Monkey Time!

Our final week in Ecuador was the most adventurous, colorful, awesome week of our trip so far! It felt like every moment was alive and full and exciting. I loved it.

It began with a bus ride. We took the 10:30pm bus from the beach to return to Quito. We arrived in the sleeping city at 5am, and it was so neat to know the place, and to feel like we were returning to something familiar. We weren’t back for long, though. At 6am, we caught another bus to Banos, where we were going to stay for less than 24 hours.

Banos is a town set among mountains and waterfalls:


The active Tungurahua volcano looks over the town, and erupted a few months ago, but the town is very much happening and alive. There was something about this place, and Ryan and I both felt it immediately. We just kind of instantly fell in love with it. There was an instant sense of joy in the air. The people there seemed like outside people—like they know how to enjoy nature and how to appreciate the beautiful setting their home is in.

We walked around the town and went on a short hike.

Sugarcane stalls:


The next morning, we took off. But not in a bus! We rented mountain bikes and rode on the “Ruta de las Cascadas,” named after all the waterfalls that can be seen along the way. This route is frequently done on bicycle because it’s mostly downhill and the views are absolutely stunning:


Ryan:


Me:

After riding for a couple hours, we took a break from the bikes and went on a hike at a place called Machay:

And we reached this lovely place!!!

We had a few more hours of riding ahead of us after the waterfall.

Water break:

Mirador:

:-)

It was a great ride! We’d started in Banos at 8:30am and arrived six hours and 69 kilometers later in Puyo, completely exhausted. Although it was mostly downhill, there were certainly the uphill portions that were super hard. It was so thrilling though, and the views made it so rewarding, on top of the feeling of accomplishment of completing the famous bike route.

The company we rented the bikes from dropped off our bags, took the bikes, and we continued on to our next destination: monkeys.

Yes, monkeys! Ryan and I decided that we wanted to spend a week volunteering. When we found out about this rescue center that takes care of animals who have been caught by police from animal traffickers, we were totally set on spending a week working there. The place raises babies and other young monkeys that have been torn away from their families (to be sold as pets), with the intention of releasing them into the wild (in groups) when they reach adulthood. None have yet been reintroduced to the wild. There are also older monkeys there (e.g. one monkey who was over 40 years old and had been tied up almost her entire life, leaving her without social skills upon arrival at the rescue center).

When we arrived at the rescue center on Sunday afternoon, we were welcomed by some new friends:

We met the owner of the center, who showed us our cabin, and threw out random pieces of information about the place that didn’t really fit together or provide any sort of outline for us to understand (a) how the center is run, (b) what the volunteers do, (c) the mission and vision, (d) the role of the public, or, (e) basically anything about the many animals we were surrounded by. So, Ryan and I were left with bits here and there, which we tried to piece together into something that made sense. We wanted to know what we were going to be doing there for a week, or any important details we should know before starting our first day of work the following morning.

We were informed that our cabin had no bathroom, no shower, no sink, no running water.

The owner told us that we could shower in the big house. The place I will from now on refer to as the “big house” was the center of the place. This is where the owners live (a European couple). This is where lunch is prepared and eaten for all the volunteers and workers every day. This is where a certain group of the monkeys sleep (the babies sleep in the bed with the owners). This is also where we were told to come use the bathroom and shower.

View of big house from our cabin:

When we first went into the big house, we were not given a tour (which would have made sense). Instead, we were told to grab vegetables for the next few days so that we could cook breakfast and dinner for ourselves in our cabin (with no sink and no running water). While in the kitchen selecting our vegetables, an 8-month old baby monkey named Paula climbed up to my head and held on tightly to my hair. This was fine for a few minutes, but then when Ryan and I were ready to leave to go back to our cabin to settle in, Paula refused to leave me. The two owners tried to pull her off and she started shrieking and yanking on my hair, refusing to move.

In that moment, we learned something important. These baby orphans that are brought to the rescue center are instinctively searching for their mothers. These monkeys cling to their mothers for the first two years of their lives. It’s an incredibly strong bond that’s very important for the socialization and general growth of the baby. Another important thing is that it’s always one mother-one baby. So if I’d had another monkey on my head, Paula wouldn’t have been seeking me in that way. Since I had no other monkeys attached to me, she essentially claimed me as her mother. When the owners tried to pull her off, she went crazy. This was quite an introduction to the monkey world for me. I lost lots of hair within an hour of my arrival.

Paula was eventually removed from my head, and she pooped all over the place in protest. This was something we’d soon see a lot more of.

We went to our cabin to settle in and returned an hour or so later to shower in the big house. This was an interesting experience. We were there to get clean (we were still gross from the long bike ride), and there was poop all over the house (including the bathroom). In this second visit to the big house, I had another encounter with Paula and the same thing happened. She jumped up to my head and adopted me. At this point one of the owners asked me if I would like to sleep with her that night. They’d give me a diaper for her. At first I laughed, because I thought they were kidding. We’d arrived two freaking hours ago. I didn’t know anything about how to take care of a baby monkey, or anything about the center, or anything about anything! But, no, they were serious. This was perhaps the first solid sign of how crazy these people were. I said, “maybe tomorrow night.”

That first night, whenever Ryan and I had to pee (which was often, because we drank a lot of water after our bike ride) we opened the wooden door and shut it quickly so no mosquitoes would creep in. Then we would squat (well, Ryan would stand) and pee out there in the dirt. We were completely ignorant that night. We had no idea what was lurking above in the trees. There were sounds everywhere! We were on the very edge of the Amazon, but it felt like the heart of the rainforest with all those sounds at night.

We woke up the next morning, ready and excited for our first day of work. We had no idea what to expect, but we imagined we’d be building things, or cleaning up, or feeding animals. I thought maybe we’d be briefed on the history and mission of the center so we could give tours to visitors.

We were up early, before the work day was supposed to start (supposedly at 8am, which apparently means 9am). So, we decided to wander around and get familiar with the grounds of the center, since we were not given a tour. Ryan wandered off first while I was still getting ready. A few minutes later, he jumped back into the cabin with his finger bleeding. A monkey bit him! We thought this was a freak occurrence or something of the sort, because nothing at all had been mentioned the previous night about monkeys biting people, or that we needed to be cautious. Ryan cleaned and bandaged his wound, and then went back out to wander some more.

A few minutes later, I grabbed my camera and went out to take some early morning photos before what I expected to be a very busy work day. I met some new animal friends and took a few photos.

And then, before I knew it, there was a monkey on my legs: not climbing up my body to play, but clinging to my legs and biting me! It all happened so fast, but he just bit and bit and bit. He was attacking me and I didn’t know how to get him off! I swung my legs hard, but he held on and kept biting. He got one huge bite out of my wrist too. I don’t think I actually did anything to get him off, he must have just decided he was done. I stepped away slowly, worried that he’d jump back on me and attack me again. But he just sat there staring at me. I ran off to the cabin crying like there was no tomorrow.

I sat down outside the cabin and rolled up my pant legs to see the damage. All the bites were bleeding, and the bite on my wrist was the worst. I think I was probably in shock for a minute. Finally I realized I needed help and I yelled out Ryan’s name. I had to call it out three times before he heard me. Finally he came. We went inside and he took care of me. I don’t know what I would have done without Ryan. I was helpless and stupid and in shock. Ryan cleaned all the bites and bandaged them. I just sat there crying the whole time, in disbelief (and wondering if the monkey had rabies).

I was injured more than just physically. I felt like there was no way I could go back down there. How could I work with the monkeys all day? I was terrified of these creatures that I so wanted to love and help. It was an awful feeling. I felt helpless and vulnerable.

Some minutes later, two of the people who work at the center (not volunteers) showed up. Ryan and I told them what had happened, and they acted like it was no big deal. This was very strange for me, obviously. One guy showed us all his scars from previous bites. He assured me that none of the monkeys at the center have rabies or any other diseases. When I asked him if I should go to the hospital, he said no. He said the most important thing was that I needed to move on and not be scared. If they sense that I’m scared, then I’m immediately vulnerable, and they could attack me. He told me that I have to walk down there confidently. That made a lot of sense to me, but it seemed impossible. The last thing I felt was confident.

This guy (whom I’ll call “J”) who works there is extremely knowledgeable. It’s too bad he hadn’t met with us the previous night and given us the run-down on the place. Instead, the crazy owners warned us of and prepared us for nothing. J told us how to defend ourselves against an aggressive monkey. He told us all the things you should do and shouldn’t do in dangerous situations. He told us how to avoid those situations in the first place.

I eventually decided that I had to beat my fear. I wanted to do what I’d come to do. This process of reaching confidence around the monkeys took a long time. For a while, I stayed glued to Ryan’s side. As time passed, though, I came to understand what I should have been informed of in the first place (which monkeys were aggressive, how to behave around the mean guys, etc.). The main technique to deter an aggressive monkey is to hold up a rock. Most of the time, the aggressive guy will run off. Other times, you have to throw the rock near him, and that’ll do it. I carried rocks in my pocket.

We met another volunteer who was beginning her second day of work, Jessica.

She was staying in the volunteer house (another building, just outside the gate of the center). Jessica became an instant friend! First of all, we clicked with her right away. We quickly found that we shared a lot of the same ideas and hopes and ambitions. Also, she gave us the inside scoop on the place, that she’d gathered after being there a day. The owners are, essentially, insane. They’re alcoholics and they seem to have lost touch with some of the very basic elements of civilization. They don’t care about the volunteers (I learned that one the hard way). They don’t care about the visitors who come to the center. They don’t care about spreading awareness about animal trafficking. They don’t care about advertising or promoting the vision and mission of their rescue center. They do care about the animals, and about whiskey. But that’s about it.

Certain thoughts that had been developing in our minds since we arrived were confirmed by Jessica, namely the complete lack of organization. Or, to be frank, the complete absence of any sort of purpose for the volunteers. We’d arrived expecting to work for a week, to help a place that is helping animals. On our first morning, however, it became clear to us that there was no work for us to do! We could have made work for ourselves. Sure, we could have initiated projects. But we were not given any guidance, any direction, anything. No one told us, “Hello, new volunteers. Welcome. Your volunteer work will consist of……” Nothing!

So, what did we do? Well, we peeled papayas for a little while. Which is like a teacher giving her students stupid worksheets to fill out that won’t be graded. The lady (a worker) who set us up with the papaya peeling was probably just trying to get us out of her hair because we kept on asking her what we could do to help.

What else? We fed the birds some corn. It seemed like the lady (another worker) who put us with the birds was doing us a favor by letting us feed them.

What else? Oh…nothing. We just sat around and played with monkeys.

Jessica taught us what she’d gathered about the different monkeys from her first day. At first it seemed hard to remember the different species and the names of the individual monkeys. But with time, we got it! The more time we spent hanging out with them, the more we learned about their behaviors and movements and tendencies. I don’t think we realized it while we were in the moment, but our knowledge grew as we spent more time with the animals, based simply on observation.

In this center, there are several different species of monkeys.

The sweetest and friendliest are the chorongos (wooly monkeys):

The little guys are the squirrel monkeys (which Ryan called “space men”):

Then there are the capuchino blancos (white-headed capuchins). These are very smart fellows, but they are also the most aggressive ones, and they have sharp teeth. This is the monkey that attacked me, bit Ryan, bit Jessica, and has bitten just about everyone in the center:

And there were a few other species of monkeys as well, including spider monkeys. There were also birds there. And a strange animal they called “cuati” who are related to bears.

So, we hung out with those guys all day. We all felt totally worthless. Ryan, Jessica, and I talked all day about how worthless we felt. We were there to work, and we were just hanging out. It was disappointing, even though it was undeniably fun to hang out with monkeys for hours.

belly rubs:

There were a few rare moments when we felt like we actually served a purpose. Sometimes all the people who work at the center were inside the big house cleaning, and so we volunteers needed to keep our eyes on the baby monkeys. Sometimes, when the workers were all busy, we served as pseudo-guides for visitors. More importantly, we stayed next to the visitors, and made sure the mean capuchino blanco didn’t come by or get aggressive. We shared the little information we had about the different species.

By the end of the first day, Ryan and I were totally frustrated. We couldn’t imagine spending an entire week there doing nothing but hanging out. We thought of different projects we could develop. Ryan wanted to work on the cabin, to make it better for future volunteers. I thought of creating a pamphlet for visitors, to make their experience a little more educational. But it just seemed wrong to us to put in work to help a place that is run by two crazy people who don’t care about volunteers or visitors. We didn’t want to support them. This conflicted, though, with how we wanted to help the animals in the center and make it a better place for everyone who comes to learn and experience there.

I had a hard time falling asleep that night. I couldn’t stop just feeling angry about how the place is so poorly run, and how powerless I felt to change it. And the situation Ryan and I were in (in our cabin) was just so ridiculous. How on earth do you cook breakfast and dinner in a cabin when you can’t wash the dishes afterward? We had a stove, but that was it. And how on earth do you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night when being outside alone is the most vulnerable you can be for an attack? (We learned that one a little late.) And why didn’t anyone at the center even ask to see my bites to determine the seriousness of the wounds? On and on.

By the time I woke up the second morning, I felt like I wanted to leave. I just wanted to get out of there. I was tired of the craziness of the crazy people. I was tired of doing nothing. Ryan and I discussed this for at least an hour that morning. Finally, we decided that we’d give it another shot. We’d stay one more day, and leave that evening.

Well, lo and behold! Day two was as wonderful as could be! Why? It’s all about expectations. Ryan and I didn’t go bug the workers, asking them what we should do. We knew by then that the workers get paid to do the work. The volunteers are there to hang around. We didn’t expect to work. We didn’t expect to feel productive. We expected to hang out with monkeys all day. With that shift in expectations, we found ourselves enjoying every moment!


We were both super happy all day long. I’d completely lost my fear. Even when the bad guy came near me (whom I nicknamed “my assassin”), I remained calm. I learned a little about his history too, and then I felt sorry for him. He’s over 30 years old. He’s had a hard life, and I can’t blame him for being territorial and aggressive.

The coolest thing about day two was that we grew closer and closer to certain monkeys. They really became like our friends. It was so neat how they remembered us from the previous day. By the second day, Ryan and I remembered all their names. One monkey, Milton, really hit it off with Ryan. They were like best buds all day long. I couldn’t play well with Milton because he was a little too rough for me. But Ryan knew exactly how to play with him. Ryan tickled him and chased him and poked him and Milton would produce the most incredible laugh in response. It was amazing. Ryan’s face was glowing when he played with Milton.

Ryan swinging with Milton:

One of my favorite things was observing the relationships between the dogs and the monkeys. We learned that some of the monkeys, upon arrival at the center, adopted dogs as their mothers. Amazing.




Another cool thing about day two was that there were a lot more visitors, so we spent a lot more time talking to families and couples and travelers. This was awesome! I loved being someone they could turn to with questions. We didn’t know much, but we could answer most basic questions. I loved helping the visitors when they wanted a monkey on or off their heads. I loved giving them the important warnings about the aggressive ones and the reassurance that they could play with all the chorongos without fear.

It was such a lovely day with our monkey friends, that as it was getting closer to 5pm, Ryan and I didn’t want to leave! We no longer cared about how crazy the owners were, or how stupidly the place was run, or how poorly organized everything was. We wanted to stay so we could have more time with the monkeys. If we’d learned what we’d learned about the various species in two days….imagine how much we could learn in a whole week! And imagine how awesome we’d be as tour guides after a week! Imagine how much closer we’d be to the individual monkeys! Both of us felt it. We wanted to stay. I felt especially bad for the babies. Whose head would Paula climb up to once we leave? Who would she claim as her mother during the day when the crazy owners go to town to drink?

Paula's mama:

And this is what I looked like at 5pm. Crazy hair, and Paula's poop and pee all over me:

It was a struggle, but we finally decided to leave, and for one sole purpose: our living conditions. We were tired of not being able to wash dishes in our cabin. And we’d had enough of squatting down to poop in the woods, in the pitch darkness, with a head lamp on, and a rock in hand to prevent a monkey’s approach. The living situation was just too much (there were also rats inside the cabin).

So, we left. We didn’t stay the full week, as we’d planned. It wasn’t fun to turn away from our commitment, but it also just didn’t feel good to endure those conditions, especially when there was a volunteer house (with kitchen, bathroom, shower, water, etc.) that we were not able to stay in, but that other volunteers were in (long story).

That night, we checked into a hotel in the nearest town, and then went out for pizza. We drank wine and talked about our monkey friends Sambo, Milton, Paula, Lisa, Gigi, Etza, Boguey. Ryan imitated Milton’s laugh. We couldn’t stop talking about them! We talked about monkeys all night long. I felt a longing inside me, a deep desire to go back. I wanted more. I wanted to learn more and be more of an educator there for visitors. I wanted to be a part of spreading awareness against animal trafficking. I felt it so deeply.

But, that chapter was over. We carry it with us, though. It was a good reminder for me of how much I would love to work with animals, and study relationships between different animals and humans.

We spent the entire next day on buses, heading away from the Amazon toward the southern highlands. On Wednesday night, we arrived in Cuenca: truly the gem of southern Ecuador. What a treat! Again, Ryan and I instantly fell in love. The city is so full of life. There are always people out walking around, enjoying the beautiful parks.

In Cuenca, we did a lot of walking around. We visited old churches. We went to a jazz festival. We went to the “multicine” and saw an absolutely horrible American film. We took walks along the peaceful river that runs right through the city. We did a lot of reading and writing. We went to museums. We made plans for future travels. We ate really awesome food at Café Austria. We met up with our old traveling buddy, David. We fasted for Yom Kippur. And, I talked to a doctor about my monkey attack. She reassured me that I don’t need to go to the hospital, and showed me how to care for the wounds.

Cuenca was beautiful and peaceful and fantastic. It was the perfect ending to a colorful, adventurous week. And the most excellent last stop in Ecuador, a country we thoroughly enjoyed and will definitely return to some day.