This selection of photos was taken during my stint of volunteering at Santa Martha Animal Refuge in Ecuador. The rubbish ones are mine; the nicely-framed, well-lit and/or in focus ones belong to either Mel and Mark, or Toby Cannon. Enjoy!
Feeding time for one of our adorable Andean Spectacled Bear cubs.
Dinner time was eagerly anticipated by all the residents – especially Garfield, our slightly overweight Puma!
Meldrew, a Giant Galapagos Turtle, ate mostly fruit. And anyone sat too close would end up wearing whatever he didn’t like!
Some of the residents were more grateful than others for their food. The Jaguar was way beyond nice manners – when the jungle’s top predator gets hungry it’s generally best not to get in the way. Or fall over on your way out of the enclosure…
Helping us puny volunteers to feed, clean and otherwise look after the animals was Ecuador’s answer to Clint Eastwood: Jimmy! I came to the conclusion that he was born with a machete in his hand.
Mark was one of those volunteers. As a vet, he had a lot of skills to offer, and developed a particularly close relationship with Osita, our largest Andean Spectacled Bear.
Mark also performed the surgery to save the life of this small crocodile (A Caiman). All I had to do was hold her still… and then catch her twice a day for her shots. Which meant I got to experience pure, unadulterated terror – twice a day.
Someone remind me – what did curiosity do to the cat?
Can ya tell what it is yet? Why yes, you’re right! It IS a three-toed Sloth. However did you guess? What’s that? Oh right, you read the title of the photo. Good call.
And as for this fella – ain’t he gorgeous? He’s a Coatamundi. Really. They’re closely related to the Wombles. Alas, this poor critter is blind. I called him Snotty.
Also high up in the cuteness stakes was Andy (pictured). His name is short for – you guessed it – Andean Spectacled Bear. His twin brother we christened Sid. Why? Because he was vicious! Their mother was shot by poachers.
And who could resist this little lady? A Pygmy Marmoset, the smallest monkey in the world. She was carried as a comforter by a young girl we met on a trip to the Amazon. There we released a lot of the animals we’d rescued from captivity.
So having released all the animals that could be released (some were too tame or too injured to survive in the wild, so they stayed with us), we went with the Ecuadorian police to rescue some more! Like this Capucin Monkey – chained to a tree in a concrete back yard. He had a cat collar around his waist which he’d outgrown, causing him constant pain. I caught him and our Ecuadorian vet removed it.
This parrot, with a grossly deformed beak, was being kept as part of a circus freak show. Which is evil. You may not want to know this, if you’re squeamish, but we ground down his beak with an angle grinder! And later, he bit right through my finger. Revenge, presumably.
This is Tame. She’s an Ocelot, and my personal favourite of the six-strong pack we were looking after. She was far too friendly to survive in the jungle, which was a little sad for her, but meant we got to say hello from time to time. She was always pretty happy to see us!
Not just surgery, but dentistry was sometimes necessary – and for that we simply recruited a dentist from Quito, the capital city. He’d never done animals before. So he was understandably nervous when asked to put his hands in the mouth of this sleeping beauty…!
In between the death-or-glory stuff, we built cages. Many, many cages. Our equipment was… rustic, to be polite. By way of example, this ladder – which I believe may be the biggest health and safety violation in existence – is actually three ladders built of logs and sticks, which have been tied together with wire in order to reach the top of the new parrot enclosure…
All I want is a hug! I’m a kinkajou!
Me, in the middle of making the River Walk.
And on the seventh day, we rested… Well, except for Machita – a dog I rescued from a market as a tiny puppy. She rested whenever – and wherever – she could get away with it! I didn’t have the heart to disturb her.
Tame was raised as a house cat, so he loved all the attention he could get!
A gorgeous Amazonas parrot. Who has escaped, the little bugger!
Checking on the animals on the release trip – if you look carefully, you can see where the volunteers were sitting!
In just three months at Santa Martha, I personally removed all these chains from different animals – mostly moneys.
Osita, getting all close and personal.
I know I already have pics of the bear cubs up on here, but who could resist this bear behind??
“Should that bear be in that tree?”
“Um… no, no it shouldn’t be…”
The wild boar – doing what he loved to do most!
“Oh, this is YOUR bag?”
The land around Santa martha was simply stunning – in between rainstorms!
Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed these pictures. Please feel free to let me know what you think!
And if you haven’t yet read ‘That Bear Ate My Pants!’, the story behind all these images, you can check it out here.
26 thoughts on “Photos From Ecuador”
Thank you! The pictures are the icing on your beyond enjoyable book. Where is Toby and Johnny?
Loved the book, love the photos. I was giggling so much reading THAT BEAR, my husband thought I was drinking. Move over Bill Bryson. Fyi, You do not seem like the odd chaps I met in the UK, who mainly stare at Americans and pretend they don’t speak English.
Hi Laurie! Thanks for that 😉
Yeah, we’ve done a bit of traveling and visited the US a few times, so I like to think we’re good with strangers 😉
Just finished the book. Quite tearful. Great to see the photos.
Hi Naomi! Glad you enjoyed it! I try to balance the sad bits with the odd joke here and there, but I was sad to leave alright!
Hi Laurie! Thanks for that ?
Yeah, we’ve done a bit of traveling and visited the US a few times, so I like to think we’re good with strangers ?
I just read your book about the bear ate my
pants and just purchased the follow up. Really enjoyed the book and have a list of all your books and will be getting the rest as I finish one after the other, I like your writings. Thank you.
Hi Richard! Glad you enjoyed the book! I’m just starting work on another one, but there’s plenty more of ’em before you get that far 😉
Thanks for reading, mate, I really appreciate it!
Best wishes,
Tony
Loved the book and your pictures are great. I had my own visions, but now they are real. Getting ready to read the next book and living vicariously through your adventures. Thanks…Sandy in Florida USA
Hi Sandy! Glad you enjoyed the book! The images are never quite the same as the ones we form in our minds, eh. I really wanted to include photos in the books, mostly to prove that it was all real, but that’s tough to do as a self-published author. I’ll be adding some more pics here eventually though, to illustrate the bits that got cut from the books!
Thanks Naomi. Sorry the book was sad! It sort of reflects my feelings at the time, I was gutted to leave. But, onwards and upwards, as they say 😉
Hiya! I sort of thought I probably shouldn’t include pics of people without their permission, and I can’t get in touch with them anymore! Not that I think they’d mind, but you never know – and I can’t afford to be sued if someone decided they weren’t happy with it 😮
I found your book to be delightfully entertaining as well as educational. One hears about animal rescue centers, operated by volunteers, but never even imagine what life is like in those places. It is admirable how much sacrifice it entails to deal with unexpected situations, such as inclement weather and the aggressive behavior of some animals. Thank you Tony for sharing your adventure!!
Hi Marita! Glad you enjoyed the stories! Volunteering is great fun, it really can give you opportunities you’d never find anywhere else. I was just talking with a friend in southern California who has been spending her days feeding baby squirrels with a syringe! So much fun, which sort of makes up for the ridiculously hard work and often unpleasant conditions. It’s an adventure, that’s what it is – and I love it!
Thanks for getting in touch 😉
Best wishes,
Tony
Thanks for the enjoyable read about Ecuador, wild animal rescues, your funny experiences and the harder side of life throughout it all. Your style of writing made me feel upfront and personal with you and all that was going on ….almost! 😉 Im wondering now – where are you in the world and what are you doing for work? Have you gone back yet for a visit to Quito or to Santa Martha?
Hi Jennifer! Glad you enjoyed the book! I’m in Australia at the moment, and you wouldn’t believe it from the quality of my writing, but I’m actually doing that for a living now! After ‘That Bear’ I got asked all the time about what happened afterwards, so I turned that into the sequel, ‘Don’t Need The Whole Dog’. Then it sort of snowballed, and I ended up spending the next few years traveling and writing about it. I’ve recently stopped for a bit of a breather, and started writing some fiction just to keep my hand in. All in all, NOT the kind of life I expected to have, but I’ve rather enjoyed it anyway 😉
Sadly I never made it back to Santa Martha – the refuge closed down a couple of years after I was there, I think there were all sorts of arguments about the direction the place was taking, and Johnny pulled the plug. Part of me would like to go back and see what happened – I’m sure Johnny still lives there – but part of me is a bit concerned I’d find exactly the kind of place we used to rescue animals from…
Ah well! On the upside, my little dog Machita accompanied Toby deep into the Amazon, where he set up his own refuge called ‘Merazonia’. And they’re still going strong today, and still taking volunteers! Though Toby eventually went to live in Austria and has two little boys. Life moves on, eh!
I hope you’re staying safe!
Best wishes,
Tony
I really enjoyed your book, and I’m likely to purchase others. My husband also gave me a few raised eyebrows when he heard loud belly laughs from down the hall. It’s not always easy to make me laugh, but your silly antics did the trick. Living vicariously through story tellers like yourself makes up for all of the travel that I’m not doing. Keep living life to the fullest and telling us about it!
Hi Nancy! That’s great! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the books. I’ve just started working on another one 😉
As soon as we’re able to travel again, we’ll be off on another adventure, but for now I’ll have to make do with a bit of trip planning… not something I nornally bother with!
Hope you’re well 😉
Hi Tony
What a joy, and an education to read about your adventures in Ecuador. I felt at times that I was actually there observing. I often read at night with iPad screen black with white writing so as not to wake my husband. This became much more of a challenge when trying not to laugh out loud… vision of an uncontrolled human earthquake beneath the quilt!
I became very fond of you all, and of all of the dear animals in your care whilst reading. Your writing style brings everything to life so well.
Thankyou for the access to these photos. Great to be able to put real images of some of the creature characters into my mind. May have to read again, now that I have seen them.
Am looking forward to reading more of your travel adventures.
Thank you
Anna
Hi Anna!
Glad you enjoyed the book – I hope I didn’t get you into too much trouble! I might have to start putting some kind of health warning on the cover… 😉
Hope you’re safe and well,
Best wishes,
Tony
Hi Tony – I loved this book. It made me laugh and it was never boring. I’m in the process of reading all of your books. Keep up the good work. Marcia Texas, US
Hi Marcia! That’s great, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’ve just started writing a new one 😉
Well, to say the least, I enjoyed your book, “That Bear Ate My Pants”! F u n e e e!!!! I loved the pics, but must say when I saw the pic of “No Name”, I said aloud, “that’s all the bigger it is??” Wow! I imagined it being a little bit bigger at least! However, a Caiman can still have sharp teeth no matter the size. Ha Ha! Actually, I live in FL and no matter the size, I steer away from gators!
Must run, it’s time I download another of your books. The sequel, I’m sure. Best of luck always.
Karen, SWFL, US
Hi Karen! Yeah, it wasn’t the biggest croc – I think fear made it seem a whole lot more intimidating when I was trying to catch it barehanded… especially after the bite! Quite lucky though, if it HAD been bigger, I might have been seriously injured by that bite, instead of wiping it off and going straight back to work… still, I wish it had left big gnarly scars! I hope you enjoy the other books. I’m doing readings from them at the moment on Facebook, if you fancy having a look – it’s easy enough to find me, just type my name in 😉
Best wishes,
Tony
Loved the book!! I laughed, and cried, and admired you and all of the characters you met and worked with for helping all of those animals. What an adventure. It makes me want to find a sanctuary and do the same. Thanks for sharing your story. 🙂
Thanks Sarah! You really should do it – well, once we’re all allowed to leave our homes again! It doesn’t have to be a massive international adventure, either – loads of local wildlife hospitals need volunteers. I built a bridge and some enclosures for a place in Somerset, UK, next door to my parents’ house! That way you can work up to the more challenging trips, if you want… or you can do what I did and dive straight in… but that way tends to result in more injuries, in my experience 😉
Glad you enjoyed the book! I hope you keep reading my other adventures 😉
Best wishes,
Tony
26 thoughts on “Photos From Ecuador”
Thank you! The pictures are the icing on your beyond enjoyable book. Where is Toby and Johnny?
Loved the book, love the photos. I was giggling so much reading THAT BEAR, my husband thought I was drinking. Move over Bill Bryson. Fyi, You do not seem like the odd chaps I met in the UK, who mainly stare at Americans and pretend they don’t speak English.
Hi Laurie! Thanks for that 😉
Yeah, we’ve done a bit of traveling and visited the US a few times, so I like to think we’re good with strangers 😉
Just finished the book. Quite tearful. Great to see the photos.
Hi Naomi! Glad you enjoyed it! I try to balance the sad bits with the odd joke here and there, but I was sad to leave alright!
Hi Laurie! Thanks for that ?
Yeah, we’ve done a bit of traveling and visited the US a few times, so I like to think we’re good with strangers ?
I just read your book about the bear ate my
pants and just purchased the follow up. Really enjoyed the book and have a list of all your books and will be getting the rest as I finish one after the other, I like your writings. Thank you.
Hi Richard! Glad you enjoyed the book! I’m just starting work on another one, but there’s plenty more of ’em before you get that far 😉
Thanks for reading, mate, I really appreciate it!
Best wishes,
Tony
Loved the book and your pictures are great. I had my own visions, but now they are real. Getting ready to read the next book and living vicariously through your adventures. Thanks…Sandy in Florida USA
Hi Sandy! Glad you enjoyed the book! The images are never quite the same as the ones we form in our minds, eh. I really wanted to include photos in the books, mostly to prove that it was all real, but that’s tough to do as a self-published author. I’ll be adding some more pics here eventually though, to illustrate the bits that got cut from the books!
Thanks Naomi. Sorry the book was sad! It sort of reflects my feelings at the time, I was gutted to leave. But, onwards and upwards, as they say 😉
Hiya! I sort of thought I probably shouldn’t include pics of people without their permission, and I can’t get in touch with them anymore! Not that I think they’d mind, but you never know – and I can’t afford to be sued if someone decided they weren’t happy with it 😮
I found your book to be delightfully entertaining as well as educational. One hears about animal rescue centers, operated by volunteers, but never even imagine what life is like in those places. It is admirable how much sacrifice it entails to deal with unexpected situations, such as inclement weather and the aggressive behavior of some animals. Thank you Tony for sharing your adventure!!
Hi Marita! Glad you enjoyed the stories! Volunteering is great fun, it really can give you opportunities you’d never find anywhere else. I was just talking with a friend in southern California who has been spending her days feeding baby squirrels with a syringe! So much fun, which sort of makes up for the ridiculously hard work and often unpleasant conditions. It’s an adventure, that’s what it is – and I love it!
Thanks for getting in touch 😉
Best wishes,
Tony
Thanks for the enjoyable read about Ecuador, wild animal rescues, your funny experiences and the harder side of life throughout it all. Your style of writing made me feel upfront and personal with you and all that was going on ….almost! 😉 Im wondering now – where are you in the world and what are you doing for work? Have you gone back yet for a visit to Quito or to Santa Martha?
Hi Jennifer! Glad you enjoyed the book! I’m in Australia at the moment, and you wouldn’t believe it from the quality of my writing, but I’m actually doing that for a living now! After ‘That Bear’ I got asked all the time about what happened afterwards, so I turned that into the sequel, ‘Don’t Need The Whole Dog’. Then it sort of snowballed, and I ended up spending the next few years traveling and writing about it. I’ve recently stopped for a bit of a breather, and started writing some fiction just to keep my hand in. All in all, NOT the kind of life I expected to have, but I’ve rather enjoyed it anyway 😉
Sadly I never made it back to Santa Martha – the refuge closed down a couple of years after I was there, I think there were all sorts of arguments about the direction the place was taking, and Johnny pulled the plug. Part of me would like to go back and see what happened – I’m sure Johnny still lives there – but part of me is a bit concerned I’d find exactly the kind of place we used to rescue animals from…
Ah well! On the upside, my little dog Machita accompanied Toby deep into the Amazon, where he set up his own refuge called ‘Merazonia’. And they’re still going strong today, and still taking volunteers! Though Toby eventually went to live in Austria and has two little boys. Life moves on, eh!
I hope you’re staying safe!
Best wishes,
Tony
I really enjoyed your book, and I’m likely to purchase others. My husband also gave me a few raised eyebrows when he heard loud belly laughs from down the hall. It’s not always easy to make me laugh, but your silly antics did the trick. Living vicariously through story tellers like yourself makes up for all of the travel that I’m not doing. Keep living life to the fullest and telling us about it!
Hi Nancy! That’s great! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the books. I’ve just started working on another one 😉
As soon as we’re able to travel again, we’ll be off on another adventure, but for now I’ll have to make do with a bit of trip planning… not something I nornally bother with!
Hope you’re well 😉
Hi Tony
What a joy, and an education to read about your adventures in Ecuador. I felt at times that I was actually there observing. I often read at night with iPad screen black with white writing so as not to wake my husband. This became much more of a challenge when trying not to laugh out loud… vision of an uncontrolled human earthquake beneath the quilt!
I became very fond of you all, and of all of the dear animals in your care whilst reading. Your writing style brings everything to life so well.
Thankyou for the access to these photos. Great to be able to put real images of some of the creature characters into my mind. May have to read again, now that I have seen them.
Am looking forward to reading more of your travel adventures.
Thank you
Anna
Hi Anna!
Glad you enjoyed the book – I hope I didn’t get you into too much trouble! I might have to start putting some kind of health warning on the cover… 😉
Hope you’re safe and well,
Best wishes,
Tony
Hi Tony – I loved this book. It made me laugh and it was never boring. I’m in the process of reading all of your books. Keep up the good work. Marcia Texas, US
Hi Marcia! That’s great, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’ve just started writing a new one 😉
Well, to say the least, I enjoyed your book, “That Bear Ate My Pants”! F u n e e e!!!! I loved the pics, but must say when I saw the pic of “No Name”, I said aloud, “that’s all the bigger it is??” Wow! I imagined it being a little bit bigger at least! However, a Caiman can still have sharp teeth no matter the size. Ha Ha! Actually, I live in FL and no matter the size, I steer away from gators!
Must run, it’s time I download another of your books. The sequel, I’m sure. Best of luck always.
Karen, SWFL, US
Hi Karen! Yeah, it wasn’t the biggest croc – I think fear made it seem a whole lot more intimidating when I was trying to catch it barehanded… especially after the bite! Quite lucky though, if it HAD been bigger, I might have been seriously injured by that bite, instead of wiping it off and going straight back to work… still, I wish it had left big gnarly scars! I hope you enjoy the other books. I’m doing readings from them at the moment on Facebook, if you fancy having a look – it’s easy enough to find me, just type my name in 😉
Best wishes,
Tony
Loved the book!! I laughed, and cried, and admired you and all of the characters you met and worked with for helping all of those animals. What an adventure. It makes me want to find a sanctuary and do the same. Thanks for sharing your story. 🙂
Thanks Sarah! You really should do it – well, once we’re all allowed to leave our homes again! It doesn’t have to be a massive international adventure, either – loads of local wildlife hospitals need volunteers. I built a bridge and some enclosures for a place in Somerset, UK, next door to my parents’ house! That way you can work up to the more challenging trips, if you want… or you can do what I did and dive straight in… but that way tends to result in more injuries, in my experience 😉
Glad you enjoyed the book! I hope you keep reading my other adventures 😉
Best wishes,
Tony