Behind the Scenes – Bitten by Bolivia
CIWY is an Animal Refuge Centre and is home to hundreds of animals, most were formally pets or performers. They come to the clinic in the first instance and move into Quarantine were they learn to socialize and interact with other capuchins. If all goes well, then they move on to the Mirador or free from cords and cages to the Monkey Park. Set at the foot of the Amazon basin, within Parque Machia, the weather is more capricious than a chameleon.
After being dumped on the highway in the middle of the night, flagging down a coach with my rape alarm torch (I swore I would never hitch hike but desperate times… ) and waking up with a swollen eye, I started my two-week placement at CIWY. It was cheaper than anywhere else in South America and I had always, and I mean always wanted to help injured animals. To top it off, I would get the chance to film them which was a gift in itself.
On my first day working in 'Quarantine' I held his cord gently and led him to the play area when Oscar went for me, biting my shoulder, calf and finger until I screamed for help. I was rescued by Catrina who told me to go the clinic at once to clean up the blood. When I returned, I took another cute looking capuchin monkey who bit me on my thumb. Terrified and a little upset, I resigned myself to the comparative safety of the left side where all the monkeys where in cages. Abused and neglected, these were the residents of the Quarantine area in Parque Machia in Villa Tunari, Bolivia.
I contemplated changing departments after two days of being bitten more times than I have fingers and thighs, but the 'small animals' in the 'small animals' section also bit. A lot, so I resigned myself to cleaning the boards in the cages until I became acquainted with Platon. A famously aggressive capuchin that came with a warning in the guidelines. He looked away indifferently when I took out his blanket with the long metal rod. I held out a hand to him and he offered me a furry finger with a tiny black nail to hold. I stroked his hand for a while. He laughed silently when I scratched his back and for two weeks, he picked the parasites out of my hair when I scratched the fur on his stick arms. After a week, the capuchins scrambled onto my shoulders, sometimes landing heavily on my head. They preferred me in the afternoon, when sweat slipped off my skin, which they licked clean off me.
I stumbled to work at 6.30 in the morning, pass the closed local market, shut internet shop and open bric-a-brac shop, crossing the road to avoid skinny dogs who stiffen and stare. Green Wellington boots squelched from the rain that soaked my socks by the time I reached Rio Espirito - a swift, muddy brown river that swept past the roots of an organised tangle of the roots of trees. My jeans were often caked in mud, animal droppings and dirt. Even standing in the shower fully clothed couldn’t clean them. I reached the Cafe by seven o' clock, ready for pancakes, bland Nescafe coffee and a cigarette. The café was buzzing, even at such an ungodly hour with volunteers beginning their 12-hour shift.
First, we uncovered the tarpaulin curtain from the cages, large cages with branches, boards and blankets. The Capuchins on the left side stayed in the cages so they are given a banana for breakfast in bowls. The Capuchins on the right side were taken out of their cages and put on runners in the play area. We cleaned the cages then, took out the boards, hosed them down and collected the blankets to be soaked, washed and put out to dry by the large granite sinks. In between cleaning the cages, feeding the capuchins and after washing the ropa, there is the chance to get close to animals. It is this working and helping animals that is the magnetism of Parque Machia. The much needed manpower enables the project to get animals out of abusive situations and into safety. The work is hard, the weather hot and wet, but volunteers return time and time again to a park that doesn't preach the protection of animals. It practises it.
The short video above is a result of two afternoon shoots. I am grateful to Matt Brimble and Nena Balthazar for giving me permission to film. I also thank the volunteers for their pieces to camera. Please click on the link in the menu if you want to find out more and to volunteer.
