Cambodia

Kathryn and I are currently in Phnom Penn, Cambodia.  Kathryn leaves today to fly to Bangkok for a day before she heads home, and I am leaving in the morning for the northeastern part of the country via bus.  On our way to Cambodia from Thailand we didn't stay in Bangkok for more than 10 minutes because I wasnt feeling great and we didnt feel like carrying our backpacks around the crowded city for a day.  So, from KPP we took a ferry to Krabi, a shuttle to the bus station, then an overnight bus to Bangkok.  From there we took another bus to the border and then went onto Siem Reap, total travel time: 30 hours.

Me, at Banteay Kdei (one of the temples outside the Angkor Wat complex)

We spent five nights in Siem Reap, and were lucky to find an awesome guesthouse there.  We stayed at the Prince Mekong Villas, owned by a great Swiss guy named Eric.  It included free breakfast, laundry, and bicycles which we took advantage of.  We decided to do the three day pass for Ankor Wat and biked around the ruins there.  I think cycling is the best way to see the majority of the temples, it get's expensive to take tuk tuks (moto taxis) and the temples are too spread out to walk (we were biking between 40-50km per day).  There is a great map of the temples here.  We also rented motorcycles in Ko Lanta and Phnom Penn which was great because it gives you the freedom to go where you want and you dont have to rely on the bus - as long as you dont mind driving on the dirt roads :)

Cute picture of Kathryn and I at Ta Prohm, too bad the photographer didn't get the whole temple : /

We also visited a silk farm and factory just outside the city which was very interesting.  I shared a room with a silk artist at the Emerson Winter Market and already knew a little bit about the process but it was cool to see each step of the process and finally the finished products.

We've been in Phnom Penn for two nights, and have been enjoying a few days relaxing before hitting the road agian.  We are staying at the Top Banana Guesthouse and they have great food!

Sunset on the way back into Phnom Penn on our moto

Island Hopping

Kathryn and I have been travelling for about one week now, and we are having a great time!  We flew from Taipei to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Sunday.  Our flight wasn't bad, and I didnt run into any problems leaving Taiwan, although I did have to pay a fine for overstaying my 30 day visa.  We decided that we were tired of the big cities and so we didn't stay in KL.  Instead we took the train to Butterworth (in Malaysia) were we continued onto the island of Pinang by ferry.  It was a long journey, we were travelling for about 24 hours (Taipei-Pinang) but it was definitely worth it!

Waiting for the ferry in Malaysia

The island was beautiful, and there were not many tourists there.  We stayed in a nice little hotel that cost about $3.50 a night each. :)  We also had a somewhat scary encounter with the monkeys in the national park.  It was our last day and we decided it would be fun to do some hiking in the jungle there.  We had a great day until we got to the last trail of the day heading towards monkey beach.  I've had a lot of experience with monkeys in South America and up until this point considered them pretty harmless although they can be quite mischievous.  Kathryn didn't get a chance to hike monkey mountain while she was visiting us in Kaohsiung so she was anxious to see some wildlife as well.

We were walking down the trail when we heard the tell tale sound of monkeys in the trees and saw one right above us.  Before we could even think of getting out our cameras it came right down to the ground (very unusual for wild monkeys) and sat on a rock about 2 feet away starting at us.  I was a little confused (and concerned) by it's behavior but was completely shocked when it jumped onto my backpack and literally started hissing at me and showing it's teeth!  We both pretty much freaked out at this point and I started screaming at the money (in an attempt to scare it) while Kathryn looked around (unsuccessfully) for a stick or some other object to scare it away.  I dropped my backpack (camera, money, and everything else inside) while the monkey actually tried to drag it away into the jungle!  Luckily my bag was too heavy for the monkey to run off with it but anytime I approached the either the monkey or the bag it hissed at me like it was going to attack us.

Kathryn managed to find a granola bar in her bag and hoping to distract the monkey I took it, which didnt really work because it practically grabbed the bar out of my hand before I got a chance to throw it far enough away.  Even with the food in hand it continued to defend its place in between me and the backpack.  Finally it retreated into a tree above my bag to eat the bar and I managed to grab my backpack and we literally ran as fast as we could all the way back down the trail to the entrance of the park.  To say the least, we are avoiding all trails or attractions involving monkeys for the rest of our trip.

Our trip has been pleasantly uneventful since then, and we crossed the border to Thailand on Wednesday.  We made our way to the coast where we took a ferry from Trang to Ko Lanta where we are currently staying.  Right now we are on the Andaman Coast, which is the western coast of Thailand.  Ko Lanta has a more relaxed reputation compared to some of the more developed islands.  It is one of the largest islands and we practically have the whole place to ourselves because it is low season here and many tourists avoid the islands because of the occasional rain.  The weather hasnt been bad, except for the occasional shower and we are enjoying the discounted prices due to the lack of tourists.  Our beachfront bungalow is costing us $4 per night each (and we are staying at one of the more expensive resorts on the island).

The boats between islands aren't running regularly, but we ran into a couple on their honeymoon at the dock who is heading to Ko Phi Phi tomorrow so we are going to try to negotiate with one of the longboat drivers to take the four of us there.  If there aren't any boats we will have to go to Krabi (on the mainland) and then take a ferry from there to Ko Phi Phi.  The beaches on Ko Phi Phi are often referred to as the most beautiful beaches in the world so we are really excited! We have a Thai cooking class at our hotel in a little bit, and I cant wait to learn how to make Thai food at home :)

Pictures from Taiwan

We are leaving for Malaysia today but I wanted to post a link to my pictures from Taiwan before we left. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish editing the captions, but I hope to update them while traveling :)

I had a great last day in Kaohsiung, Kathryn and I spent the day at the beach and then a friend of ours had a birthday party so I got to see pretty much everyone I knew before I left.  Now we are off to the airport in Taipei!

Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/CaitlinHorigan/Taiwan

One of my morning classes.

Kathryn Comes to Visit

Kathryn is arriving today and I'm really excited!  We'll be traveling together for about a month and then I will have two more weeks to travel alone.  Im actually sad to be leaving Taiwan.  I have really enjoyed my time here teaching and living in the city.  This weekend should be really fun, we bought tickets to a pool party on Saturday at one of the hotels in Kaohsiung so we will all be celebrating the 4th of July!

I have been interviewing at schools here for next year and also sending out applications in the Boston area so it has been a very busy week.  Today was the last day of the semester for the after school programs and their summer program begins next week.  Summer camp here is basically like summer school for them, but at least our classrooms have air conditioning!  I took some pictures of my students today:

Life in Kaohsiung

What's my typical day in Kaohsiung like?  Drive to work in rush hour ... think 500 speeding scooters!  Teach kindergarden for a few hours, then take my two hour lunch break.  Try not to get sunburned on the 15min ride home and eat at a "lunch box" stop, like a buffet, or stop for dumplings or noodles on the street. Around 2pm it's back to work at my second school, where the older students come after their regular full day of school.  Teach for a few more hours, then get out by 6pm and head home among the speeding scooters again.  Relax, and then fall asleep to the sounds of the musical trash trucks :)

I had this morning off, because the kids are going on a field trip to the Museum of Hakka Culture.  Too bad they don't pay us to chaperone.  Unfortunately, their chinese teachers are paid much less an hour so it is more practical to have them go.  Im planning on checking out some museums here (mainly the MFA) before I leave.  This weekend I am really looking forward to the mediation course at Fo Guang Shan.  It is the largest Buddhist temple in Taiwan.  I've driven by it a few times but I have never been inside.  It will be interesting to learn more about it.

Weekend Road Trips

Now that I've started subbing full time I have been really busy with work but I have been having a lot of fun and the teaching schedule isn't so bad because I never have to work on the weekends.  The weekend before last the four of us went to Guanziling.  It's a town a few hours north of Kaohsiung in the mountains known for it's muddy hot springs.  It happens to be one of the most famous hot spring sites in Taiwan because it releases methane, which has been burning consistently for about three centuries.  The ride up there was beautiful and we stayed in a hot spring hotel where our bath water came directly from the spring. We stopped to check out some temples as well and ate in Tainan on the way back to Kaohsiung.  I pretty much love eating at the markets in every country and Taiwan is no exception!

A popular ice dessert - it was delicious!

Last weekend Danielle and I took the train to  Hualien, and then went on to Toroko National Park.  Anthony and Ryan took the week off of work and rode their bikes across the central cross-island highway to get there.  It ended up raining all weekend, and we were camping but Toroko was so beautiful I didnt even care :)

Wearing our safety helmets: (falling rocks actually hit us)

Here we are walking in a section of the old road called the Tunnel of Nine Turns.  The road through the park (part of the central cross island highway) is insane.  It was the first roadway connecting the west and east coast of the island, finished in 1960.  It was made completely by hand (with only pick axes) and surprisingly only a few hundred people died during the construction (I would have guessed many more!).  Many of the men working on the road were former soldiers and they refer the construction as a war they were fighting because it was such a demanding job.   Pictures do not to the park justice!

Last week we had Wednesday off for Dragon Boat Festival.  The holiday celebrates the life of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan and is celebrated in many parts of Asia.  We watched the dragon boat races and walked around the Love River area.  It was nice to have a day off in the middle of the week :D

I'll  be uploading the majority of my pictures to a picasa album before I leave and will post a link when it's finished.  I have about two more weeks of subbing and then Kathyrn comes and we'll start traveling.  Im ridiculously excited to travel again!  We'll fly into Malaysia and will work our way north to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam from there.  After she leaves I'll have another two weeks and plan on checking out Singapore as well :)  Then it's back to the states for Christa's wedding in Colorado!

A few days off :)

I finished my first full week of teaching!  This week I was subbing for one of the teachers at Walton School, where Dan and Anth work.  I had a kindergarten class in the mornings (4-5 year olds), and 7 year olds in the afternoon.  Then I had another class at a buxiban, which is where many kids go after school - sometimes until 9pm at night!  My class there was a mix of 9-13 year olds.  Teaching takes a lot of energy but I really like it.  Luckily, most of our teaching materials are provided but Im looking forward to the long term sub I'll be doing next week because I will have a chance to prepare for my lessons ahead of time.

Starting Wednesday for a week I'll be subbing for Anthony while he goes on a road trip with his friend Ryan who's visiting.  Dan and I are planing on taking the train to meet them in Taroko next weekend.  So I have Monday and Tuesday off this week which will be nice :)

When Anthony returns I will be subbing for another teacher here for about four weeks, which Im looking forward to because I will hopefully be able to do more with my classes (and actually learn all the kid's names!).  When I finish subbing Im going to travel for about five weeks until my flight back to the states.  I am really excited to start traveling.  I found a cheap flight to Malaysia so I'll start there and then travel around to the surrounding countries.

I have almost completely recovered from my sea urchin injury.  Yesterday I pulled a spine out of my foot that was more than an inch long!  I had no idea how big it was but there are only a few pieces left in my foot and I can walk pretty well now.  Im looking forward to running on the bike path at Lotus Pond when my foot is completely healed.

If you're reading my blog on facebook you can view the original page and more pictures here.  :)

First day of subbing

Today I subbed for the first time!  I had sat in on both Dan and Anth's classes but today was my first day teaching.  It was really fun!  The school was somewhat far away and somehow I didn't get lost getting there.  I was a little nervous at first because it was last minute and I had no idea what was going on in the class but I figured it out.  Its really interesting what the kids know and don't know.  My whole class could read pretty well but I could tell that about half of them didn't actually know what they were reading.  It reminds me of Italian class at SSC ... I could read and write it but when I studied abroad in Italy I couldn't speak a word. Teach the English they need for the test to get into college, and they can learn how to speak it when they get there. I'll be taking on a long term sub position in a few weeks which Im looking forward to.  It will be great to have guaranteed hours and I'll be able to get to know the class a little bit more.

On another note, my foot is getting better but Im still hobbling around a bit :(  at least I can put shoes on now and I managed to find ibuprofen at a pharmacy.  We've all been watching a lot of movies lately, so I'll give a few quick reviews:

The Road - dark and depressing about the end of the world, I am Legend was much better
Dear John - the notebook take two, you're better off watching titanic or the notebook again
Where the Wild Things Are - interesting take on the book but somewhat slow at times
The Back Up Plan - funny, but basically the same as all of J Lo's other movies
Gamer - awesome movie, pretty graphic violence though
Melinda and Melinda - unique storyline, good plot, a little bit longer than necessary

Tomorrow Im determined to look for a new beach (we always to go the same one) and do some more sightseeing (with as little walking as possible lol) around Kaohsiung.  This weekend we're finally going to Tainan which Im excited about and hopefully we'll check out the international university when we're there.

I have also updated the "Artwork" and "About Me" pages on the site!

Eventful happenings

Where to begin? When things get busy I'm awful at updating my blog, so I have quiet a few stories to tell :)  I am currently recovering from an injury I sustained this weekend when I stepped on a sea urchin.  This is possibly the worst thing you could encounter in the ocean other than a shark!  It was extremely painful and today is the first day I've been able to put any weight on my foot.  It has been healing faster than I though it would however and I think I should be fine in a few days.  Now, leading up to the sea urchin encounter is another adventure.  Dan and Anth had two house guests in addition to myself this past weekend, Ryan (here for awhile) and Courtney (visiting for a few days from Hong Kong). Ironically, their roommates moved out unexpectedly so we have all had plenty of room in the 3 bedroom apartment.

A group of us decided to take a little road trip to Hsiao Liuchiu.  It was about an hour and a half drive to Dongang where we took a 40 minute ferry to the island.  We spend the day snorkeling and then rode our bikes around for awhile exploring the rest of the island.  The scenery was awesome and there were a lot of interesting temples on the island.  We were having so much fun that it didn't occur to anyone that we didn't know when the last ferry was.  Dan and I thought this was pretty funny because we immediately realized there was little hope of getting off the island that night and I've been looking forward to camping since I've been here.  So we rented some tents and found a campground.  It all would have been a great weekend had I not gone back into the ocean ...

Last week I also went up to Maolin, an area north east of Kaohsiung in the mountains.  Many of the buildings and roads in this area were wiped out by typhoon Morakot last year but it is still very beautiful.  Surprisingly, I haven't gotten lost at all while driving around on my scooter!  Ryan and I accidentally got seperated while we were driving around but luckily I was able to navigate home by myself.  I just got a sim card for my cell phone so I wont have to worry about not being able to get in touch with people anymore.  And I get free incoming calls so feel free to give me a ring if you have a calling card!

I've been fortunate enough to see some great sunsets since I've been here.  I took this picture at the beach near Kaohsiung University.  I'll be uploading more pictures to an online album soon.

Asia is awesome

Today is only my second day in Taiwan and I've been having tons of fun!  Yesterday I went to one of Danielle's classes with her and then we got lunch and drove around the city on the scooters :)  Everyone here drives them, I'll probably rent one too because it's only about $1/day.  For now I've just been riding around on the back of everyone else's.   Kaohsiung is a pretty big city, and the pollution here is intense so a lot of people wear masks while they're riding around.

Dan and Anth have a friend visiting from Hawaii, Ryan and today we went hiking with Ana (one of their friends from home who convinced the group to come and teach here).  We went to Monkey Mountain, also know as Takao Hill (打狗山) which was pretty interesting.  The monkeys there are the Formosan Rock Macaque, which were unique to Taiwan until recently being introduced in Japan.  The mountain is a biological reserve for them and I was warned not to bring food on the trails because they will steal it from you!

This weekend we are all going to Tainan, another city nearby.  Danielle is going to check out one of the schools there because they have a great graduate program in counseling and it's free if you are living in Taiwan!  Dan and Anth have enjoyed it here so much that they are thinking of staying another year :D

Until later ... miss you guys!!


Read these notes directly at http://caitlinhorigan.blogspot.com/

Countdown to Taiwan

This will be my last weekend in the states!  I am both excited to go, and sad to leave :(  I will miss everyone tons!! But you are all welcome to visit me :)  Things have been pretty crazy this past week ... Flavia (my friend from Brazil that I visited while I was in South America) was in Boston for a few days and somehow I managed to move out of my apartment and take the GREs all in the same week.

Luckily, I started packing for my trip a few weeks ago so everything is still on schedule.  I'll have a week or two to get settled in Kaohsiung, and then starting May 25th I'll be taking over Anthony's classes for a month while he does some traveling around asia.  This will be a great way to get to know their school and decide if I want to work there for a year.

Soon my blog will have a new address.  You can always view it at the original address, but now it will also be accessible at www.caitlinhorigan.com.  You can also chat with me on skype, it's free and my username is aquacait.

Are you reading this as an imported note on facebook?  You can check out my blog directly to see more pictures, links, and updates at http://caitlinhorigan.blogspot.com.

Asia Awaits

As some of you are aware, I have decided to go to Taiwan to teach English. I have two friends who have been living there since last summer teaching English and they love it.  I'm very excited but I will be leaving soon!  I have just booked my flight and will be leaving on May 10th.

I have considered teaching English in Asia for awhile, but originally expected to find a job in my field in the Boston area when I returned form South America.  This will be a great opportunity to live in a new country, save money, and hopefully get to travel to some of the other countries I want to visit in Asia.  I hope to visit Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and parts of the Philippines and Indonesia.  If I have time I will visit India, Nepal and Burma as well.

When I arrive I will start out as a substitute teacher and stay with Danielle and Anthony.  These jobs are easy to find and there are even long term sub positions.  Many teachers take time off to travel or go home so there is a high demand for substitute teachers.  Eventually, I will find my own apartment and start negotiating for a contract at one of the schools in Kaohsiung.

I will be bringing my computer, and will most likely have an internet connection in my apartment so I will be updating the blog often!  I will miss all of you guys in Boston, keep in touch!   :)

Thoughts and Plans ....

I'm not very consistent at updating my blog when I'm in the states.  Im pretty sure this is directly related to how often my cell phone rings here.  Im trying to get into the habit of updating every so often even when I'm not traveling. Im beginning to get restless in the states anyways and visiting Dan and Anth in Taiwan is definately at the top of my traveling list! :)

Things have been pretty busy lately with the development of Be Beautiful's website.  I have been working on this a lot with Melanie and things are really coming along.  If you are looking for webhosting, check out ipage.  We have had a great experience with them so far. The site should be ready to launch in the next few weeks so I will post a link soon!

Looking back on 2009

As most of you know I ended up coming back from S. America a little earlier than planned and I never got the chance to write a conclusion to my blog.  Well, now I've been home for about 2 months and the year is coming to an end! About a month after I returned to the states I moved into an apartment in Medford.  I actually live right on the line of Somerville and it is a great location.  I can walk to Porter and Davis Sq. and surprisingly, I never get stuck in traffic here :)

I participated in the Emerson Winter Market as a visiting artist the first weekend in December.  This was the first year I was personally invited to the show - in the past I did it with John, my glassblowing instructor at Salem State.  Thanks to everyone who came and visited me there it, the weekend was definately a success!

I've also been participating in photo shoots as a model, makeup artist, and wardrobe designer with one of my friends who is a hair stylist.  We've been collaborating with local photographers and it has been lots of fun.  Hopefully it will lead to some paid work in the future so I can finance a new camera!

Construction

The past 2 weeks have been busy at the park. We're in the second phase of construction, the locations for the cages have been cleared and the ditches and holes for the posts have been dug. This week volunteers are working on cementing the posts so hopefully it wont rain too much!  We were able to buy all of the supplies needed although some of them took longer than expected to arrive.  We spent an antire morning with the whole camp carrying rocks and sand to Koru´s cage!  Luckilly Sarah and I convinced Karen (an old volunteer who came back the park to work with Leo) to take over construction when we leave.  Working with Leo the past two weeks has been great.  Im really glad that I had the opportunity to swich cats before I left the park. Ill be posting some photos of the construction work soon when I have acess to faster internet!

Fundraising!

For the past week Sarah, Emily, and I have been fundraising at the park. A few of us are probably not coming back here for awhile and we wanted to take on some sort of construction project before we left.  There is so much that the park needs and although we all can donate money when we go home you still need volunteers at the park to make it happen.  After debating what was needed most we chose to build new cages for Koru (a young puma) and Mariano (a small Brazilian jungle cat).  We picked projects that we could realistically raise the funding for and complete within a month before we leave the park.  Things have been going great!  We have been making breakfast and desserts every night for volunteers to purchase and it has been a big hit.  We also held an auction where people could bid on things like a 45 minute massage, a romantic dinner for two, and having your laundry done by another volunteer.  We also convinced two of the guys to wrestle in the compost (gross!) to benefit the auction which raised 1000BS alone.  So, today Sarah and I are in Santa Cruz to buy all of the fencing and tools we will need to build the cage.  We raised over 10,000BS in just over a week which is about 2/3 of what we need altogether!  We are going to continue the fundraising and hopefully we´ll be able to purchase the rest of the materials soon.  Volunteering at the park is awesome, but you don't always know whats going to happen in the future to the animals you work with.  We all hope that the next volunteer to work with your cat will to their best but it will be great to contribute something that will permanently improve their lives.  Koru was brought to the park in an emergency, when he was discovered tied to a dumpster living on a military base and since the park didn't have any room he was temporarily put in a very small cage intended for birds or small animals.  Mariano has been at the park for a year, but since he is not a large cat he has not always had a permanent volunteer when numbers are low.  Unfortunately he has been living in the quarantine area for all this time and he is often switched into a smaller cage to accommodate new animals coming to the park.  Now he will have a decent size permanent enclosure.  Anyone who wants to help can send a donation by mail!  We will be fundraising for about one more week. Since everything here is purchased in Bolivianos a donation of just $5 is equal to 35BS :)

On another note, I'm switching cats.  Im really excited because tomorrow I get to go back to Leo!  Unfortunately, the reason I'm switching is because Engine jumped me pretty violently.  He got my arm when he jumped and by chance he got quite close to an artery so it was bleeding a lot.  I'm fine now but it was a bit scary.  Regardless, they decided his previous volunteer would switch back onto him because he is becoming more difficult to work with.  Marc may have more success anyways because sometimes the male cats respond better to male volunteers.   It will be awesome to get to work with Leo again for my last few weeks :D  Jane Goodall is visiting the park next week too!  There´s a short article on the CIWY website about her visit.  We took a half day to do construction projects for her arrival and I helped paint all of the dorms which was a fun and they look great!

Fire Fighting

The protest was a huge sucess.  A bunch of people stayed an extra night to talk to the press the next morning and Evo (the president of Bolivia) declared his support for stopping the building of the road.  This is a great acomplishment but the campesinos are determined to continue so right now the volunteers at Machia are literally sitting in front of the machines so they cant move forward.  There is a lot going on at Ambue Ari too. The fires have started, which means that everday we are working on  lengthening the fire trail (lots of raking and macheting). The farmers here start fires to burn land for crops and last year a huge section of the park burned because they dont control the fires once they start them.  They arent huge forest fires like we have in the US but they are still dangerous even thought they are slow burning and close to the ground.  Apparently the fire trail should create a break in the land and prevent any more of the park from burning.  I went out to see Ru (one of the jauguars) the other day here is one of the photos I took.  He´s awesome!

Surprise visit to Santa Cruz

Today 12 of us volunteers decided to accompany Noemi (the park coordinator) to Santa Cruz to help out with a demonstration to bring attention to the road being built through Parque Machia. The parade marched through Plaza 24 de Septiembre (named after today´s holiday - the anniversary of the founding of the Department of Santa Cruz) and it was very exciting. We had signs publicizing what Inti Wara Yassi is about and everyone was clapping when we walked by. There was also a short speech given about the situation at the other park. This is great for the organization because there were a lot of important people in attendance in addition to the large crowds of locals. The procession is also going to be on TV in a few days! Tonight we will all head back to the park. Im exhausted from sleeping on the bus last night, Santa Cruz is about 6 hours away from Ambue Ari.

A lot of stuff has been going on at the park in the past week. I worked on cutting Engine a new trail, which wasn't quite as easy as I had expected but it is completed now and he is (hopefully) going to walk it for the first time tomorrow! A past volunteer had cut him some unauthorized trails that went very close to other cats trails and when we had to stop using them he was not a happy camper. He would try to go down the old trails for hours and get himself very agitated. So I decided it would be much better to just make a new trail as a diversion. Its taken all week because we have also been working on the Fire Trail. It is a large band around the park that ideally will prevent the neighboring fires from spreading into our land. Also, a lot of people have been asking about cats they used to work with so here is an update on Ru. He was getting quite playful and Parque Machia made a decision to take his collar off and discontinue walking him, permanently. But Noemi came up with the idea of letting him out on the runner an extending it to the river so he could swim. I went out to see him one day and it is really sad to see such a beautiful and amazing animal imprisoned in his cage. They haven't tried the new routine yet but personally I think its a great compromise that will keep volunteers safe and is good for Ru. I was in such a rush to pack for our day trip that I completely forgot to pack my camera cord :( so I will have to attempt to upload pictures on the slow connection in Guarayos next time I'm there. Until then ... I miss everyone back in the states!

Letter from CIWI

Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY) is the largest conservation NGO in Bolivia and is run entirely by volunteers. This organisation provides a safe haven for 1,000’s of abused animals (including pumas, jaguars, ocelots, spider and capuchin monkeys and even a brown speckled bear) and has saved over a 1,000 hectares of rain forest. However, Inti Wara Yassi is currently in crisis. The mayor of the town in which a large part of the refuge is based is building a road directly through the park where the animals live and are re-released into the wild. Without this park there will come a point where Inti Wara Yassi will find it very difficult to continue saving animals from the cruelty they face at the hands of people. This story is a plea for publicity for this struggling park. It is also a story of hope. The dedicated volunteers at the park are currently trying to raise $10,000 to buy 300 hectares of new land which will be a safe haven for these animals and also conserve precious rainforest. The refuge is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization and relies on donations and volunteer fees to survive.

A letter from Juan Carlos, founder of CIWY

The President of Bolivia - Evo Morales - has been called "Worldwide Hero of the Earth" by locals; yet how then can it be that the forest in Bolivia is being destroyed and millions of animals are being left without a home. Are we to just sit back and watch while Parque Machia (a wild animal refuge and biopark) is being destroyed in order to make way for a new road, and while Parque Isiboro Secure (one of the richest centres of biodiversity) and other national parks in Bolivia are also being destroyed? No, we cannot and for this reason we are calling out to the people of the world to join together in solidarity with the trees and the animals - the life source of the planet. We all know that a country's wealth should be measured by its biodiversity and not by its fragile and fluctuating economy.

Parque Machia is a wild animal sanctuary and part of the Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (a Bolivian grass-roots organisation dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating wild animals held in captivity). The very future of Parque Machia and the animals it houses is currently under threat as local coca-growing farmers fight to push ahead with the construction of a road that will run right through the park's land and the habitat of many of its animals. The newspaper Opinion published a story on the 5th September 2009 about a puma - Quirqui - who recently passed away. It is presumed that one of the factors that brought about his death was the stress from the noise of the machinery that are clearing the park's land to make way for the road. Quirqui was rescued by the Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi from a zoo where he was suffering and was very ill. The volunteers and vets of the Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi managed to stabilize him, make him happy and also greatly improved his quality of life; that its until the bulldozers arrived. His health then started to deteriorate and sadly the puma Quirqui passed away at the beginning of this month. The construction of the road also affects and causes great stress for all the animals that live in this refuge, animals that have been given a second chance in life after being rescued form the torture of chains and small cages.

According to the newspaper Los Tiempos from the 4th September 2009, the front page describes how the
"park is being destroyed to make way for a route to transport coca", "they are cutting down trees that are 100 years old and are destroying the natural habitat of hundreds of animals". The coca-growing farmers of the community Copacabana del Chapare are demanding this route so that they can transport out their principal crop - coca. The road will pass directly through the habitat of many of the rescued animals. The Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi has been saving this park from destruction since 1996 and has been zealously looking after it for all these years. They managed to reach an agreement with the previous mayor, Felipe Caceres, who rejected the farmers' request for a road, understanding the repercussions such construction would mean for the park. However, the new mayor, Feliciano Mamani (a supporter of Evo Morales) says that the road will be built, no matter what.

The national park Isiboro Secure is also under threat, with plans to build a road straight through it, thus linking the towns of Villa Tunari and San Igancio. Parque Isiboro Secure is the third richest park in terms of biodiversity, containing a number of endemic species and it will be destroyed by the Villa Tunari-San Ignacio road. The President of Brazil - Lula de Silva - is financing the construction of this road, which will benefit his country by opening up a route to the Pacific Ocean. This construction will cause many species of animals and plants to disappear, it will pollute the water and bring about the end of this biodiversity and of the Parque Isiboro Secure. The other Bolivian national parks, which were created to be the lungs for Bolivia and for the world, are also affected by mining and agriculture. It is of great importance that agriculture be guided and controlled by policies that are dedicated to the preservation of the environment and biodiversity, otherwise we will be condemning all sources of life to a death sentence.

If you would like to find out more information, help us in our struggle to save these animals and the rainforest by donating (a donation of £40 will buy one hectare of rainforest), or volunteer some of your time, check out the website or join the facebook group CIWY EMERGENCY NOW! The Jacuzzi Donators Group

Into the Wild

I arrived at the park last Sunday, so I have been here for almost 1 week. Im glad to be here, travelling was getting starting to become exhausting. The weather here is quite different than the other parts of Bolivia and Brazil I had been in. Its normally between 80-90 degrees during the day and 70-80 at night so its pretty hot! But there are practically no mosquitoes - a miracle. You dont even need long sleeves when you're out in the jungle and its no longer neccesary to wear three pairs of pants :) I started working with Engine, a male ocelot a few days ago. Working with Engine is definatly a challenge, he is completely different than Vanesso (the ocelot I worked with last time I was here). He is one of the few cats who would have been a great canidate for releasing but the zoo who gave him to the park forced them to sign legal documents promising they would never release him :( so for his first few years at the park no one could get close enough to him to walk him and he never left his cage. Now, after a few long term volunteers worked really hard on getting a collar and carabiner on him he is able to walk his trails. When I got here I found out that Vanesso had escaped for almost 2 weeks and was still missing. So for the first few days we set traps and luckilly he returned to his volunteer when she was sleeping out in the jungle by his cage. I also got to go and visit one of the jaguars one afternoon and it still amazes me how beautiful they are. I took pictures but its impossible to capture what it is like to see one up close in its natural habitat. I didnt bring my camera to town this week because the internet is quite slow but next week I will try to upload a few pictures. Miss you all!