Newbies
I spent another great week at Yana Cocha animal rescue and we had several new volunteers join. There were two Danes and a Swede so we were overrun with Scandinavians! The new volunteer coordinator also started this week. His name is Marc, he’s from Spain and he will be living and working at Yana Cocha for a year.
La entrevista
On Tuesday Inga and I trained one of the eagles. It was amazing to see his progress from last week, he was flying so much better. There was a film crew from an organisation called WEP which wants to advertise the centre to volunteers so they were finding out what it’s like and filming various things. We got chatting and they asked me to do an interview in Spanish, which was quite challenging, but an interesting experience. Look out for me on their website!
Liberation take one (aka chocolate)
On Wednesday we all piled into a van to go to Tamandua and release some animals. However, after driving for 20 minutes on what felt like a school trip the bus ran out of water (not what you want when there’s a giant, angry boa in the back!) so we sat on the side of the road and played poker with stones for chips.
The bus was a no-go so we headed back to Yana Cocha. In the afternoon, because we had done double feeding in the morning, Raul took us all to a nearby cocoa plantation to see how cocoa is processed. It was really interesting to see the beans (which apparently absorb flavour from nearby plants) and then the process of drying, separating, churning and freezing, before tasting the end product. The company produces pure cocoa paste in blocks, which were made into a delicious hot chocolate. They also have cocoa powder and we got to try a delicious syrup that comes off the beans as they dry. It was a delicious afternoon!
Liberation take two (aka success!!)
On Thursday we tried again to go to Tamandua and this time the bus didn’t break down (yay!). After trekking through the jungle we released a honey bear (named Kaya), 5 turtles (which we named after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and the giant boa constrictor (which Christine named Marian, after her grandmother). Christine helped release the boa – well deserved after carrying it all the way – and there was a scary moment when we thought she might come towards us!
I also spotted a small snake on the path, which our guide hadn’t seen, and asked him about it. We were all told to stand back and it turns out it was extremely venomous and could have killed us. On the way back we quickly ran under the waterfall, which was super refreshing, before making our sweaty way back to the van. One of the girls, who has asthma, was struggling, but through a mixture of team work, perseverance, cheesy motivational quotes and bad singing, we made it to the taxi, which got us back to Yana Cocha 5 minutes after the bus.
Don’t bite my face!
Friday was my last day working at Yana Cocha and it was a sad affair. I was on the monkey round, which is my favourite, and it was amazing to play with the monkeys on Chorongo Island one last time. There is one who normally goes a bit crazy and has become somewhat of a favourite of mine. In the morning he was oddly quiet, but in the afternoon he was being very affectionate and even groomed me, which was amazing.
However, I had a less good experience with the chichicos. Normally the coordinator says the ones in the cage are too aggressive to go in, but one had been moved after a fight so he thought it would be fine. Unfortunately when I went inside one jumped on me and continually bit my cheek, which was not at all pleasant. And in the afternoon the chichicos on the island (which are normally very docile) bit me on the nose! I don’t know why they suddenly had it in for me, but it wasn’t great.
I then did the nocturnal round and ended up feeding a live rabbit to the ocelots, which I did not enjoy either and had not wanted to be the one actually placing it in the cage. However, despite these blips I’ve loved every minute of my time at Yana Cocha and didn’t want to go!
O Sole Mio
On Friday evening the whole gang went out for dinner because two of the volunteers had their birthday this week. We went to an Italian place called O Sole Mío and had some great pizza and a lovely chat. I had to say goodbye to Raul (the coordinator), which was extremely sad. I will miss him and the rescue centre and definitely want to come back some day. Then we had a bit of a party in the kitchen area of Yana Cocha that lasted long into the night.
Baños
On Saturday morning I said my goodbyes after breakfast and went with Johanna to Baños (a popular destination on the way to the Jungle). It is named after the sacred waters said to abound in the area, but we visited the oppositely named Pailón del diablo (Devil’s bowl), got soaked beneath the waterfall, and I tried the local delicacy of a grilled white worm (which was actually quite tasty!). Then we decided to try a zip line and went to one called El Agoyán which takes you 600 metres across a gorge with a beautiful waterfall. I went head first, superman-style, and it was really fun (although not as fast as I was expecting).
Next we headed back to town to meet up with some more guys from Yana Cocha who had been working in the morning. We all got the bus up to a viewing point of the volcano that overlooks the town and we had the most beautiful weather. It was so sunny and you could see really clearly. There is a tree house from which they used to monitor the Tungurahua volcano, but now they have installed two swings where you feel like you are flying off the mountain. It was such an amazing experience and a lovely end to a fun-filled day.
In the evening we had dinner at another Italian restaurant and Emma very kindly bought us all dinner as it was her birthday. The following morning we had a dip in the Termas de la virgen, which were a good selection of pools fed by hot springs with a small waterfall right beside it. It was nice and relaxing trying the different temperatures (including the cold plunge!) before saying goodbye and heading off to Quito. I had a great time in Baños and am glad I got to spend the day there.
3rd January 2019
Ella's blog 