Paul and I were five days away from moving into our new house, with its attached cage, when I arrived home with the two spider monkeys.

Lolita was no problem since I’d be wearing her 24 x 7 until she settled in, but Chiquito was a problem. He needed to be in the cage, and he couldn’t be left alone at the empty house.

It was about 5:30 when I got home with the monkeys. Our neighbors, Dave and Valentina, were waiting at the house to see the monkeys and pick up the small crate they had loaned me for Lolita. (All of our rehab supplies and equipment were being delivered on Saturday with everything else that had been in storage for six months.)

Valentina fed Lolita, and Dave sat down on the floor next to the large plastic dog crate Chiquito had been in for the past 24 hours.

“He looks depressed,” Dave said.

“I’m sure he is. He was shoved in a crate and taken from the only home and family he’s known.”

“What are you going to do with him tonight?” Dave asked.

“He’s going to have to stay in the crate, because it will be dark within fifteen minutes. Tomorrow I’ll put the crate in the cage and open it in there.”

“Poor guy,” Dave said. “I’ll sleep in the cage with him tonight.”

I didn’t give Dave a chance to change his mind. While he drove home to get a sleeping bag, I packed a picnic for Chiquito.

Dave returned with a sleeping bag, cushions to put underneath it on the cement floor, a pillow, sheets, a flashlight, and a machete for unwelcome visitors. Then he set up camp, and we put the crate in the cage and locked the door.

“Should I let him out?” Dave asked.

“I don’t know how he’ll react,” I answered honestly. The supplies the movers were delivering on Saturday contained welders gloves, a fencing mask, and a rabies pole specifically for a situation like this one, which could go horribly wrong.

Dave shrugged, leaned over, unlatched the crate door, and retreated quickly. But he wasn’t as fast as Chiquito.

A black blur shot out of the cage and threw itself into Dave’s arms.

And that’s where Chiquito spent the first night.

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It’s clear that Monkey Mom Michele and Monkey Dad Paul Gawenka are doing this for the love these incredible monkeys – it certainly is not for the money which they have been spending to try and provide an environment where they can rest and recover before they are released…

After we published our first article in this series, I and a few other VIP Members paid some money into Paul Gawenka’s PayPal account (pgawenka@yahoo.com) to help with the costs for a new enclosure…

Michele and Paul don’t have some fancy ‘charity’ that you can contribute to but they’ve given us their personal guarantee that every penny that you may give goes towards helping the animals – they don’t want a dime for themselves – so please log into your PayPal account and follow my lead and send them a US$100 to pgawenka@yahoo.com

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.