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Because of some people we met during our time in Thailand, we stumbled in to a second volunteer opportunity. This time, we would be working with moon bears and monkeys. We were thrilled!

Every day while we were on the site, we would wake up early and help feed the bears. This consisted of putting together their meals, cleaning and placing food around their enclosures, and cleaning their dens. It was fun setting up their food because we would hide it and make it harder to reach as a form of exercise and enrichment for them. Sometimes we put it at the top of their wooden structures. Sometimes in a tire or under logs. Sometimes on a little island or raft in their pool. Peanuts are shoved into all the nooks and crannies we can find. As for cleaning the dens, yes, this does mean that we scooped bear poop. (We don’t know if bears shit in the woods, but they do in holes in the ground so we had to watch our step!)

Caring for the monkeys involved a LOT of chopping. Seriously — a lot of chopping. It was like a real life game of Fruit Ninja and I got pretty good with a machete. (Ok not that great, but I did take down a few pumpkin.) I held off on the chopping duties at first for fear I would lose a finger, but eventually got past that and I still have all 10 of them. Once we filled baskets with chopped fruits and veggies, they were brought to the enclosures. We also took down a few banana trees for all the animals which was a fun new experience.

In the afternoons, we would rest before helping out with other projects around the site. Brandon spent a lot of time building a composting site and a fire pit, and I helped make a monkey hammock out of an old tire and fire hose. I also got to use some creativity to create enrichment snacks for the bears and monkeys which I really loved!

Food was good considering it is all vegan. Brandon and I could never be vegan mostly because we would create a new hole in the ozone layer from all the gas it helps us produce. (It was a bit noisy and stinky in our room…) However the week did make us a lot more conscious about what we eat and the sustainability of various foods.

We absolutely adored the week! But there is still a bit of politics around this site so we are keeping this post short. But if you want to know more, send us an email or give us a call!