Summer in Mallorca

This summer is incredibly cooler than last summer, though it is usually in the 90’s in the afternoon. I’ve been leading a boring life here, mostly sitting in my little hostal room doing homework and listening to my news podcasts.

Paco Has Been Sighted

Dr. Phillip wrote me recently to tell me that Paco was seen living with a small group of capuchins, both male and female, and that he “quite fancies himself as the boss.” We couldn’t be happier. Capuchins and their near relatives are one of the few monkeys that will seek out or adopt outsiders. No one is sure why. Could it be they feel compassion for other lonely monkeys? Or is it, as the colder-hearted might suggest, purely for survival purposes? I’m sure you know where I stand on this

Paco has escaped and has not returned.

Paco – our newest capuchin friend

This is Paco. A 10 – 15 year old capuchin.

(It looks like Frank is torturing him, but really he is in seventh heaven). He is a capuchin monkey that lives in this nasty cage alongside the highway, where the owners make and sell the traditional ground corn pancake called the "cachapa."

Paco used to live on a chain next door with another monkey. That monkey died, and Paco has been living alone in this cage for atleast four years. They think he is between 10 and 15 years old.

Paco is our next project. I am going to buy him (for around $75.00). We are then going to drive him across Venezuela to the Canaote "finca" (farm) near San Carlos, Cojedes, where Dr. Phillip and David will take very good and loving care of him.

I am a little worried, because he scares easily, and I am hoping he will get along well with the other four monkeys (Cachito and Chispa, Kuchi, and Abu). He will have to spend two weeks in monkey quarantine (a small cage) before he can be put in the big cage with the others. The big cage, by the way, is almost as big as my house. They are very happy there.

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