Bolivia 9 – Senda Verde

My overall impression of Bolivia so far is that it is clean, i.e. there is a waste collection which has been missing from other countries that I have visited this year. Culturally it has kept Spanish roots. I would very much like to see the indigenous side but that may be for another time.

At Senda Verde we are volunteering for 10 days. The minimum stay is actually 14 days so that is what we paid for, but it just didn’t fit with the rest of our plans or the delays. I don’t begrudge them the money one bit, it is amazing here!

To quote their mission “Senda Verde exists to save and shelter wild animals rescued from illegal trafficking and habitat destruction, and to inspire actions to rewild and protect nature”.

It’s situated in a ravine over a fast flowing river and another smaller stream, so there is constant sound, (we saw people panning for gold up the main river). Our room is a cement hut with a corrugated roof. I think Jayne was a bit dismayed but once our bedding was in place it looked a whole lot better. It was far better than the hotel we had just been in for sure! We had our own mosquito nets so we put them up too although mosquitos are not too prevalent, there are other biting insects. Jayne was bitten immediately but for several days I was not affected. We cannot use deet based insect repellent because of the animals and the natural ones are not so effective.

We were shown around on our first day. The buildings are caged in with enclosed walkways because the released monkeys are somewhat habituated and hang about (excuse the pun) cadging food and a cuddle every now and then  (the Spider Monkeys in particular)

There are several open air enclosures and some completely enclosed. They are ok in size and all the animals look in good condition. There is at least one permanent vet of site and at the time of writing there are vets from the Netherlands and Belgium that are on an internship and one other from Colombia who is volunteering.

All the animals either came here as babies, because the parents were killed, trafficked or had been raised as pets. Or in the case of one bear, he was beaten blind with sticks and nearly killed when it ate a villager’s corn. Apparently the monkeys will defend their young and approximately 10 will be killed for people to get one baby!

Some are released back to the wild if possible, if not the males are sterilised and may will live out their lives here! Some domestic pets have been abandoned here too and we are looking after one of several cats that live near our hut.

I’m not too sure what else is on a breading programme but the river turtles are. And the tortoises are rewilded.

During our first day we were given protozoan killing medication to take for three days that turned your wee bright yellow!

Next…..our duties