Birthdays and Reunions

This week Jasmine and I took a break from the orphanage and life in the bush and headed south to Lusaka. We were really blessed to catch a ride with a friend who was driving down. Any day we get to skip that bus ride is a good one. Since our friend had business in the Copperbelt (a province in Zambia) we took a shortcut through the Congo. We'd done this drive once before but it was during the rainy season so this ride was much easier.

A big reason for this mini-break was to help Jasmine celebrate her birthday. She turned 16 earlier this month. We had done the birthday cake part but she wanted time away from work and school.

On the agenda: movies, restaurants, shopping malls, and Munda Wanga. 

Munda Wanga is a botanical/zoological garden. Last December we took our rescued & then pet vervet monkey, Kanono to live in Munda Wanga with other monkeys and eventually be released into the wild with his own troop.

When we arrived at Munda Wanga, we met up with the Born Free representative, Zoe, who took us to see Kanono. After several months in a couple stages of quarantine and integration with a single monkey (as in one, not unmarried), Kanono was now in a large habitat and beginning to connect with a troop.

As soon as we approached the cage, Kanono ran right over and reached through the cage to hold Jasmine's hand. Zoe said that she could tell that Kanono recognized us. 

Jasmine spent several minutes grooming Kanono and stroking his fur. It was a really special moment.

Zoe was wonderful about letting us know how the program worked and how Kanono was fitting in with the troop. She said he is doing really well and is not top dog (sorry, monkey) but is also confident and friendly enough that he isn't the runt of the troop.

Here is Kanono (near the fence) with his troop's alpha male. While we were there, the alpha groomed Kanono which apparently shows how well loved Kanono is since the alpha male doesn't generally groom those under him.

Right now Kanono's troop has five monkeys but more will be added until there are 15 doing well together and then they'll be released into the wild under Born Free's supervision. This will take place in about 1 year. The supervision will continue for 1 year and then the troop will be well settled in the bush. 

It was wonderful to have that time visiting Kanono, and it was really wonderful spending the week with my daughter, just chilling and relaxing.

Happy Birthday, Jasmine!

Exactly One Year Ago: High Praise

(Almost) Exactly Two Years Ago: Litterbugs

Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy

This past week we had to say goodbye to one of the babies that we've rescued. It was time. He had healed completely from his abuse and didn't need our help anymore. Plus, he needed to be with others like him. He couldn't live with us forever. 

Have you guessed who I'm talking about?

Kanono, our vervet monkey had to move away last week. He was getting big, he'd figured out how to escape from his habitat and was out more often than in. He was beginning to steal crops. It just wasn't the right place for him anymore. Even as we prepared to take him to his new home he bit down on Timmy's hand and while he didn't bite hard enough to show he was trying to hurt, his teeth did drag across the back of Timmy's hand leaving some good cuts.

The zoo in Lusaka, Munda Wanga,  has a program where they take Vervet monkeys who have been living near people and get them ready for living in the wild. I wrote about them last year when we took our family trip in October. They are the ones who took the jackals we rescued a couple years ago.

Since we had to drive down to Lusaka stopping off in Ndola for the tournament and to see friends so Kanono had to spend a fair bit of time in the car--poor guy. We bought a laundry hamper with a lid and used that as a portable cage. He could stand up in it but couldn't lie down very well. We felt bad about it but it seemed the best solution. Thankfully, a friend in Ndola offered to look after him for 2 days so he could have a larger cage. You can see it in the picture below.

In this picture we've just come to pick up Kanono after his time with our friend and he was so happy to see Tom he kept hugging him. We felt awful putting him back into a cage, even if it was a much better cage given to us by our friend.

When we reached Lusaka we took Kanono to Munda Wanga where he was placed into a quarantine cage. He'll be getting vaccinations and then after a few days will move to a cage where he is still in isolation but near other monkeys so the staff can see how he is accepted. After 30 days he'll be moved into the main cage and then 3 months later the entire troop will be released into the wild.

When we leave for the States in January we'll pass by the Munda Wanga to see how Kanono is fairing. It was hard to say goodbye to him*, but we know he'll be happier and better off. He deserves to spend his life with monkeys and find a mate. We wish him well!

*In the interest of full disclosure I should say that 'we' does not include me. I could not be happier to wave bye-bye to the little rascal.

You can get Tom's perspective on the event by clicking over to his brand new blog.

Livingstone Man is where he will blog from time to time about life in the bush and also highlight some of his beautiful photos.

Exactly One Year Ago: Why Wait for the New Year?

Monkey Business

I would normally have a Fab Friday Foto feature here but I couldn't get internet to work yesterday so you'll get some fab photos and a post today. Cool? Okay!

I've written about our pet monkey before. He is still a challenging little animal. He is so human-like at times it is hilarious. He can open doors, and escapes all the time. He loves to have Tom sit with him in the afternoon and he searches for treats in Tom's pockets.

He has decided that he needs his own pet. So, he broke into the guinea pig cages next to his and kidnapped (pignapped) a little guinea pig.

He cuddles him, play bites on him and grooms him. Aside from a few squeals when he's bitten, the guinea pig seems surprisingly okay with the whole arrangement. 

 The other day, Kanono was dirty so Tom thought the best solution would be to throw him in our new pool.

We had no idea how he'd react or if he'd be able to swim. We positioned ourselves around the pool in case we needed to rescue him.

He ended up being a very good swimmer.

It was funny to see how he swam directly for his 'daddy'. He looked so childlike as he reached out to be lifted from the pool.

A dripping wet monkey. That water drop on my lens happened to blur just the right spot.

Poor tucked out little monkey took a nap on our couch.

P.S I misspoke the other day when I said that gaboon vipers were endangered. Tom told me later they are extinct in some countries where they used to live so they are diminishing in numbers but not yet labeled endangered. Thanks for your good questions and comments. I appreciate and value every single one.