Don`s mail from the animal refuge, dated April 22nd, titled "everyone loves Canadians"

apparently not bolivian imigration... i've just spent
more than an appropriate amount of time in that damn
office! and i cost me $20US to extend my time... can
i please talk to my local MP? enough of that

i'm on a day off from heaven... i mean the animal
refuge so that i can extend my visa in cochabamba.

i've been working with birds due to my experience
although i could have worked with monkeys but they are
little bastards sometimes... like the one that stole
my bob marley CD yesterday!!! i've been handling all
sorts of macaws and amazons and toucans everyday... we
also have some friends that visit every once and
awhile: a few tortoises and bambi a small deer. bambi
is growing up abit and is always trying to butt our
legs with his tiny horns. we also have a frequent
monkey visitor who has fallen in love with me and
wouldn't leave, she still insists on stealing things
though!!! bitch! so every day now i climb up onto the
dangerous roof with a hose to soak the fucker! she
still returns!

the in house vet has been very impressed with my bird
catching ability... it's fun to do all this stuff
again.

other than the variety of birds that i work with there
are a large number of capachin(sp?) monkeys (like
ross's in Friends) spider monkeys, and squirril
monkeys... they also have 4 pumas! 4 ocelots! a
jefferies cat! and... a jaguar!!! they keep the cat
pretty secluded so i've only seen the youngest puma
and the jefferies cat (like a large domestic cat only
much more muscular). roy, the young puma has taken a
likeing to attacking my leg whenever he see's me...
all in good fun though, no strong bits or nails. in a
few days i get to take a day off to tag along and walk
Gato, one of the larger grown up pumas! and then on my
last day i'm going to visit the jaguar for half a day!
i'm so excited.

i mentioned before that i was in the Chapare region of
bolivia, known for it's coca fields used for cocaine.
well you certainly know that you're there. there are
always helicopters overhead, army trucks full of fully
armed 16 year olds and the police ride in a sort of
motorcycle gang fashion... cruising in a large pack of
12 on motorcycles, outfitted in grey camoflague and
extensive bulletproof gear with a variety of shotguns,
AK's and teargas guns...
they walk around our residence some times, just for
presence i imagine, and can search all of our things
at any point because we are in a "red zone".
there are to young guys that are always around, one
canadian and one american, who are doing a documentary
on the whole situation between the army and the police
and the gov't and the US gov't and the cocaleros (coca
farmers). it's really interesting stuff. the american
was arrested by the army awhile ago for no perticular
reason, other than that they knew what he was doing
and they didn't like it and the locals, cocaleros,
managed to free him through legal means. pretty cool.

everything here is pretty great and i feel great, i
really want to come back some time and spend awhile
and work with a dangerous cat(jaguar!)

cam has been working by himself with a 'troop' of 7
semi-wild monkeys. his job includes feeding and being
peed on by the dominate males, battling the rival
'Heffis' troop of 15 headed by 'Mr. T' the large
capachin still sporting his think leather belt from
when he escaped.

i'll be another week here and then we are off to la
paz to start are final stretch which will be a full
out marathon including a dangerous bike ride, climbing
a rediculously high mountain, and hiking in thick
jungle for 8 days then back to la paz to waste soem $
away to get a flight to quito and then i'm off to
Beautiful British Columbia.

peace love happiness and laughter
don