A Lot

Work A Lot
Eat A Lot
Sleep A Lot

That´s life at Santa Martha Animal Rescue Center. We work hard from 8am to 1pm. And by work hard I mean carrying dirt up and down stairs, hauling water up and down hills to feed the animals and cut grass by hand. In the afternoon we work from 4 to 6pm doing easier jobs, such as cleaning cages and feeding animals. We´re dirty all the time-really disgustingly dirty. I thought about staying at Santa Martha this weekend, but I might need to go to Quito with the rest of the group just to feel clean.



We eat a ton! Breakfast is usually a big bowl of oatmeal with a banana. Snack is nuts or chips. Lunch is either two bowls of soup or something quick if I want to go to town. Dinner is two helpings of whatever we make. And I almost always wake up hungry in the middle of the night. Oh, and I have a feel spoonfuls of peanut butter each day-yum!

None of us have trouble sleeping because we are so exhausted from the work. We typically go to bed between 9 and 10pm. Last night I watched a whole movie, which was a feat in an of itself.

Okay...now a bit more about Santa Martha. The rescue center was created on land owned by a dairy farmer. There are no consequences for having wild animals as pets in Ecuador, but it is illegal. Kind of strange, right? Anyway, when police confiscate an animal, they often bring it to Santa Martha. We haven´t received any animals since I´ve been here, but the do arrive often. There are a plethora of wildlife-jaguar, pumas, birds, monkeys, eagles, speckled bear, turtles, iguana, ocelots and lions (yes, the African kind). Most of the animals were pets but the lions and jaguar were in a circus.



I live in the smallest house which is basically one room with three bunkbeds, a kitchen and a bathroom. The floors are cement, so we´re always feeling dusty. Our kitchen counters are also cement. We have a mini stovetop. If we want to use tv or an oven, we have to visit one of the other houses. Right now I´m living with a woman from Australia who owns farms. She´s great! Next week we are supposed to have three guys move in. The other volunteers are from Europe, Canada and the US.



It is refreshing to be outdoors all the time. The weather has been nice but it fluxuates often. Most days it rains a bit but then turns sunny. We have mountains all around us and the scenery is so green!

Until next time...

Becky