Two weeks ago, the Carpe group was at the animal rescue and rehabilitation center Paseo de Los Monos. Every morning at 8am a few of us would accompany one of the workers to the fruit shed where we would prepare breakfast for the animals. While distributing the meals, we learned some of the creatures´names.
Two of the Chorongo monkeys were named Bebe and Yaya. Bebe is an attention seeker who can come off as aggressive. He is actually quite freindly, just over-excited about mealtimes. Yaya is very timid and docile. She´ll observe you from a distance, sitting cross legged with her arms by her sides. Bebe will jump onto the fence and shake it when he sees you. In another enclosure there are two more chorongos and an ancient white capuchin. One of the chorongos is Sandra, and the capuchin is Abuela. Sandra will politely walk up to the fence and cover her mouth, which is chorongo for hello. Sometimes she will stick her hand through the fence and you can shake it if you so desire. She´s quite docile.
The spider monkeys are a bit more confrontational. They´ll leap onto the fence and stare you down as you walk by. They can´t get too close though, as the feeding cage separates the fence and the visitors. One male named Poncho will bare his teeth at you often.
Of all the captive animals here, there are some that roam free and are available to pet. Of the domestic animals there is Max, the deaf spaniel mix. He´s a laid back dude who likes to spend his time sniffing around and getting his head scratched. Of the wild animals, there´s Patrick the squirrel monkey and his best friend Nana the Coati. Patrick and Nana became friends after Nana’s Coati partner passed away. After the death of her partner Nana became depressed, and Patrick helped comfort her. Nana is friendly and will approach you, but needs to warm up a bit before you can pet her. If she really likes you she´ll sit in your lap or around your neck. Patrick is a little more skittish. He may jump on you briefly but will quickly leap away. However if you go to his rooftop hangout spot, he´ll sit on your shoulder for a while.
All the animals at Los Monos were fun to get to know. Having a Coati sit on your lap isn´s something that happens every day. I´m grateful I got to participate in the daily feeding and learn about each animal.