Day 4 has come to a close and we cannot believe we only have one more day remaining of service at Save the Chimps. This week so far has been an incredible experience. One in which we have to remind ourselves every day that this is real life.
Upon arriving to Save the Chimps, we were told we would be going to the "thirteenth island" where we would be doing hard labor with some of the maintenance men (S/O Jeff). After hearing this, we were all confused as we did not know there was a thirteenth island. Once we arrived at the "thirteenth island" we learned that it was just an area of land at the back of the sanctuary where they are hoping to build a future island or another primate dome that houses special needs chimps in coming years so they are able to house more chimps. Our task for the morning was to take apart 6x6 palettes that were covered with weaved fire hoses on one side. These palettes were originally made for the chimps to play with on their islands. This task was some-what difficult because it was more labor intensive than our other work that we had done previously this week; and not to mention the hot Florida sun beating down on us the whole time. With only three drills to use, our group figured out a system and was able to unscrew all the nuts and bolts within a few hours. Then came the fun part….demolition!! Each person got the chance to use the sledge hammer (if they chose) and take a whack at the wood palette. Huge shout out to Baylee and Josh for leading the team in their super strength and hitting the sh*t out of it…they made it look easy, and let me tell you it was not - shout out to Kylie for dropping the mallet during her first attempted hit, Morgan for almost hitting her foot, and Anna for actually hitting her foot. Within three hours we had the wood torn apart and put into a pile to go to the burning grounds and un-weaved the fire hoses and put those in a separate pile to be recycled for future use.
Because we finished our work early this morning, we were able to have a little extra lunch break where we enjoyed the Florida weather and went outside and some of us threw the ball around or soaked in the sun. After lunch was over, Monica came over with the best news we could hear- CHIMP TIME!! Heck ya! She took us in two groups over to the "special needs" habitat where we were able to interact with some of the chimps. It was a grand time being able to watch Jon (a cool participant) play chase with Clay (fav chimp), watch Clay and Mr. T (cute chimp) play tug a war over a rope, being able to use tickle sticks with Cheetah and Timmy (friend chimps), and watch Kylie (human participant) use her "chimp whispering" skills. We always love having the opportunity for chimp time which a lot of other volunteers normally don't get.
Once chimp time came to a close we were divided up into two groups, minus Josh who was taken away by Jeff to help the maintenance guys replace wood on the islands against the river. One group was assigned the task of putting hundreds of pinecones into large gray trash looking bins in order to get them off the ground so that they are able to last longer. The other group helped out in the kitchen making flour bags, which are brown lunch bags comprised of flour and a trail mix that are rolled and taped. They also had to make apple cartons which are drizzled with honey and covered with sunflower seeds and cranberries. We were able to finish these tasks early and get one more in before having to leave for the day. Monica took us back to the maintenance building where we were tasked with counting up all the leftover "Chimpmas" presents that were in the break room and then dividing them in separate equal piles. How many people does it take to count presents? Clearly not 12 because we could not figure it out. With this task being at the end of a long labor-intensive hot day, it took us a little bit to figure out a working system to count and divide. With trial and error (and a little patience) we were able to divide the presents and send one pile up to the kitchen while the other was put away into storage.
After a long day of work, we decided to just come back to the house, hang out, and play a game of whiffle ball outside before making dinner.
We are sad to realize that tomorrow is our last day of service but very thankful that we were able to stay and finish out our week despite the crazy weather coming. Our time with the chimps may be coming to an end but we will always remember the memories we have made with each other, the workers at Save the Chimps, and most importantly, the time spent with the chimps.
~ the funky fresh crew of Fort Pierce ~
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