Monkeys and Manatees and owls oh my!!

Wow what a week. Spiders and scorpions everywhere, plants that made me feel like I was on fire, a Peccary (wild pig) that lived in the garden and wanted to eat me, a roommate that was not afraid to be naked(all the time), mosquitoes worse than they have been in ten years, an angry Barn Owl who I got a hold of my hand (I was glad to see him released!) no running water for days at a time, and of course monkeys.....

view from my room

Boa Constrictor found in the garden

lambs born in the middle of the night

angry geese where ever I go!!

This is a Peccary, they received him from a wild animal "zoo" that had been shut down

Duma the spider monkey

The walk I had to make four times a day while being attacked by mosquitoes

spider monkey we got in while I was there also from the wild animal "zoo" She was so thin we could see the outline of her rib cage. For three days we couldn't keep her food dish full because she would eat everything we offered her. 

Pacas also from the park

Twiggy the baby manatee

The nightlife of the town : )

Maddy the new monkey stuffing her face

Curossows

Sultan the baby Howler monkey

My adventure at Wildtracks primate/manatee rehab center

During the first week of July I was lucky enough to be invited to come and help out at Wildtracks. This is a wonderful rehabilitation center focusing on Primates and Manatees. It is located in Sarteneja, a very small town in Northern Belize along a lagoon. Now when I say a small town I mean SMALL. There are two tiny restaurants, one bar, and one small store. It is also very isolated from other towns so if the one store doesn't have it you are out of luck! My adventure began in Belize City where I was dropped off at the bus station. After hopping onto the baby blue school bus I took a seat next to a nice old woman and promptly fell asleep for the next two hours. The last hour was spent on a dirt road being amazed and terrified all at the same time as the bus driver went barreling along at high speeds causing branches and rain to hit me in the face

. Once arriving into town I waited at the "bus stop" on the bus for my ride. While waiting I was greeted by a dog who came onto the bus looking for a head scratch and struck up a conversation with the conductor who went on to tell me that the driver was driving exceptionally well because he was drunk. I was greeted a few minutes later by Zoe Walker who is the co-founder of the center and so began my week with the monkeys

this is the bus station. notice the chickens and turkeys running around