There was a smallish eco-park on the way up from the Eastern lowlands to the altiplano in Bolivia. And in this park, they rehabilitate monkeys that have mostly been recovered from black-market sellers and peoples illegal pets.
Anyway, some of the monkeys are wild and you cant interact with, but some are very "habituated" to people and like the attention they get from park visitors...The smallest variety were called Squirrel Monkeys and they are only wild in the area (no rehabilitated ones) so I didnt get to handle them... But they are very social and move around the forest in quite large family groups.
The largest variety are the Spider Monkeys and there are a few of these that were pets, and they like to climb into your lap and generally hang off you if they can. These ones were the most "people like", and it was fascinating to see their hands with finger prints, and their faces full of personality. I know that the monkeys are quite a ways removed from the Apes who are our nearest natural relatives, but I got some more insights as to why humans are Soooooo noisy by seeing how these very social creatures interact vocally :))
The middle sized ones are called Cappuccino monkeys and they are the most common as pets... Many of them have been trained as pick-pockets and thieves so you really have to watch your stuff! they definitely take every opportunity they get to go through bags and dive a hand into your pocket... (I made sure I didnt leave the key in the bike and that it was all locked up and secure)
Anyway, I spent a couple of hours there interacting with the little brats :)
But then the hordes of Bolivian tourists rolled up (It was Easter weekend and they were all on holidays ) with their precocious little squeely, winey, grabby offspring...
The monkeys were amazingly tolerant of all the "hands" I thought, but eventually, one of them found it necessary to remind the public that they are not pets and that they need to be treated with respect... and that means that one of the human brats got a very well deserved minor bite...
Which sent mum into spasms of course :)
But the staff at the park are well used to it, and the monkeys all have their vaccination shots (wouldnt want them to catch something nasty when they bite the children!), so they took it all in stride.
But that was enough for me and I rode off again up onto the altiplano...
Scads more amazing butterflies wafting around the place...
There are clearly serious limits on the availability of road building and repairing supplies here. Most of the "patching" of potholes in the pavement that I see is not done with new asphalt... Its done by digging out the pothole a bit and packing it very tightly and carefully with large river rocks... It seems to work very well. To me this is an example of that all important "finesse"... They could have just left the hole to get bigger... They could have filled it with earth (lasts about a day or two)... They could have filled it with gravel (lasts longer but is still very temporary and low effort/quality)... But the chose to put the effort in and come up with a quality low cost long term solution... I like it :)))
And then as I climbed up the mountain roads, at a certain altitude, its Coca climate and the locals are busy drying the coca leaves they have harvested for sale in the local markets... They say its not a great idea to ride down little side roads in this area... I wonder why? ;)
And at most of the places where the highway crosses a river, there is good access for people... And its a public holiday, so all the Bolivians are at their beaches... Bolivia is land-locked dont you know, and they have no ocean coast line, so they make do with river banks instead :))
And I ride through that sort of wet temperate zone again where the plant leaves get disproportionately large...
and then the day is over again and Im looking for a place to stay in a sizeable but quite ugly town up on the altiplano :)
But then the hordes of Bolivian tourists rolled up (It was Easter weekend and they were all on holidays ) with their precocious little squeely, winey, grabby offspring...
The monkeys were amazingly tolerant of all the "hands" I thought, but eventually, one of them found it necessary to remind the public that they are not pets and that they need to be treated with respect... and that means that one of the human brats got a very well deserved minor bite...
Which sent mum into spasms of course :)
But the staff at the park are well used to it, and the monkeys all have their vaccination shots (wouldnt want them to catch something nasty when they bite the children!), so they took it all in stride.
But that was enough for me and I rode off again up onto the altiplano...
Scads more amazing butterflies wafting around the place...
There are clearly serious limits on the availability of road building and repairing supplies here. Most of the "patching" of potholes in the pavement that I see is not done with new asphalt... Its done by digging out the pothole a bit and packing it very tightly and carefully with large river rocks... It seems to work very well. To me this is an example of that all important "finesse"... They could have just left the hole to get bigger... They could have filled it with earth (lasts about a day or two)... They could have filled it with gravel (lasts longer but is still very temporary and low effort/quality)... But the chose to put the effort in and come up with a quality low cost long term solution... I like it :)))
And then as I climbed up the mountain roads, at a certain altitude, its Coca climate and the locals are busy drying the coca leaves they have harvested for sale in the local markets... They say its not a great idea to ride down little side roads in this area... I wonder why? ;)
And at most of the places where the highway crosses a river, there is good access for people... And its a public holiday, so all the Bolivians are at their beaches... Bolivia is land-locked dont you know, and they have no ocean coast line, so they make do with river banks instead :))
And I ride through that sort of wet temperate zone again where the plant leaves get disproportionately large...
and then the day is over again and Im looking for a place to stay in a sizeable but quite ugly town up on the altiplano :)
