Exciting Things on the Horizon

Hi, Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been quite busy.

I haven't been able to visit the chimpanzees at Monarto Zoo much as I've been conserving money where possible, I got a lovely new dog a few months ago and she takes up quite a bit of time and money- well worth it of course.

Here's a picture of Sandali and Gombe from my last zoo visit:



Just a couple of weeks ago I got a new job, which means I will be able to save up enough to go to Chimp Eden in South Africa next year! You may have heard about the sanctuary, run by Jane Goodall Institute South Africa, as they had a television series a couple of years back called 'Escape to Chimp Eden'.
 I will be staying there for two weeks doing a Chimpanzee Sanctuary training course, which is going to be so interesting, as I hope to work at a sanctuary one day. You can follow this link to find out more about Chimp Eden and the great work that they do: http://www.chimpeden.com/

Something else that I'm thinking about doing is an online charity auction to benefit Save the Chimps, they are in the process of raising funds for a facility to cater for their special needs chimpanzees, and I think a charity auction would be a fun way to help out. I'm hoping to do it on a great ape forum that I have created, but I don't want to get started until there's more members using the site, there's not much point having an auction if no one's around to have a look and bid! Here's the link to the forum:
http://greatapes.proboards.com/index.cgi
I believe you have to be over 13 to join, but you may have a parent or guardian sign up for you if you are under that age and would like to chat with other ape lovers and help get the auction happening.
 In my last post I talked about some artwork I was doing, I'm hoping to be able to sell some at the online auction if it works out all right. The cage sit didn't end up happening, life just got in the way! I'm thinking the charity auction will be a better way for me to raise money because it won't get in the way of work/uni/looking after my dog etc.
 Let me know if you have idea for things you'd like to donate for the auction, they don't have to be chimp related! You can send me a message on the forum (link above).

Here's a few more photos of the chimpanzees at Monarto Zoo:

Tsotsi


Galatea


Sandali and Boyd during a dispute


Zombi