My last few days at the park were spent training two new Israeli guys, Tomer & Idor to walk safely with Sonko. It now seems an age away that Helen & I were here in the rainy season before Sonko moved cage, and when he was having issues in going home at the end of his day (sometimes leaving us out in the jungle till 9pm in the darkness and the rain) For a quick second I wish I was walking Sonko when he was only a happy cat, but then I realise that you've got to take the rough with the smooth in order to fully appreciate life. Those days were amongst the hardest I have ever had to conquer, but I stuck with it and that made my relationship with Sonko even more special.
Leaving the park was much more painful then I envisaged, quite literally! On my last work day I woke with a pain in my sternum which by the time I had eaten breakfast was getting to a stage where it was difficult to breath deeply. All the same I climbed up the mountain path to Sonko's cage tensing my muscles on the way up as it seemed to help with the pain. As I arrived Tomer & Idor were standing by Sonko's cage and he wouldn't come out (he has never done this to me before, he always wants to come out of his cage) But when he saw me he came out. Looks like he was waiting for me to arrive! Aw so sweet! Once I was there I realised that I wouldn't be able to walk Sonko for the first walk because of the pain so sent Tomer & Idor by themselves (it had been four days of training and about time they did this alone) They lasted about 20 seconds when Idor fell and wacked his knee and Sonko jumped Tomer, they called for me and I jumped out of the hammock and was there in moments. I ran to help Tomer who was behind a tree. Sonko took one look at me and meowed! He was a little excited seeing Tomer all by himself and jumped him, but now with someone else (me) there too he quickly calmed down. Idor turned up behind us a few moments later in a bit of pain (welcome to the jungle boy!) So I walked with them both up to Candy Cane junction and down to the first creak where Sonko is usually much more relaxed. They carried on and I took a shortcut back to the cage (the rest of loop 1) where sat in the hammock waiting for the guys to return.
They returned at around 2pm but the pain by this point had gotten worse so I had to lay the last walk out as well. I am truely sad for this :( By the time they returned I was having trouble breathing and was in a lot of pain. The Ocelot walker Alize always passes nearby on her way out of the jungle at the same time as we finish up for the day so I called for her to wait for me as I genuinely needed help (I actually didn't know how I would get out) Every step hurt like hell! Alize took my rucksack and followed close by on what is usually a 10 minute run across a hill and down what we call 'The Mountain' then down 'Frenchmans Hill' till we reach the bird enclosure. This took around 30 minutes and took every ounce of strength in my body & soul. By the time I got to the vets I was ready to pass out. Nelly was the first person I encountered (she works with the vets) she took one look at me and went to get help. The vets took one look at me and went to get a car to take me to the hospital. Frank (the volunteer coordinator) and Luis (one of the vets) came with me.
At the hospital we had to pay them before they would look at me, and then they took some blood to check for any infections. After they gave me a lovely sedative and asked me for a stool sample to check for parasites. After around 4 hours in the hospital they returned with an answer that I had parasites and gave me a prescription for some tablets. Luis through it away and gave me some proper tablets form his surgery. I was still in a lot of pain but had calmed down a lot. the following day the pain had not really let up so I decided to leave early to Santa Cruz where they have proper hospitals. I left that morning and arrived at a hospital in Santa Cruz around six hours later where after I paid them some money they gave me a similar prescription but intravenously and I started to feel better.
I spent two days in a wonderful Santa Cruz hostel surrounded by great people, hammocks, toucans and better food. Then I was to embark on two six hour flights to get to San Francisco. It wasn't terrible but I wasn't able to eat anything on either flight, however the flight attendants were very nice and caring. I arrived in San Francisco just before midnight, quite excited, a little thinner with no appetite.
Please stay tuned, the next part of this story will be typed up tomorrow :D
Showing posts with label Bolivia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bolivia. Show all posts
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Saturday, 19 March 2011
A new beginning!
Today Aure arrived at Parque Machia. He is a crazy French guy who walked Sonko last year. Sonko absolutely loves him! With Aure we now have a totally new cat! It´s almost like he saw Sonko and changed the sim card on the cat. With Aure on cord we went for a proper run! We did the mega long trail today followed by the long trail and got back to the cage by 16:25, earlier then ever before but with walked/ran over twice as long!! I did my very best to keep up with him and Sonko but he is in a different league! I was never too far behind though and I hope I will find it easier to keep up in the coming weeks.
Running down a massive muddy hill in the jungle was almost the scariest thing I´ve ever done! But after Aure practically disappeared before my eyes I had to go for it! Drops that I would normally hang my legs over and let myself down were dealt with in a single leap down followed by another and then another. I walked out of the jungle today covered in sand and dirt with the biggest grin on my face so pumped full of energy! I´m just glad I´d already spent 4 weeks with Sonko and Helen walking through and finding my jungle feet. Looks like it´s time to find them all ogver again!
An intensive parkor lesson has just begun! For the next 5 weeks I really am running with a puma! I was offered my first day off in 4 weeks...I´ve turned it down. I´m not missing one day of this! Way too much fun! We have a new puma people and his name is Sonko! He is one happy cat and I´m about to learn how to really handle him properly! I´m just so happy I could scream!
In other news I cooked my first meal today (very bad as I´ve been here over a month, but eating out is so cheap) I´ve been craving vegetables so much! Not much else to report but there will be in the next few days as I go flying through the Bolivian jungle like a wild cat!
Be safe, sound and happy. And if you ever get the chance, go walk a puma, it will just take your fucking breath away! xx
Running down a massive muddy hill in the jungle was almost the scariest thing I´ve ever done! But after Aure practically disappeared before my eyes I had to go for it! Drops that I would normally hang my legs over and let myself down were dealt with in a single leap down followed by another and then another. I walked out of the jungle today covered in sand and dirt with the biggest grin on my face so pumped full of energy! I´m just glad I´d already spent 4 weeks with Sonko and Helen walking through and finding my jungle feet. Looks like it´s time to find them all ogver again!
An intensive parkor lesson has just begun! For the next 5 weeks I really am running with a puma! I was offered my first day off in 4 weeks...I´ve turned it down. I´m not missing one day of this! Way too much fun! We have a new puma people and his name is Sonko! He is one happy cat and I´m about to learn how to really handle him properly! I´m just so happy I could scream!
In other news I cooked my first meal today (very bad as I´ve been here over a month, but eating out is so cheap) I´ve been craving vegetables so much! Not much else to report but there will be in the next few days as I go flying through the Bolivian jungle like a wild cat!
Be safe, sound and happy. And if you ever get the chance, go walk a puma, it will just take your fucking breath away! xx
Sunday, 13 March 2011
A slight case of under drinking
I have spent the past 2 days in my room recovering for dehydration. really socked it to me. I am feeling much more human now and even have my appetite back! Although because of it Sonko hasnt been walked whilst I have been unwell as there is no one currently trained up to deal with him (also he takes a while to get used to new people so it is not a quick process) However today I am feeling much better so I went up to his cage and let him out on his runner for around 4 hours and sat with him. He was so happy to see me and meowed all day craving affection! I think he might have missed me! I certainly missed him a lot!
So I was sitting under a palm tree reading a book with Sonko always close by looking at me and meowing for attention and affection. Can life get better then this!! I must be dreaming! I have a Puma that misses me when Im away and wants to be near me always. Im so happy I could bounce! What a gift I have been bestowed!
Tomorrow Helen I I will walk Sonko again (He always needs two people to walk him as he is so big) and hopefully life will be back to normal. That was my first day off for a month, working 7 days a week. Its just a shame I had to spend it in bed feeling so unwell.
And I still have five weeks left here! I couldnt ask for more in life! Except to come back for longer.....
Sometimes I think of all my lovely London friends, I miss you all so much, but I will be home in june and promise to see all of you and fill you with my many exciting and wonderful travelling tales!
Till then I wish you all the sweetest of dreams and the liveliest of days
Paul xx
So I was sitting under a palm tree reading a book with Sonko always close by looking at me and meowing for attention and affection. Can life get better then this!! I must be dreaming! I have a Puma that misses me when Im away and wants to be near me always. Im so happy I could bounce! What a gift I have been bestowed!
Tomorrow Helen I I will walk Sonko again (He always needs two people to walk him as he is so big) and hopefully life will be back to normal. That was my first day off for a month, working 7 days a week. Its just a shame I had to spend it in bed feeling so unwell.
And I still have five weeks left here! I couldnt ask for more in life! Except to come back for longer.....
Sometimes I think of all my lovely London friends, I miss you all so much, but I will be home in june and promise to see all of you and fill you with my many exciting and wonderful travelling tales!
Till then I wish you all the sweetest of dreams and the liveliest of days
Paul xx
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Dianry Of A Puma Walker, in the dark, in the rain forest, attached to an unhappy pissed off puma...
My last blog entry was wipped three days ago when the power in the town went down after a biblical thunderstorm. But I´m back with a head full of adventure so read on!
Walking the puma consists of one of us with a five meter rope round our waists and attached to the collar of the puma. So where he goes you have to go, although he has a route (7 kilmometres) through the jungle to take and he (usually sticks to it) However there are some Bolivian workmen building him a new cage and they walk past his cage on the way up which stresses him no end (which explains his behavour in the next few paragraphs)
February 16th
Walking the puma today was Helen and Sebastien, today is his last day (I am his replacement) I follow for the day and try to find my ´jungle feet´, it´s a lot more hilly then I thought it would be. Sonko is so beautiful!!
February 17th
Now that Sebastien has gone it´s just Helen and I and I got my first opportunity to take the lead with Sonko. He was fine at first but once we were on the homeward stretch he became a little nervouse (simply didn´t want to go home) and I got jumped. He first swipped for me with one (massive) paw (and missed) then with the other and caught me round the neck (luckily his claws weren´t out) Helen pulled him down but he jumped her too getting both paws up by her head. This was one pissed off unhappy cat! We got him down and he calmed after that. My heart was in my mouth beating like a freight train! We got him home soon after. I hope tomorrow he will be easier to take out.
February 18th
Today everyone helped in bringing up new matterials for Sonko´s new cage, however this stressed him out as too many people walked by his cage so we were unable to take him out for a walk. Instead we did some trail clearing with machetes.
February 19th
Seeing as Sonko hadn´t been out yesterday at all we knew today would be a difficult day, we just didn´t imagine quite how difficult it could get....We finally got Sonko walking at 11am (Helen was on cord) but didn´t get very far before he had his first sleep, four hours later he moved around two meters and slept some more, this continued for the whole day, at 6pm we realised that it seemed we would still be in the jungle after dark (not the greatest place to be at night I assure you) and with only one headtorch between Helen and I things were about to get tricky.
Plan A:
Tie him to a tree so we could go and get help and more torches but he was on to us like a shot the minute I removed our emergency cord from my waits (nothing gets past this cat) Sonko rolled onto his back and grabbed Helens legs digging in with his claws and hissed! I came round the side and pulled his collar round to get him off, he jumped me and clawed me too, nothing too serious but he was certainly not playing.
Plan B
We have got to get him home, but that was the last place he wanted to go. We pleaded with him till we were blue in the face. Just as it became dark the heavens opened like only Bolivian rain can do and we were under what felt like a waterfall (Our puma hates the rain as it creates white noise so he can´t hear anything coming up to him, and he hates getting his feet wet!) Now we are in the dark with one headtorch, making our emergency cooing sound hoping someone can hear us so they can send help as Sonko was being stubborn and going nowhere. After around an hour (and an entire rendition on ´99 Bottles of Beer on The Wall´ we heard a return emergency call from our cooing into the pitch black. Help was on the way! What a relief! It took Keith around 40 minutes to get to us and once Sonko saw him he wanted to chase, this made getting home much easier....Not for me though, I gave my headtorch to Helen (she was attached to the puma so needed it more then I did) so I had to wait there for them to come back, in the pitch black, by myself with crazy noises all around me for 30 minutes, I will never forget those thirty minutes. I could hear monkeys getting closer and strange rumblings and fumblings all around...But! I wasn´t eaten (well only by the mosquitos) And we arrived home by 10pm! A late night around here that´s for sure and a crazy evening in the jungle.
February 20th
Sonko was a much happier cat today. We took him out of his cage at 10am (I was on cord) and we walked through the jungle for around two hours. Sonko then had a little snooze....Around six hours. Helen and I chatted of our love for food and what we missed from back home and everything else inbetween. Sonko was still a little grumpy about having to go home but we made it back to his cage by 7pm just as it got dark and 2.5 hours earlier then yesterday, and as we walked back we bumped into the search party coming up to make sure we were OK. That was a nice feeling, they really look out for everyone here :D Today was my first full day on cord (being attached to Sonko with a five meter rope) and I loved every minute of it. He came to me for affection and whre he puts his head down for some stroking. Such a different cat to yesterday, what a beautiful experience.
Things I´m missing:
My family and friends
Real cheese
Hot showers (my bathroom got cold water yesterday for the first time!)
My bed
Scariest things in the rainforest:
Bullet ants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera I´ve seen a nest of over a hundred!
Muddy drops over 2 metres deep
Wasps nests
The darkness after 7pm!!!
A puma jumping you, that´s not for the faint hearted!
For now I bid you all goodnight and wish you a fantastic week! I will be spending it walking my puma xx
Walking the puma consists of one of us with a five meter rope round our waists and attached to the collar of the puma. So where he goes you have to go, although he has a route (7 kilmometres) through the jungle to take and he (usually sticks to it) However there are some Bolivian workmen building him a new cage and they walk past his cage on the way up which stresses him no end (which explains his behavour in the next few paragraphs)
February 16th
Walking the puma today was Helen and Sebastien, today is his last day (I am his replacement) I follow for the day and try to find my ´jungle feet´, it´s a lot more hilly then I thought it would be. Sonko is so beautiful!!
February 17th
Now that Sebastien has gone it´s just Helen and I and I got my first opportunity to take the lead with Sonko. He was fine at first but once we were on the homeward stretch he became a little nervouse (simply didn´t want to go home) and I got jumped. He first swipped for me with one (massive) paw (and missed) then with the other and caught me round the neck (luckily his claws weren´t out) Helen pulled him down but he jumped her too getting both paws up by her head. This was one pissed off unhappy cat! We got him down and he calmed after that. My heart was in my mouth beating like a freight train! We got him home soon after. I hope tomorrow he will be easier to take out.
February 18th
Today everyone helped in bringing up new matterials for Sonko´s new cage, however this stressed him out as too many people walked by his cage so we were unable to take him out for a walk. Instead we did some trail clearing with machetes.
February 19th
Seeing as Sonko hadn´t been out yesterday at all we knew today would be a difficult day, we just didn´t imagine quite how difficult it could get....We finally got Sonko walking at 11am (Helen was on cord) but didn´t get very far before he had his first sleep, four hours later he moved around two meters and slept some more, this continued for the whole day, at 6pm we realised that it seemed we would still be in the jungle after dark (not the greatest place to be at night I assure you) and with only one headtorch between Helen and I things were about to get tricky.
Plan A:
Tie him to a tree so we could go and get help and more torches but he was on to us like a shot the minute I removed our emergency cord from my waits (nothing gets past this cat) Sonko rolled onto his back and grabbed Helens legs digging in with his claws and hissed! I came round the side and pulled his collar round to get him off, he jumped me and clawed me too, nothing too serious but he was certainly not playing.
Plan B
We have got to get him home, but that was the last place he wanted to go. We pleaded with him till we were blue in the face. Just as it became dark the heavens opened like only Bolivian rain can do and we were under what felt like a waterfall (Our puma hates the rain as it creates white noise so he can´t hear anything coming up to him, and he hates getting his feet wet!) Now we are in the dark with one headtorch, making our emergency cooing sound hoping someone can hear us so they can send help as Sonko was being stubborn and going nowhere. After around an hour (and an entire rendition on ´99 Bottles of Beer on The Wall´ we heard a return emergency call from our cooing into the pitch black. Help was on the way! What a relief! It took Keith around 40 minutes to get to us and once Sonko saw him he wanted to chase, this made getting home much easier....Not for me though, I gave my headtorch to Helen (she was attached to the puma so needed it more then I did) so I had to wait there for them to come back, in the pitch black, by myself with crazy noises all around me for 30 minutes, I will never forget those thirty minutes. I could hear monkeys getting closer and strange rumblings and fumblings all around...But! I wasn´t eaten (well only by the mosquitos) And we arrived home by 10pm! A late night around here that´s for sure and a crazy evening in the jungle.
February 20th
Sonko was a much happier cat today. We took him out of his cage at 10am (I was on cord) and we walked through the jungle for around two hours. Sonko then had a little snooze....Around six hours. Helen and I chatted of our love for food and what we missed from back home and everything else inbetween. Sonko was still a little grumpy about having to go home but we made it back to his cage by 7pm just as it got dark and 2.5 hours earlier then yesterday, and as we walked back we bumped into the search party coming up to make sure we were OK. That was a nice feeling, they really look out for everyone here :D Today was my first full day on cord (being attached to Sonko with a five meter rope) and I loved every minute of it. He came to me for affection and whre he puts his head down for some stroking. Such a different cat to yesterday, what a beautiful experience.
Things I´m missing:
My family and friends
Real cheese
Hot showers (my bathroom got cold water yesterday for the first time!)
My bed
Scariest things in the rainforest:
Bullet ants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera I´ve seen a nest of over a hundred!
Muddy drops over 2 metres deep
Wasps nests
The darkness after 7pm!!!
A puma jumping you, that´s not for the faint hearted!
For now I bid you all goodnight and wish you a fantastic week! I will be spending it walking my puma xx
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
New Friends, getting arrested, breaking out of prison and death.
Oh boy, how do I even start....
Well first off everything is wonderful, really it is. An adventure I wanted and an adventure I got!
It all started when I went out for a quite drink with Danny (that´s how it always begins no?) Having a wonderful time iun Toucanderos with some great new friends, Gregor & Moritz the Germans, Bernase and & Gabriella the Argentinians and Robert the Norwegean. We drank until late but they all had to be up early for work (they were volunteering at a local zoo) So Danny & I went off to search for another party, we found one, it was a little boring and after another beer we left and ended up in the Plaza, a village square. Well it was know 4am and the cafe we wanted breakfast in didn´t open for another 3 hours, it was a wonderful warm night so we decided to kip down for a few hours on a few benches in the park.....
At around 7am we were woken by the local constabulary, I was upo like a shot, bag on shoulder & hat on, Danny was up soon after....They wanted us to wait around till they could wake the third guy (he must have appeared during the night) he didn´t wake up to easily. But when he did he turned quite violent, the police didn´t like this and restraned him, they made us all follow them to the police station where they walked us though and put us in a cell with no light and closed the door.
The third fellow ´Yesim´ was still rather angry, I was still a little drunk and Danny fell asleep almost imediatelly on the floor of our dark cell. After aboput 20 minutes of Yesim banging at the door the police returned, he shouted at them, they shouted at him, then they threatened him, he was quite after that.
I woke about an hour later, hungover, thirsty and bored. I started communication with Yesim who still seemed quite agitated. He spoke no English and me no ablo Espaniol. We weren´t getting very far in the getting to kmow you stakes, however he had calmed down and we even laughed at our situation. Things were now much better so I decided to make some graffiti to pass the time - Mr Bizarre 2-6-2011 and Yesim did the same, we used my titanium watch strap (thanks Dad!) Yesim´s graffiti was much bigger then mine and right in the middle of the wall ( I placed mine to the side)
A few hours later after Danny woke up we banged on the door as we all needed to go to the toilet and beg for water. The door was hatched in two and the top half opened (fucking thing wasn´t even locked!) but now we had light for the first time, I was much happier. Then the policeman turned up and let us out to the toilet, he even gave us some water (he was actually quite nice) but then he noticed Yesims massive tag on the wall...
He looked at me and asked me if I did it, I said I didn´t and that it wasn´t my name, I told him my name was Paul, he didn´t understand so as he had a name badge on (his name, believe it or not was ´S Moron´) I repeated, my name is Paul....And you are a Moron! This he understood, I bit my tongue to stop myself laughing (I drew a little blood) Danny burst out laughing then stopped just as quickly. Yesim just stood there with a stupid look on his face, he too was a moron and I think he know it.
The poloceman was annoyed and said we would have to pay for the wall...Before he left he tryed to close the hatch, I begged him not too and told him how nice he had been to us and that we promised to be quiet if he let us have some light, he wasn´t sure and I noticed he had a tattoo, some common ground! I should him mine and told him the story behind it in my best Spandglish, he liked the story and called his friend over to see also, after that they left us with the hatch open.
Oh I forgot to say, at some point in all of that we were allowed a phone call so Danny called Rachel to come and get us out (she knows the mayors son and neice)
A few hours later Rachel turned up and walked into where we were, she said the policemen had gone for lunch, I pulled the bottom half of the door open and unscrewed what was left of the latch and put that in my pocket. The police had indeed gone, we found our stuff in their appartment (along with many bags of cocaine and weapons) we took our stuff (leaving all other contraband, no need to chance our luck too much) and went accross the road where everyone was waiting for us. We had amazing chicken with mango, Danny & Rachel headed home and I wnet to the zoo to meet some friends working there. (I do even have pictures of our police cell with graffiti!)
The rest of the day was wonderful, spent hurding llamas, hugging monkeys & feeding wild cats. I arrived home the next day after crashing out at a friends hostel.
And jumping to this morning as I am now eunning out of time here....
We woke this morning to a site of carnage :´(
9 of our 10 chickens had been killed in the night. The cock was stood over the bodies and was morning. Something, a small ferral cat or ferret had killed all but 1. And we had spent the last wee constructing a supper fence to rehouse them, only one day more was needed to dave them, one day to many. No more chickens and no more eggs. I will never forget that scene :´(
Today I am off to the zoo with Saana & Soliya the Finnish girls. It is warm and my spirits are slowly being lifted. Life does indeed go on.
Much love to you all, stay safe
Paul xx
Well first off everything is wonderful, really it is. An adventure I wanted and an adventure I got!
It all started when I went out for a quite drink with Danny (that´s how it always begins no?) Having a wonderful time iun Toucanderos with some great new friends, Gregor & Moritz the Germans, Bernase and & Gabriella the Argentinians and Robert the Norwegean. We drank until late but they all had to be up early for work (they were volunteering at a local zoo) So Danny & I went off to search for another party, we found one, it was a little boring and after another beer we left and ended up in the Plaza, a village square. Well it was know 4am and the cafe we wanted breakfast in didn´t open for another 3 hours, it was a wonderful warm night so we decided to kip down for a few hours on a few benches in the park.....
At around 7am we were woken by the local constabulary, I was upo like a shot, bag on shoulder & hat on, Danny was up soon after....They wanted us to wait around till they could wake the third guy (he must have appeared during the night) he didn´t wake up to easily. But when he did he turned quite violent, the police didn´t like this and restraned him, they made us all follow them to the police station where they walked us though and put us in a cell with no light and closed the door.
The third fellow ´Yesim´ was still rather angry, I was still a little drunk and Danny fell asleep almost imediatelly on the floor of our dark cell. After aboput 20 minutes of Yesim banging at the door the police returned, he shouted at them, they shouted at him, then they threatened him, he was quite after that.
I woke about an hour later, hungover, thirsty and bored. I started communication with Yesim who still seemed quite agitated. He spoke no English and me no ablo Espaniol. We weren´t getting very far in the getting to kmow you stakes, however he had calmed down and we even laughed at our situation. Things were now much better so I decided to make some graffiti to pass the time - Mr Bizarre 2-6-2011 and Yesim did the same, we used my titanium watch strap (thanks Dad!) Yesim´s graffiti was much bigger then mine and right in the middle of the wall ( I placed mine to the side)
A few hours later after Danny woke up we banged on the door as we all needed to go to the toilet and beg for water. The door was hatched in two and the top half opened (fucking thing wasn´t even locked!) but now we had light for the first time, I was much happier. Then the policeman turned up and let us out to the toilet, he even gave us some water (he was actually quite nice) but then he noticed Yesims massive tag on the wall...
He looked at me and asked me if I did it, I said I didn´t and that it wasn´t my name, I told him my name was Paul, he didn´t understand so as he had a name badge on (his name, believe it or not was ´S Moron´) I repeated, my name is Paul....And you are a Moron! This he understood, I bit my tongue to stop myself laughing (I drew a little blood) Danny burst out laughing then stopped just as quickly. Yesim just stood there with a stupid look on his face, he too was a moron and I think he know it.
The poloceman was annoyed and said we would have to pay for the wall...Before he left he tryed to close the hatch, I begged him not too and told him how nice he had been to us and that we promised to be quiet if he let us have some light, he wasn´t sure and I noticed he had a tattoo, some common ground! I should him mine and told him the story behind it in my best Spandglish, he liked the story and called his friend over to see also, after that they left us with the hatch open.
Oh I forgot to say, at some point in all of that we were allowed a phone call so Danny called Rachel to come and get us out (she knows the mayors son and neice)
A few hours later Rachel turned up and walked into where we were, she said the policemen had gone for lunch, I pulled the bottom half of the door open and unscrewed what was left of the latch and put that in my pocket. The police had indeed gone, we found our stuff in their appartment (along with many bags of cocaine and weapons) we took our stuff (leaving all other contraband, no need to chance our luck too much) and went accross the road where everyone was waiting for us. We had amazing chicken with mango, Danny & Rachel headed home and I wnet to the zoo to meet some friends working there. (I do even have pictures of our police cell with graffiti!)
The rest of the day was wonderful, spent hurding llamas, hugging monkeys & feeding wild cats. I arrived home the next day after crashing out at a friends hostel.
And jumping to this morning as I am now eunning out of time here....
We woke this morning to a site of carnage :´(
9 of our 10 chickens had been killed in the night. The cock was stood over the bodies and was morning. Something, a small ferral cat or ferret had killed all but 1. And we had spent the last wee constructing a supper fence to rehouse them, only one day more was needed to dave them, one day to many. No more chickens and no more eggs. I will never forget that scene :´(
Today I am off to the zoo with Saana & Soliya the Finnish girls. It is warm and my spirits are slowly being lifted. Life does indeed go on.
Much love to you all, stay safe
Paul xx
Sunday, 14 November 2010
More plane tickets purchased!!
Another plane ticket purchased!
April 27th from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to San Francisco, USA. So it seems I will be spending three whole months in Bolivia! It also means that I will be spending my birthday in the Bolivian rainforest with all the big cats, monkeys & birds! Happy happy happy!!!
1 more ticket to get, sometime around the end of May, Van Couver, Canada to London, England. Then I have my itinerary sorted. I know some would rather have no plans as things change but this trip is very much in two parts for me. Bolivia and the USA. The Bolivian part is me seeing my friend Rako and her partner and then volunteering in Parque Machia. The US trip is a little more open and free, except for the knowledge that I will return from Canada in May....Most probably ;)
Well this weekend was my last free weekend in London till June 2011. From next weekend I will be working two jobs. Winding down my time at Medical Couriers till December 3rd but starting at Winter Wonderland from next weekend, my bar will be situated in The Spiegel Saloon. I'll working through till January 4th around six days a week if I can hack it! o_O
My next Weekend day out will be (apart from Gogol Bordello & Hawkwind gigs) will be Saturday 22nd January for some leaving drinks in The Big Red in Holloway. FB event to follow at some point :)
April 27th from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to San Francisco, USA. So it seems I will be spending three whole months in Bolivia! It also means that I will be spending my birthday in the Bolivian rainforest with all the big cats, monkeys & birds! Happy happy happy!!!
1 more ticket to get, sometime around the end of May, Van Couver, Canada to London, England. Then I have my itinerary sorted. I know some would rather have no plans as things change but this trip is very much in two parts for me. Bolivia and the USA. The Bolivian part is me seeing my friend Rako and her partner and then volunteering in Parque Machia. The US trip is a little more open and free, except for the knowledge that I will return from Canada in May....Most probably ;)
Well this weekend was my last free weekend in London till June 2011. From next weekend I will be working two jobs. Winding down my time at Medical Couriers till December 3rd but starting at Winter Wonderland from next weekend, my bar will be situated in The Spiegel Saloon. I'll working through till January 4th around six days a week if I can hack it! o_O
My next Weekend day out will be (apart from Gogol Bordello & Hawkwind gigs) will be Saturday 22nd January for some leaving drinks in The Big Red in Holloway. FB event to follow at some point :)
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
The end of my ten year career and my big adventure!
Well I did, I finally did it! Today I gave in my notice at Medical Couriers, from December 2nd I will no longer be a medical courier controller anymore, and that makes me very happy indeed!
The story so far:
Ten years ago I got a job as a motorbike courier in London, one of the most dangerous job going (they tell me) and after two years I decided I wanted to go where the cabbies and buses couldn't get me, in the office! So I worked my way through, Telephonist, Courier Co-ordinator, Postroom Manager, Van Controller, Ambulance Planner, Telephonist Trainer, Motorbike Co-ordinator, Medical Courier Controller & Courier Trainer.
So today I was offered the position of bar supervisor at the bar in Winter Wonderland in hyde Park for the xmas period, it pays a shit load more money then my current job and will help me to save the final bits of money needed for my supreme adventure :D
I leave behind a career (of which I shall never return) but also a great team and fantastic boss at Medical Couriers, without which I would have left a long time ago. Moira my boss has been the fairest and greatest inspiration boss i have ever had the fortunity (it's a word now!) to meet, someone who shall remain in my life for time to come. Adam is a great guy to work with, and even with his ability to forget things he surely makes up for in his knowledge of the industry and ability to inject his great navy born sense of humour into our office environment. Tim is the most devoted family man you'll ever hope to meet ever! A dedicated man to the very core and one that I hope to know for a long time to come! A music lover like no other. He's my kind of guy! Tracey is cantankerous, short tempered and awkward, and I love her for it, for Tracey tells it like it is, there's no beating around the bush, what you see is what you get, lets keep in touch. Natalie has been the biggest surprise of all, adapting to our department like someone who's always been there, keeping us on our toes and making us smile with her lovely stories and fantastic unprejudiced opinions, I will surely miss her. And that just leaves Lili, such a loving soul, such a passionate person, somehow my life would be emptier without Lili around....She makes great cakes too! ;) to all of you I bid farewell, auf wiedersehen, catch ya on the flipside! I will make you all very jealous with my postcards, but fear not, I will pop in with dark chocolate for you all randomly when you least expect it!
And here I find myself standing on the edge of a great mighty cliff, ready to dive off into the realms of my first travelling adventure, Bolivia is where I will begin (actually I'm starting in Switzerland to visit with my grandma in the mountains, a nice chill before the jungle of Bolivia!) I'm going to visit my very good friend Rachel in the rain forest for a bit then relocating to Inti Wara Yassi
Parque Machia
I will be working with big cats, monkeys and birds for a few months, and quite frankly I cannot wait to get stuck in!
After my time has ended in Bolivia I will begin phase two of my adventure. In April i'm flying to San Francisco where I will spend around a week partying it up (well it will be my birthday after all) before hitting the road on this
Big Enough bike for ya?!
Right up the highway 101. Should take around three days and I'll stop off with some great friends and founding members of The Texas Chainsaw Orchestra Vee & Daniel in Seattle, party party party!! And then finally to Van Couver to stay with the wonderful Miss Emma before I fly home in time for next years festival season to begin!
Wow is all I can say! plenty of hard work and long hours in my bar in hyde Park before I go (Please drop by and say hi!!) And it will all be worth it for the chance to do what i'm about to do.
So there it is people, my big adventure! And the first of many :D
Much love to you all,
Paul Lazar xx
The story so far:
Ten years ago I got a job as a motorbike courier in London, one of the most dangerous job going (they tell me) and after two years I decided I wanted to go where the cabbies and buses couldn't get me, in the office! So I worked my way through, Telephonist, Courier Co-ordinator, Postroom Manager, Van Controller, Ambulance Planner, Telephonist Trainer, Motorbike Co-ordinator, Medical Courier Controller & Courier Trainer.
So today I was offered the position of bar supervisor at the bar in Winter Wonderland in hyde Park for the xmas period, it pays a shit load more money then my current job and will help me to save the final bits of money needed for my supreme adventure :D
I leave behind a career (of which I shall never return) but also a great team and fantastic boss at Medical Couriers, without which I would have left a long time ago. Moira my boss has been the fairest and greatest inspiration boss i have ever had the fortunity (it's a word now!) to meet, someone who shall remain in my life for time to come. Adam is a great guy to work with, and even with his ability to forget things he surely makes up for in his knowledge of the industry and ability to inject his great navy born sense of humour into our office environment. Tim is the most devoted family man you'll ever hope to meet ever! A dedicated man to the very core and one that I hope to know for a long time to come! A music lover like no other. He's my kind of guy! Tracey is cantankerous, short tempered and awkward, and I love her for it, for Tracey tells it like it is, there's no beating around the bush, what you see is what you get, lets keep in touch. Natalie has been the biggest surprise of all, adapting to our department like someone who's always been there, keeping us on our toes and making us smile with her lovely stories and fantastic unprejudiced opinions, I will surely miss her. And that just leaves Lili, such a loving soul, such a passionate person, somehow my life would be emptier without Lili around....She makes great cakes too! ;) to all of you I bid farewell, auf wiedersehen, catch ya on the flipside! I will make you all very jealous with my postcards, but fear not, I will pop in with dark chocolate for you all randomly when you least expect it!
And here I find myself standing on the edge of a great mighty cliff, ready to dive off into the realms of my first travelling adventure, Bolivia is where I will begin (actually I'm starting in Switzerland to visit with my grandma in the mountains, a nice chill before the jungle of Bolivia!) I'm going to visit my very good friend Rachel in the rain forest for a bit then relocating to Inti Wara Yassi
Parque Machia
I will be working with big cats, monkeys and birds for a few months, and quite frankly I cannot wait to get stuck in!
After my time has ended in Bolivia I will begin phase two of my adventure. In April i'm flying to San Francisco where I will spend around a week partying it up (well it will be my birthday after all) before hitting the road on this
Big Enough bike for ya?!
Right up the highway 101. Should take around three days and I'll stop off with some great friends and founding members of The Texas Chainsaw Orchestra Vee & Daniel in Seattle, party party party!! And then finally to Van Couver to stay with the wonderful Miss Emma before I fly home in time for next years festival season to begin!
Wow is all I can say! plenty of hard work and long hours in my bar in hyde Park before I go (Please drop by and say hi!!) And it will all be worth it for the chance to do what i'm about to do.
So there it is people, my big adventure! And the first of many :D
Much love to you all,
Paul Lazar xx
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