PREPARING LUNCH FOR AN OCELOT

Mmmmmm. Lunchtime. Liz and Cinde cut up beef hearts for the many animals of the Monkey Park.

When was the last time you made an all-meat lunch for an ocelot? How about slicing up a fruit snack for a group of cute marmosets (see photo below)?

If the answer is "never," get yourself immediately to the Monkey Park Foundation, a wildlife rescue center just outside of Costa Rica's popular coastal town of Tamarindo.

The Monkey Park is home to numerous animals, some formerly in captivity, and some rescued to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild. For more on what's happening with the exotic animal population in Costa Rica, read Kip's article for National Geographic.

This adorable marmoset is glad that he's not part of lunch for the Ocelot.

But, back to the ocelot lunch. 

Vanessa, the head of the park, directed us to the large pick-up truck that just arrived full of fresh fruit and meats. We loaded them into the tiny kitchen and got to work.

Liz and our new friend Cinde, who runs the Hotel Villa Amarilla, were put on beef duty, which involved carving up over 100 lbs. of beef hearts for the various birds of prey, the coyote, and of course, the ocelot. It was a bloody, messy job, but the two animal lovers were up to it. (Click here for a reminder about how much Liz loves animals.) 

Kip had the even less glamorous job of helping to cleaning out cages. But sometimes, volunteering can be a dirty job. 

Once the carnivores were cared for, we passed out fruits and veggies to the herbivores. This pig was so grateful, he gave Cinde a kiss.

Cinde gets an appreciative kiss from a happy collared peccary.

The Monkey park is not only a great place to volunteer, but it's a great place to visit as well. The park gets no government funding, and relies on donations, and the funds they earn from admission fees to feed and care for the animals.  

For directions to the park, click here. 

And, if you're interested in becoming a volunteer (after all, you will get to prepare lunch for an ocelot....we may have mentioned that twelve times already), check out their volunteer page. 

The happy volunteers and employees of the Monkey Park--Johnny, Cinde, Liz, Kip and Vanessa. 

A happy scarlet macaw eats fresh sunflower seeds out of his food puzzle Kip filled up for him.