When I got here I vowed to give it at least 10 days before I made any final judgments or rash decisions…this turned out to be wise, or I might not be here two weeks later writing this first blog post about my experience.
I am at Jacj Cuisi, a Puma rehabilitation center in the Bolivian Jungle. This is the most remote reserve the organization Inti Wara Yassi operates; it has no running water or electricity and bathing is done in the stream (which is quite lovely with little fish that nibble your feet). We use long drops for toilets, and there is just one house for volunteers with 13 bunks. It is open air with just three walls, so in the evening you can feel the amazon breeze and from my top bunk I have an exquisite view of a clear starry sky. During storms however rain floods into the house and we have to take turns staying awake to sweep the water out so it doesn’t flood. There is a simple kitchen in which all of the volunteers take turns cooking and cleaning. We eat simply but well, usually rice or pasta with some kind of sauce and vegetables.
Days are spent in the jungle walking and playing with the Puma’s. I am assigned to a 3 year old Mountain Puma named Luna. When Luna was just 3 months old she was rescued by Inti Wara Yassi from a man who was trying to sell her and her sister Mika on the streets after having slaughtered their mother. She was severely malnourished and could not walk. Her sister died within the first days but Luna held on and eventually gained strength. Due to this horrific past she will always have health and development problems; she is blind in her right eye and has respiratory issues today (which cause her to have the most memorable purr you will ever hear).
Luna is young and very playful. She loves to jump people (which I would more correctly term ‘play attack’) every chance she gets. She gets excited and jumpy over a lot of different and sometimes very unpredictable things. If it gets windy, if there was rain the night before, if she is looking through trees at you (hide and seek), if she is on a log or anywhere higher than you, if she hears monkeys, if there are a lot of bugs around, ect. Basically, don’t ever be deceived or become complacent, for even a second, in a moment of tranquility.
Every day with Luna is very different depending on the weather, other animals in the jungle, and her mood - but basically a typical day goes something like this: We (there are always two people walking a cat, I have been working with a girl named Acacia) arrive to Luna’s cage at around 8am after a 20 minute hike. She runs up purring loudly and starts to lick our arms with her very rough tongue, she loves affection. After about 15 minutes of ‘love’ time we take her out of the cage, with her attached to one of us on a 10 foot rope, and start off through her maze of trails.
The jungle terrain is not easy, parts are very steep, both up and down hill and there are leaves, rocks, and roots everywhere to trip you up. Quite often there are large fallen trees over paths that you have to scramble over or under, depending on the route the cat takes. Luna typically walks along her trails, but takes flying leaps over logs and doesn’t like the mud so leaps over any of that as well. She can also just start off running in a split second, and you have to keep up. She especially loves to run on the steep bits, of course.
With our guidance Luna decides where she wants to walk and for how long. The fact that we are even a few percent in control is I think an illusion Luna lets us believe! When we arrive back in her cage area we put her on her ‘runner’. This is a long rope between two trees where when attached with her rope she has a very long lead for running and playing. Although this is pretty unnerving, she absolutely loves to play with a ‘ratata’, so it’s important for us to exercise her this way. A ratata is a long palm frond that you can hide and drag around for her to chase and pounce on...the problem is she has so much free rope and can easily loose interest in the palm frond and turn it on you!
After two weeks Acacia and I are able to read Luna’s moods a bit, know her favorite jumpy areas, and can recognize the signs she is getting playful…all of these factors, along with the fact I am sure we are a little less exciting to her now, have led to her being pretty calm with us and walking her trails well. On a normal day with no strange outside circumstances typically we walk for 3 to 4 hours with only a few half-hearted jumps. She will often stop on a log for a while and just sit and listen to the jungle; it is gorgeous to watch her in her element. While walking Luna often purrs very loudly and also turns back to us for pats and affection. It is such a cool feeling to know that we are enriching her life in this way and she is enjoying herself so much. These quiet, serene walks however are not always the case, and certainly weren’t in the first week or so…
I am covered in bruises, bites, claw scrapes, and blood. For the first couple days I like to compare myself to a shiny new toy for Luna and wow was I a popular new toy! When I first arrived Luna had been walking with one volunteer for 3 months and Acacia for 4 days…the experienced volunteer was leaving in two days so the pressure was really put on Acacia and myself to take on a lot of responsibility very quickly. In hindsight this was good, I was put into a lot of tough circumstances right away which helped me to become more comfortable and confident with Luna…but it was a pretty rough and painful introduction.
In my first two days I was jumped probably over 15 times, a couple of which knocked me over and led her to become even more aggressive wrapping her teeth around my neck. I was put as lead on the rope, and dragged through the jungle for at least 15 feet while Luna ‘hunted’. I was playing with her in her ‘runner’ area, and over and over she would loose interest in the ratata, turn her crazy big eyes to me, run and pounce on me (the run and jump is terrifying). I was needed to feed her alone on my second day and make sure she took her calcium pill.
It was a lot of pressure and multiple times there were tears. Some tears of pain, but mostly I think tears of shock and feeling overwhelmed. There were points I really didn’t think I was going to be able to carry on. I mean I knew it was going to be extremely physically challenging, but I didn’t bet on there being such a hard mental component to overcome as well. I think Acacia and I really leaned on each other for support, as were the only two new volunteers. We tried to remain positive about everything, but were also there for each other to share in the fears and pains we were experiencing. I am so proud of us for all we have accomplished, knowing you can trust your partner is a huge piece of feeling confident out there, so I feel lucky to have found myself with a good one.
I think I can make it two more weeks in the jungle as originally planned, so ciao, until I next conjure up the effort to hitch hike into the closest civilization (it took 3 hours of waiting for a ride, a 2 hour trip on a lumber truck, and then a boat ride to get here!)…
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