Due to the different experiences had by both myself and Lynsey during our three weeks volunteering, I have decided contribute a separate entry highlighting my version of events.

Working in an animal sanctuary was Lynsey's idea, and although I was looking forward to the experience, I didn't have a clue what to expect . On arrival my first impressions of the place were, it was a lot smaller than I thought it should be. I don't know why, I guess I was just expecting something a bit more like a zoo.

The place itself was a small shack alongside a busy main road. When we arrived we informed the lady inside about intending to volunteer for two weeks, but she said we needed to wait for Jack the park coordinator to return before we could be shown around, and taken through the contract of work etc. So all we could do now was wait. It did give us chance to chat with the volunteers already there, they all seemed grateful for our help, if a little disappointed that we were only prepared to commit to the minimum two week period. Apparently you need to commit to a minimum of a four week period to work with the larger animals like big cats etc. That was also the first time I found out that a bear was in the sanctuary.

Jack returned to the office around 5 o'clock, gave us a quick tour of the park, and took us in to the office to go through the contract . Here we had to let him know about the animals we wished to work with, pay the money we owed and sign the contract. It states in the contract that once you have been assigned an animal to work with you cannot change it and you are stuck with it for the remainder of your stay. Lynsey and I discussed it for a bit, decided that we came here to volunteer and no matter what animal we got we should see it through and enjoy the experience the best we can. So we signed the contract, handed over the money then went back to the shack/shop and waited while he and the other members of staff made their decision.

After keeping us in suspense for over an hour, Jack called us back into the office for his decision. By this point I was convinced that one of us would be working with the small animals and one with the monkeys. Please! please! don't let me get the small animals I thought to myself. We sat down in the chair awaiting confirmation when Jack hit us with his proposition! "Work for three weeks and we will let you work with the bear and the puma" we were both in total shock as it was the last thing we were expecting . Though we originally planned to spent only two weeks here, the prospect of working with a bear and a puma made it an easy decision. So that was it, he gave us each a folder about our animal, told us to read through it, get some old clothes from the store, and be ready for 7am in the morning. We left the office still in a state of shock, I couldn't believe that in a few hours time I would be working with a bear.

Day 1 - Meeting Balu

I turned up around 7am excited and anxious about my first day of work. I didn't get chance to read through the entire folder that Jack gave me the previous day, due to going out for one of the guy's leaving meal, so was a little unsure what lay ahead. I met up with the two guys that I would be working with that day (Francois & Estoban). Francois was a volunteer like myself who was leaving next week, and whom I would be replacing! Estoban was a local that originally had been employed to carry out construction work, but had been drafted in to work with the Bear due to staff shortages . I helped Francois prepare the bears food, then it was off to the jungle to meet Balu.

When we got to the cage, Balu was already standing at the door, eager to go for his daily walk. I walked over to the cage and let him lick my hand. He was huge!!! a lot bigger than I was expecting, almost as tall as me, but a lot heavier. I remember thinking how on earth are we going to control him, and what happens if he catches me. Luckily on the first day, I just needed to watch carefully, and take note. Another concern I had was the language barrier. I only spoke English, Estoban only Spanish and Francois French with basic English.

The first thing to do was get Balu out of his cage. This involved Francois distracting Balu at the cage door with half a bread roll, while Estoban clipped a rope to a harness on Balu's back, using some homemade contraption from a side window. When the rope is attached, the other end is secured to a tree, and the other half of bread roll is placed on a tyre outside the cage. The door is then opened, while we make a quick dash to safety. Balu soon emerges from the cage and makes his way over to the tyre, which he sits in and eats his bread roll. During this time his rope/lead is untied from the first tree, pulled through the cage door and securely tied to another tree. This now meant that we could clean Balu's cage without fear of him returning.

After the cage was clean it was time to take him for a walk . It was decided that I would go in front with Francois while Estoban would take Balu's lead at the back. Here we go then I thought to myself. The basic gist of it was for the person at the back to shout out what Balu was doing, and the person at the front confirming. The four key words being:
Walking, Stopping, Walking back and Running.

1. Walking - This was the ideal situation for us, as it meant Balu was walking at a nice pace following the person in front.
2. Stopping - This meant that Balu was either tired, curious, relieving himself, climbing etc.
3. Walking back - This meant Balu was walking back towards the person holding the lead.
4. Running - This meant Balu was running, which is apparently good for Balu, but bad for anyone in front of him.

The person at the back also had to identify suitable trees to loop the lead around, in case Balu decided to go off track, or turn and head back towards him. The lead was 10m long, which meant that the person holding the lead had to ideally be a maximum of 3-4m from Balu, so if he turned you would have enough time to pull the rope around a tree and retreat a safe distance from him .

There are a few tracks that Balu walks, depending on his mood and the weather. On this day it was mainly dry with scattered showers. The day started off fine with Estoban shouting out Balu's actions from the back and Francois shouting back his acknowledgment from the front. We wasn't walking for long when I realised this wasn't going to be as easy as it sounds. The track soon started to become a scatter of muddy hills, that we needed to climb with the help of vines. It was also quite slippery due to all the recent rain. I decided to walk a bit further ahead of Francois just in case Balu started to run. It proved to be a good idea as about ten minutes later Balu decided to make his first charge. Running! Running! Estoban was screaming from the back, then I saw Francois bolting towards me, which in turn caused me to run for my life. It wasn't long perhaps only 50m or so before we heard walking again from the back. It gave me a chance to catch my breath, look back and see that Francois had stopped to locate Balu/Estoban. It's important that the person in front stays within sight of Balu, so Balu knows what track to take, and incase Balu stops and runs back towards the person holding the lead.

At about 10:30am we reached the first bench. Balu goes here every morning where he is fed two bananas, a bag of monkey nuts, and a two litre bottle of a milk/honey, known locally as Appy . It's also where his track crosses with a local footpath, so is a good chance for the public to see him. Estoban tied Balu to a tree, while Francois fed him his breakfast. Then we had about 15mins to rest and chat about the morning events. I learnt then that Balu is a bit slower than us on flat ground but quicker uphill, downhill, and on the sand. I didn't know if that made me feel better or worse but at least I knew how much head start I would need.

After Balu had his breakfast he was up and ready to continue his walk. I continued up front with Francois desperately trying to remember which path we were taking in preparation for next week when I would be on my own! Luckily there was no more charges from Balu before we reached his camp around 12:30. Here depending on the time Balu would get given a large bag of monkey nuts for lunch, I watched as he delicately places each nut on his paws before cracking down on them with his teeth and picking out the nuts with his tongue. This process took around half an hour to complete, by which time Balu would be ready for his afternoon siesta. I was told this could last any where from 10 minutes to 3 hours so best to sit down and have some lunch. I thought this would be a chance to relax and enjoy the jungle, but how wrong I was. It turned out to be a constant battle against the mosquitoes. I never noticed quite how many there was until that point, so most of my lunch break was taken up trying to find the perfect leaf to swat the bas***ds . After about an hour or so we heard the words walking, so we jumped up packed our backpacks and was back on the move. No sooner had we started walking we heard the dreaded words Running, Running, being shouted out from the back. We were soon on our toes with Balu in hot pursuit. This time we were running down hill, which I was told would be a more even contest. Every time I would turn a corner I would glance back and see Balu hurtling towards me. We run as far as the first bench before Balu tired and stopped for a rest. This must have been a good 400m we were running this time, we called out to each other to check everyone was ok, tied Balu to a tree, then had a giggle about our close encounter.

The reason Balu stopped at the bench was not because he was tired as I first thought, but because it is where he gets his afternoon snack, which today happened to be his personal favorite, coconut. After watching him break open and devour the coconut with ease, we were up and heading back to the cage for the last leg of our journey . This stretch of track was filled with Balu stopping a lot and turning back towards Estoban. It took about an hour or so to get back to the cage, Francois and I went ahead to empty a bag of monkey nuts in Balu's cage in the hope to lure him inside. We strategically placed the nuts on his timber platform, in the hope that when Balu enters the cage he will get on the platform with his back towards the cage door. After placing the nuts, we made a swift retreat out of the cage and behind some bushes out of Balu sight. We peered through the bushes and could see Balu approaching the cage. The first thing he did was go to the cage window to see if the monkey nuts were there. Then he headed into the cage and up onto the platform with his back facing the cage door as planned. Once he starts eating Estoban gave us the call, allowing Francois to enter the cage and unclasp the lead from the harness and make his escape locking the cage door behind him. Success! Apparently this is the trickiest part of the day as if Balu can see you entering the cage he could charge at you before you have time to unclasp the lead from his back .

So that was it! an eventful first day complete. We headed back to the cafe to get lunch/dinner a much deserved cold beer and a shower.

The next few weeks continued in much the same manner as above, with a couple of exceptions.

The Day Balu Got His Prize!

It was about two weeks into my volunteering when Keith the Bear Coordinator decided to join us for the day. This was to see how we were getting on and if we were learning the correct commands etc. By this point, Francois had left and had been replaced by a new volunteer called Ben, who was from Australia. Up until now things had been going pretty well, I had memorized most of the tracks, and trees for securing Balu. It was decided that I should go upfront for the morning with Keith while Estoban and Ben would take the lead at the back. This was also the first day we were using the brand spanking new lead, that was much needed as the old one was heavily worn and likely to snap at anytime . Everything started off fine, though Balu did seem more excitable than usual. We made it to the first bench with no major dramas, just a couple of short dashes, but we were used to that by now.

After breakfast Balu decided that he wanted to go down to the river for a swim. Balu loves swimming but it is not always possible due to heavy rain and the river becoming swollen. We decided we should take him as the water levels were not to high. The track to the river is more treacherous then the rest of the tracks as it is all down hill and through shallow streams etc. The track is also not clear due to recent land slides so there are a lot of fallen trees blocking the path. We made it to the river in no time, Balu headed straight in for a paddle. We attached the extension lead to the new lead, tied it to a tree than waited until Balu was done. This gave me chance to chat with Keith and the others about how well we were doing and ask about his & Balu's story. It turns out that Balu was originally kept as a pet but got too big for the owners who wanted to get rid of him. I also found out that he was brought up on cocoa leaves and was now highly addicted to them. It had previously occurred to me that Balu had a certain fondness towards Estoban but it wasn't until now that I realised why. It turns out that Estoban carries a small amount of cocoa leaves with him in case of an emergency, and also because all Bolivian men love to chew cocoa .

After an hour or so, Balu was done with swimming and started heading back towards the beach. Keith and I taking up on our duties at the front while Ben and Estoban continued at the back. The pace of Balu is always a little sprightly after his swimming so we kept a bit more distance between us during our climb back up the hill towards the bench. When we arrived Balu decided to stop in the hope of getting more food. As it was not quite lunch time we resisted giving him his lunch, but instead Keith decided that it would be a good time to switch positions with me taking the place of Ben at the back on the lead. So Estoban was given the lead to hold while Ben and I switched places. As I made my way to the back I checked on Balu and noticed that he was still resting against the bench. As everything seemed to be as normal I went to take the lead from Estoban, but just as I took hold of the rope it happened!

Watch out I heard someone shout, I turned and saw Balu up on all fours and hurtling towards me, I pull the rope as hard as I could while walking backwards, but the rope was not sliding around the tree as I would normally expect. Maybe this was due to it being snagged on the tree or because it was a new rope and hence cause more friction making it harder to pull. Either way Balu was getting closer and I had to decide whether to drop the rope and run or continue to pull and hope I have enough rope to escape Balu's charge . I decided to stay and pull the rope. This turned out to be a big mistake as just as I thought I was going to make it I tripped over a root sticking out of the ground. I tumbled backwards and landed on my back. As I looked up I could see Balu jumping for me. Then it happened, my nightmare had just become real. Before I could move Balu was on me, pinning both my legs down under his enormous weight.
 
I suddenly remembered something I read in the manual about what you should do if Balu ever catches you. So I quickly grabbed both of his cheeks and locked out my arms to try and prevent him from biting my face. I heard the other guys scrambling around trying to grab the lead. Unfortunately for me when Balu leaped for me he landed on the lead so it was going to take a while to pull it from underneath him. As I was holding Balu cheeks he managed to bite one of my fingers which I now had trapped in between his teeth. Can someone hurry up and get the lead I kept thinking to myself. After a couple of minutes or so Estoban managed to get the end of the lead out from under Balu and pull it tight, allowing Keith to pull me from the back. After another minute or so I managed to release my finger from Balu's mouth and kick away. Luckily after all that excitement I escaped with only a cut finger and scratched wellies. Although it was probable Balu only wanted to play, I continued the rest of the day thankful I was still here to tell the tale.

To summarize my time at the animal sanctuary I would say that although at times it was hard. Sometimes having to work seven days a week in the heat and mud and not being able to shower due to water shortages. It was probably the most memorable and worthwhile thing I have done on my trip to date, and don't regret a minute of it. The people there were great, especially the Balu's Brothers as we called ourselves, and of course Balu, who is just like a big kid always wanting to play, whilst constantly plotting new ways to catch us off guard.