Meeting Yaguaru

Well, I have survived my first week in the jungle.  The work is of course different than I had expected, but absolutely wonderful.  I left Santa Cruz and took two days to travel to the park. I took a bus from Santa Cruz to Guarayos, and from Guarayos to the park, all the while venturing deeper and deeper into the jungle environment.  I was treated to an amazing sunset as the clouds built on the horizon, evidence of which I cannot show yet due to dead camera batteries, but I assure you all I got some amazing pictures.  The trees are 50 to 100 feet tall and the jungle brush is so thick, it is disorienting when walking without a trail.  I showed up at the park in the afternoon in the middle of chaos.  As I made my way to the communal dining area, I met Junior and Coco, two of many monkeys that stay in one of the dormitories with the other voluenteers.  There are about 5 howler monkeys that are always about, and will gladly crawl onto your shoulders and wrap their tails around your neck and nuzzle into the back of your head.  They are amazingly sweet, and at first, I was very cautios to walk around with them hanging on, but now realize that they stick like glue.  You can clean, prepare food, wash clothes, it dosent matter, these monkeys will go every where and do anything with you if you let them.  There are a few endangered pigs that run around the camp like dogs, they have so much personality it is amazing, one actually reminds me of my dog Misty, for the fact that she is always causing trouble and trying to eat anything within reach.  There are amazingly colorful birds in the park, tucans, parrots, and these emu like birds called pios.  Our daily chores involve preparing vegetables and fruit for these birds and feeding them multiple times a day.  My other job in the park is to walk and feed a 200 pound Jaguar named Yaguaru, (pronounced Jag-wa-ru).   Yaguaru is an amazing cat, and incredibly intimidating at first.  My first day meeting him, like all the voluenteers that work with him, he has to test you out and see what you are about.  Walking to his cage brings you through the jungle for about 20 minutes, including walking through water thigh deep and past the habitations of ocelots and pumas.  Coming to his cage, we call out his name, and as he emerges through the brush, his figure taking form as he comes out from under the enormously overgrown ferns.  Every time without fail my heart skips a beat and I can feel the adrenaline flow through my muscles, a natural reaction to seeing such a predator.  He walks along side us as we move to the front of his cage, allowing an opportunity to appreciate his muscular form, as he slowly strols along the wall of his enclosure.  We come to his door and attach two ropes to his collar, both very thick and about 15 feet long.  As we reach through the cage, he seems like such a nice kitty, as he rubs his head into your hand and licks your skin.  When we let him out the first time, he came directly to me.  The worst thing that you can do with a cat like this is show fear, so I was trying my best to stay calm.  The other two voluenteers had been preparing me for what inevidibly would happen.  He came to my feet and started licking my leg, then looked up at me with the most malicious stare I have ever encountered.  Not two seconds after eye contact, he jumped onto me and wrapped his arms behind my knees and with all his force, spun me to the ground, holding onto me with his arms and his mouth.  The dangerous thing about being on the ground with him is that he tries to put your head, in his mouth.  I tried to get up as quickly and calmly as possible, pretending that I was having fun, only to have him jump me time and time again.  At the end of the first day, he had taken me to the ground at least five times, and my hands would not stop subtly shaking.  The next day, I watched him wrestle with the other voluenteers and felt much better about what takes place.  Each time returning and watching him run and climb trees through the jungle, the more you realize that he really is just playing with you, and the better I feel about my interactions with him.  He is really an amazing cat, and has to work much harder to get me on the ground now that I have learned his tricks.  He has ripped apart a few of my shirts, but has not managed to take me down in a few days.  The work is incredibly satisfying, and sleeping every night feels incredible after so much work in the jungle.  As I predicted, the bugs and the bacteria are really the worst part of it, but I am getting used to always being wet.  I would love to write more, but I will have to wait until next sunday, and will hopefully be able to add pictures to the stories.  Until then back to the park.