Bolivia 12 – More Monkey Business

Apart from being a climbing frame, a salt lick and a stooge for Red Howler beauty treatments, namely quinoa porridge on my face and in my hair! There were other monkeys being cared for and many of them are released.

At first I found the Spider Monkeys a bit creepy. There is something very human about them, particularly when they stand on two legs, they are also expressive. They have identifiable faces and they make sweet sounds.

They are like energetic teenagers, constantly on the go and very inquisitive! They had two specific keepers for the babies and the young ones. There were a number of adults outside the sanctuary and they remain in the area despite being free. 

The above is a female, interestingly thier genitals are on the outside!

Both Jayne and I had to run the gauntlet at least once with the youngsters in the external  corridors while we had the baby howlers with us. Jayne accidentally left Ponchita behind when she left the food prep room because she was anxious about getting caught up with the Spiders.

One time had a grubby blanket for a head scarf over Ponchita in the corridor. Juan Paulo said ” take your glasses off, don’t make eye contact, don’t talk and keep moving” so that’s what I did! Ponchita suffering from FOMO stuck her head out under my ear of course!

Jayne was introduced to the baby Spider Monkeys (they are quite big)  to see how they would react to her. She was told to sit still. One urinated on her left hand and another pooed on her right knee and shirt. She stayed calm and passed the initiation ceremony. Their keeper Ruben was pleased because often they don’t accept new people and he wanted some photos of them.

On the day of the photography shoot one pooped in her top pocket! She didn’t realise for a while where the smell was coming from! You do have to watch out walking under them too, they seem to delight in urinating on you! Howlers are so much cleaner by comparison!

Spider monkeys can be quite aggressive and the staff were always alert to this making sure I was kept out of harm’s way wherever possible!

The squirrel monkeys are beautiful and adorable  with lots of squabbling, playing and never sitting still . Again they are curious and mischievous, we had the first hand experience of this when some found a small hole in the fence and made a mischief in the bathroom by turning on tap and putting loo roll (it’s very precious) and the toilet brush in the toilet!

The Capuchins are rather grumpy looking (sometimes Jayne sports their hairdo) and again they are very resourceful. I learned the Spanish word for jealous because one female didn’t like me being too near Alex and so I stayed in the corridor.

Because Jayne offered her services as a photographer she got to see some other residents, Black Headed Night Monkeys  and the Madidi Titi Monkey.

Next……… Jaguars, Pumas and Bears oh my!