Jacj Cuisi - Day 4
Trip Start
Aug 06, 2010
1
27
136
Trip End
Dec 20, 2010
Rurrenabaque, Bolivia
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
On the way up to Luna's cage today I'm apprehensive about how'll she'll be. I hope she is calmer today than she was yesterday although I also want her to jump me today so that I handle it better. All seems well though as she seems a lot more settled and she is super affectionate to me. We take her out & have a really good day. Its cooler now after the heat & humidity of the last few days and my fitness is better so I handle the steep trails a lot better now. The sweat flies that have been bugging me when we stop seem to leave me alone a bit more and even my initial blisters from my gumboots are not so painful. Things are on the up!
Luna is very affectionate with me now. When Maura is walking her and I am behind Maura Luna will often stop, turn her head around to check that I am there and then comes and brushes against my legs as I give her a stroke - she'll start purring and then continue on with her walk. So amazing! She also likes to give my leg a little 'lovebite' when she pushes past me. I am comfortable with her doing it - I know its affectionate and not aggressive. Still a bit surreal to have a puma's jaw wrapped around your leg.
At one point she pounces on me but this time I am relaxed and don't struggle so she drops off quickly (because I am no fun for her to play with if I don't struggle). I feel really upbeat when we take her back to her cage at the end of the day and I play 'chase the stick' with her for a bit. I feel we have a good bond now & I can read her better.
Back at the camp as the others come in we find out that Reto (the younger swiss guy) had a bad day. His cat (the most aggressive one) pounced him but somehow he got around to reto's back and had his jaws on Reto's neck. Reto is shaken and his back needs stiches. You can see he's lost all confidence but he has a chat with mgmt who tell him that even though he feels like it was aggressive its still only playing. They say if the puma was aggressive he would have been torn to shreds! Comforting indeed!! The event has shaken all of us a bit but we still have fun when Manual (the Vet) gives Reto stiches and we get to watch it all with much teasing of Reto.
Later in the evening I am on dinner duties with the swiss guy Franz. We make a really nice meal of savoury crepes with garlic mayonnaise although all I really do is chop a few things as there are so many people willing to help. Victor & Iris also cook a proper chinese fried rice (they are from Hong Kong) - its fascinating to watch them making it and tastes delicious. After dinner 6 of us sit around & play cards by candlelight. We play a chinese game that Victor & Iris teach us. It is similar to last card/Uno but with scoring. I end up winning by an extrememly convincing margin. All those years being beaten by older brothers and sisters have turned me into a decent card player.
