Best yet.

Posted by matt1988

Noches 8
Let's start off talking about last night. Zoe and I went to dinner with a large group of volunteers, the owner of our hotel (Joe), and Jonathan. We piled into the bed of Joe's truck and went to pick up some of the other volunteers. After we picked them up, Joe's truck actually got a flat, so we hopped out and walked the rest of the way to El Coyote.

We had good conversations about food, vegetarianism, animals, Rainsong, and Wal-Mart. It was good getting to know the other volunteers a bit better, and getting to relate to them. There were also two new volunteers from Israel that arrived at our hotel last night. They seem very nice and interesting, and they gave us a ride home.

Dia 9

This morning we got up like we usually do, and headed out to Rainsong. The weather was extremely hot, but of course it was still beautiful. When we arrived we met the two new howler monkeys that were brought in yesterday (Their moms were killed while crossing an electrical wire, the same reason why 3 of the 4 original monkeys were brought to Rainsong). They were surprisingly doing well for the situation they were in. Their fingers were in pretty bad shape, and their tails had some burns, but physically it did not look like they sustained too much damage. Obviously, there is a lot of emotional damage when you lose your mother. Both monkeys needed a lot of attention and constant physical contact. They frequently called for their mothers.

We held a meditation circle, focusing on the monkeys' health. Mary is really into the power of the mind, and working with light energy, so we focused what we could on the monkeys' health.

After that, we took the original 4 monkeys out to the tree for their playtime. During this, two other volunteers brought out the new babies to introduce them. Everyone was nervous about how the introduction would go, especially concerning the eldest of the original monkeys (Mona). Mona can be kind of dominant over the younger monkeys, and we weren't sure how she would react to such a dramatic change. We had no reason to worry, Mona instantly started to care for the babies, she hugged and cradled them, looking like she was trying to let them know they will be ok. The babies loved the attention they were getting, it almost seems like they are allowing Mona to be like their surrogate mother. It was a very touching thing to watch, and everyone at the sanctuary was very excited that this worked out so well.

Today was Laura's last day and we spent most of our day hanging out with the monkeys in the play area. It must be a hard thing to have to say goodbye to these sweet little animals, and we will have to do it tomorrow.

When we got back into the sanctuary, most of the feeding had been done. Zoe and I fed and cleaned the little turtles, and helped wrap up everything that was left. Then Mary told us that we could leave.

Today, Mary was in a great mood. That made the day go by much smoother, and it was much more enjoyable to be there. We did let her know that our flight was changed and she seemed fine with that. She made sure that we had all of our travel and lodging arranged for the trip home, and let us know that we could have our last two days in Costa Rica off from the sanctuary. She even wrote us a note that will get us into the nearby nature reserve for free. It was very nice to see Mary in a good mood, and she seemed much more respectful to the volunteers today.

The two new volunteers (I don't remember their name, I am sorry) gave us a ride back from the sanctuary. It is raining right now, and the power keeps cutting in and out, so I am going to post this and I may come back to it later to edit it a bit.

Love,

Matt and Zoe