Jaguar Mural at Zoorefugio, Tarqui

We volunteered at Zoorefugio in Tarqui. A family run, non-government funded, animal rescue that houses 200+ animals previously illegally trafficked or kept as pets. We started our visit like all the volunteers, feeding the animals twice a day, which is what brought us to Zoorefugio in the first place. Fanny and William quickly changed our responsibilities to put Cat's painting skills to use.

For 20 minutes this parrot showed off for us in a total downpour.

This monkey(Samiri) had free range at Zoorefugio. We would see her all over the property. In the morning she would say hello before stealing fruit from the wheelbarrow used to deliver food to the animals.

Enough bananas for one week. The Felines are the only animals that don't eat them.

Largest rodent in the world, the capybara. Docile as a dog.

Christian, one of two full time employees, seen here giving a capybara a nice chin scratch after inspecting a cut on its throat.

Patricio, the other full time employee, seen here feeding parrots in the bird quarantine. New arrivals are brought to health before they are socialized into the main habitat. The picture on the right is the view from the porch of the volunteer house. The enclosure in the foreground is for Chico Monkeys, the size of a can of coke.

Night view from the volunteer house. Surrounded by animals, sugarcane fields, and the Amazon.

Sleepy ocelot.

Zoorefugio treats volunteers to a day in the amazon once a week. We took a canoe down river, had lunch, hiked to a beautiful waterfall, swung high over a lush valley on a rope swing, and visited a Quechua village.

Quechua woman with traditional face tattoos, holding a bowl of chicha fuerte. Chicha is a drink that is only made by the women, it used to be made by chewing corn and spitting it into a bowl, saliva provided the yeast for fermentation.

Young Quechua girl applying Cat's temporary face tattoo with surgical precision using a toothpick. The pigment is achiote (seeds from a tree).

We had a lot of fun watching these boys play with a dart gun twice their size.

Two days into our visit Cat started the mural with this wax pencil sketch.

Cat in her tactical footwear. The entire painting was done in oil latex paint. Paint thinner was sold in town in old fanta and water bottles.

Brenda and bromelia in progress.

The finished product, completed in seven days.

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