatley whilst we were at LSV Canelo was recovering from a virus and was kept mostly in the house with the owners. Due to his condition he was unable to howl whilst we were there. Canelo had to be taught to howl by Marcelo the owner when he arrived as he had no parents to teach him. The howler monkeys tend to keep themselves to themselves during the days. They chill out in the trees and look down on the action from above. There is one white howler, Mya who basically does her own thing all day every day.

A lot of the howlers have arrived on a 'monkey mum' programme. This is where long term volunteers raise orphan monkeys acting as close to being a mother as possible. Howlers are very dependent on their mothers in their first few months of life, so when they are ripped from their dead mother who has just been shot by hunters (some monkeys at the refuge are missing fingers after having them chopped off so they could be prised from their dead mother) their chance of survival is slim. This has however been very successful at the refuge and the only real problem is that occasionally some of monkeys who have completed the programme still like to seek out humans for hugs and cuddles. Not a big problem really...

Spider monkeys

Spider monkeys are the most emotional of all the monkeys at the refuge. A lot of these monkeys crave human attention and simply want hugging. A lot. They are excellent climbers, thieves and enjoy playing games with everyone. These are the monkeys that mean Marcelo has barely left his house in the last few years. They see him as a grandfather type figure and on the odd occasion he has left the house they get very upset and try to find him. Once you work here for a while the monkeys start to recognise you and often approach you wanting attention. It soon becomes the norm to be walking around with a monkey sat on your shoulders. Some monkeys want you all to themselves so they will pull at your arm much like a child would do and then drag you to a bench just to chill out for a while and to groom each other. There really is nowhere else in the world like it!

Capuchins

The capuchins are the most intelligent of all the monkeys. Because of this intelligence these are the monkeys that are used most often in movies and tv shows. When they are young they can be trained very easily and many people have them as pets, the problem is when they get a bit bigger they become aggressive and can become very dangerous. Many of the the monkeys at the refuge have previously been pets and now they struggle readjusting to being a monkey among other monkeys. They use tools to crack open nuts, they recognise facial expressions, they communicate with each other to a very high level and they are hell bent on creating anarchy and chaos in everything that they do. There are over 60 capuchins at La Sende Verde living as one troupe in a huge completely free wooded area behind the refuge. A few of them have to be kept in large enclosures or on tethers. The reasons for this are to ensure that each monkey is safe as if they were all free they would fight and no doubt kill each other. It's the capuchins that get fed and looked after by the volunteers and it is with these monkeys that Dave practically lived for our entire stay.

Our jobs. (This next bit talks about what we did as workers in La Sende Verde, we apologise if it gets a bit heavy on details especially about the monkeys!)

When we started our jobs we were to work on the rotation programme which meant feeding all the smaller animals and birds. It was fun and time consuming but but one of the reasons we opted to stay longer than the initial two weeks was so that we could work with the other animals and we were glad when our jobs got changed to bears for Claire and the Capuchins for David.

In theory, feeding the capuchin monkeys is an easy job. All you have to do is carry a big box of food up the hill to the 'Capuchin area' and then proceed to dish it out on to all the feeding platforms and cages 5 times a day. Simple. Although you have to remember that whilst doing this you have 64 capuchin monkeys who also have a job. Their job is also an easy one. Their job is to do everything in their power to prevent you from completing your job.
I
f anybody that reads this should ever think about working at La Sende Verde please read below. It is a list of some of the many things that these little creatures may do to make your job more interesting.

Thieving

Every monkey is well adept in the basic skills of thieving. Before entering the monkey area it is advisable to empty your pockets, each monkey is able to climb on you and reach inside all your pockets. If they find something they will not ask, they will simply take it. Once they have it, it is theirs and they will do one of two things. They will eat it or they will smash it. This is the real reason they evolved to be able to use rocks to break things. It's not for breaking nuts it's for breaking Walkie Talkies, iPhones, cameras and anything else that can't be eaten.
It's also worth pointing out that anything stolen can not simply be stolen back, if you try to take something from a monkey be fully prepared to be attacked and mauled by the same monkey.
For your protection there is a 'monkey proof' room where you can leave your personal items. Be aware that the 'monkey proof' room was breached by monkeys no less than 7 times during our 5 week stay.

During the four of the five weeks that David actually worked with the monkeys the following items were stolen at some point

Walkie talkies x 2
Scissors
Machete
Kitchen knife
Hat x3
Gloves x 2
Pliers x 2
Nails
Sticks x 20 (all by the same monkey all through force)
Food bowls x several
Food box x several
Padlocks x several
Scrubbing brushes x 5
Ladles x 2
Keys for padlocks x3
Caps from drain pipes x7
Money x 500 Bolivianos
Hair pins x several
Iphone x 1
Toilet brush x 2
Pair of glasses x 1
Spanners x 1
Plastic bottles x too many to count
Eggs meant for the coati x 10 (incidentally always the same monkey and always in the same place)
Nuts x thousands
This list is far from complete and many other items were attempted to be stolen but were too big to carry like brooms and buckets.

Toileting

Monkeys poo. They dont mind where they poo or what they poo on. They always poo on the feeding platforms in between feeds which is a bit annoying and a minor hindrance in comparison to pooing on your clothes. Or worse.

Escapes

As mentioned before, quite a few of monkeys need to be kept secure. This is for their safety or the safety of the other monkeys and workers. They would either attack other monkeys, get bullied by other monkeys or have become too agressive with humans. They are secured in two ways, either by a tether (a long rope) where they can still be and interact with the other monkeys or in a large cage with at least one friend. This doesn't stop them doing their job of making your life hard work though because monkeys are experts at escaping.
Bare in mind all cages are locked with strong padlocks. Number coded padlocks do not work because monkeys can figure the codes out so all the padlocks need keys, but remember monkeys can work keys too so don't lose them. In the time we were there, there was no less than 10 escapes. Retrieving an escaped monkey is not easy and leads onto the next problem.

Aggression

Capuchin monkeys are very aggressive animals. They have big teeth and know how to use them. This is often one of the reasons they end up at the refuge - because they have been aggressive with their owners. A lot of the monkeys hate Bolivian women, they recognise skin tone and clothing and will attack if they see somebody they don't like. One monkey became agressive with her owner and ended up getting stabbed in the eye. Now she (the monkey) has to be kept on a tether because if she gets free she seeks out all the Bolivian women for revenge!

Because the hierarchy at La Sende Verde isn't natural and is fragile, when a monkey escapes it can cause all sorts of social problems and gangs soon occur. This makes it extremely dangerous to catch the escapee. The monkey can scream and suddenly you are not catching one monkey but fighting off 20!


Ripping/tipping/jumping

Whilst completing the feeding of the monkeys you will be climbed on and jumped on. Constantly. They jump on you to check your pockets, steal the food and rip your shirt. They tip over buckets and food boxes and just generally make a nuisance lf themselves.

Cirelo

The entire monkey hierarchy is run by the alpha male, Cirelo. Cirelo was the first monkey to ever arrive at the sanctuary and every monkey since then has had to be submissive to him and so he is still the guy on top, like a 'godfather'. He is also twice the size of the other monkeys and has to be kept in a cage with his girlfriend. He escaped once and one worker nearly lost his hand! Even in his cage he is still pretty dangerous as he can actually send out hits on other monkeys that he doesn't like by telling his friends to kill the other monkeys. Cirelo is fed through a trap door system and nobody is allowed into his cage. It is cleaned by poking sticks through but if Cirelo sees the stick he runs over grabs it from your hand, snaps it in two and drops it on the floor.

Extreme cunning and individual skills.

Occasionally some monkeys are so intelligent that they will go to extreme lengths to stop you doing your job.

Inti is one of those monkeys. He sees himself as a protector of the group and depending on his mood he will see you as part of the group and protect you or he will see you as a threat to the group and try to attack you. Neither is particularly helpful as his own particular form of body guarding is to sit on your shoulder and bite you to show how strong he is. When he is against you he unleashes attack after attack of jumping through the air attempting to bite you. He once touched a caterpillar and it stung him because it was poisonous. He then got a leaf, picked up the caterpillar, carried it to a volunteer and put it straight on his arm. Very intelligent monkey.

Other monkeys' special attacks

Jonas simply loves picking and eating your scabs. He also likes to hug your arm and hold it at ransom. The demand is the same every day - 3 grapes, no more, no less.
Combo will attempt to distort all food rations. For example if there is enough green beans to give to each monkey, Combo will take 7. And then another 3. And then 3 more. Combo is a fat monkey.

Leo will befriend you and sit on your shoulder but as he doesn't like the other monkeys he will constantly use you as a shield when he antagonises the other monkeys.

Chiri will jump in your clothes, and stay there.

Coli will pretend to be a friendly monkey and jump and play, until you touch his tail then he will go for your throat.

A simple rule can be used that covers all these problems. Dont ever, EVER trust a monkey!

Massaging/grooming/cuteness

And then there's simply all the time that you cant spend feeding them simply because you are having too much fun. The monkeys can be the cutest animals ever. One monkey could open a massage centre as whenever you go near him he simply jumps on you and strokes you all day long. Other monkeys jump on you and want hugging, other ones try to feed you their lunch, others just want to jump and play inside your clothes. They are brill!


And so that is basically a day in the life of working with the monkeys.

As well as the working at the refuge we have also met some great friends, far too many to mention. A few nights out were had in the local town and other evenings we would crowd round a tv with a dvd.

Theres lots more monkey stories about each individual monkeys personalities or tragic histories. There are love triangles, fights, practical jokes, quirks that over time we got to learn about as we watched and interacted with great and amazing animals.

The five weeks we spent here have without doubt been the best weeks of our entire trip. We really didnt want to leave. And now, months later we still look back and wonder if we should have stayed a bit longer or we think about ways we can return in the future.

TRANSPORT STATS
Planes used - 11
Buses/coaches used - 94
Trains used - 25
Metros/subways used - 48
Cars used - 14
Minivans/Collectivos - 23 (+11)
Russian Campervans used -1
Horses used - 1
Camels used - 1
Taxis used - 32 (+4)
Cable cars used - 1
Bicycles used- 3
Tuk tuks/autorickshaw used - 31
Scooters used - 6
Elephants used - 0
Ferrys used - 7
CycleRickshaw - 1
Bamboo HouseBoat - 1
Tour Boat - 2
Combi Van - 2
Huge 4x4 Truck Thingys- 2
Catamarans - 1
Kms travelled in campervan - 12298
Toyota Landcruisers - 1