Scribbles in London

I've found a coffee shop to write in. I'm waiting for my brother to get across the city and find me, but in the meantime I have tea, a notebook and an open window to watch the comings and goings of Holborn.

I wanted to steer clear of public transport after arriving in London, so I followed Google Maps and found China Town and an astrology shop where the proprietor was telling the future of a customer's five year old. She's very gifted and will go on to do great things. I also managed to acquire some semi abusive birthday cards from a quirky bookshop, so apologies in advance if you're expecting a card any time soon...

The Run!

So, did I do it?

Yes!

Somehow, despite a road closure adding an extra kilometre to the route, I completed the Great Gorilla Run 2011!

I won't lie, it wasn't easy. There is definitely not enough room for a human head and sufficient oxygen to run five miles in a gorilla mask. It is also nearly impossible to run up and down stairs when the eye holes are so small that you can't even see the stairs until your big furry feet are tripping down them. In addition, it's very difficult to drink the bottle of water kindly placed into your enormous gorilla hands when you have a plastic gorilla face plastered over your own. If I've learned anything from this experience it is never to entertain the possibility of running the London Marathon in a gorilla costume. Or even a half marathon, or a less than half marathon, for that matter.

That said, it was quite a lot of fun careering around the posh business bit of London with hundreds of gorillas in fancy dress. My gorilla pirate received huge amounts of attention from passing children, many of whom seemed to think I was the real Captain Jack Sparrow (the fact that I was a gorilla seemed to go un-noticed). Something else I had to get my head around was that there will undoubtedly be hundreds of photographs of me-dressed-as-a-gorilla-dressed-as-a-pirate in Facebook albums of people I don't know, all over the world. The tourists at Tower Bridge seemed to find the peculiar British past-time of running in gorilla costumes more interesting than the architecture!

But most importantly, we helped raise lots of cash to help The Gorilla Organization with their work to protect the gorillas and support sustainable development in their last remaining strongholds. I do not yet have a final total, but I will let you know when I do. In the meantime if you would still like to sponsor me retrospectively, you can do so at This Address!

If you have been kind enough to sponsor me already, thank you very much!


^ Me!

^ Fellow Gorillas

^ Lonely Gorilla

A New Mission

Hello! First of all, thanks to those of you who have loyally followed the Monkey Mission Blog since it first appeared in 2008, your support is very much appreciated. If you've noticed a 'radio silence' recently it's because I have been lacking in interesting primate related adventures, or at least ones I'm allowed to write about! However, all of that is about to change as I present to you:

The Great Gorilla Run

On Saturday 24th September I will be running through London in a gorilla suit. I will not be alone, there will be 799 other Gorilla Runners with me. All 800 Gorilla Runners are doing so to raise funds for The Gorilla Organisation, who work internationally to help protect the last remaining wild populations of gorillas and their habitats. They do this in several ways: By undertaking research and implementing conservation measures, educating local people and the wider public, and funding development projects including microcredit schemes, bee-keeping and agricultural training.

The route is only 7 km long, but in light of the facts that:
a) I don't run
b) I will be wearing a gorilla suit and
c) I don't run
it actually seems like quite a challenge (If you have, for example, climbed Everest or run the London Marathon dressed as an otter for charity please refrain from commenting!!!)

Over the next couple of months I will use this blog to keep track of my fundraising efforts and preparation for running in a gorilla suit. I'll also be exploring the work of The Gorilla Organisation.

If you would like to sponsor me, then you can do so at: http://events.gorillas.org/gorillapirate
If not, perhaps I can persuade you over the next month or two... watch this space!

Much love,
Rach x

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you!

I had quite a good 2010, even in primatical terms, with finding an animal care job being quite a positive landmark in the year. The highlight for me though was the Hope 4 Apes event held at the Lyceum Theatre, London, in December.

The evening was hosted by Sir David Attenborough, with talks given by ape enthusiasts such as Dr. Jane Goodall DBE (chimpanzees), Ian Redmond OBE (gorillas), Dr Jo Thompson (bonobos), Dr Birute Galdikas (orang-utans) and Chanee (gibbons). The nicest thing was the hopeful theme that connected the talks, which must have stirred the faintest slither of optimism in even the most skeptical, pragmatic, grumpy old conservationist. If you missed it, don't despair, for there is a DVD of the event in production which I will of course bring to your attention as soon as I hear about it!

If that line-up didn't nearly finish me off with excitement, the day before was the icing on the cake as I stumbled across a Jane Goodall book signing in Regent Street at the National Geographic Store. Having discovered it online quite by accident the day before, I dragged my long-suffering friend along and we were treated to a fascinating in-store talk before managing to get the new book signed, as well as an ageing copy of In the Shadow of Man.

It's unlikely then that 2011 can get much better but I'll keep my fingers crossed, and I hope that the coming year will bring you all the opportunities you want, or even just the will-power to seek them out! Good luck.

16 AUG 09

I've been back for almost a month, although it doesn't seem possible! The jungle feels like it happened in a different lifetime, which it did to some extent I suppose.

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster month at home. Catching up with friends and family, dealing with the loss of Gran and the final stages of her debilitating dementia, work experience at the local newspaper, getting back in the musical loop with Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle and the general adaptations to English life have pretty much taken it out of me in the last few weeks but, weirdly, I've enjoyed most of it.

This weekend in particular has been fantastic. I promised myself to do some touristy things this summer to reacquaint myself with the wonders of our little island, so I did.
I decided at seven o'clock yesterday morning that I would make the most of the summer deal with South West Trains. By the time Big Ben struck eleven o'clock I was stood underneath it with Lisa and Dom. A quick walk around Westminster and a tube ride to Camden Town led us to meet another school friend, Hannah. Lisa and Dom fit the loosely defined term 'artfag' remarkably well. This means they like to bury their heads in books, listen to music that nobody's ever heard of and take an interest in obscure but intriguing things. With these two at the reigns we ended up standing inside the Roundhouse Theatre looking at an installation by David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame). It goes by the name of 'Playing the Building' and consists of a small electric organ wired up to the metal pipes keeping the roof up. As a result of pressing various keys a series of clunks, whistles and rumbles can be heard from corresponding pipes and 'hey presto', you're 'playing the building'. It is, in all honesty, weird, but quite a good way to waste some time if you're an ex-popstar with some spare cash and a slightly addled brain. It also gave us something to do before lunch! And lunch in Camden Market meant that I could have NOODLES, which I've missed!!!

Today I drove school-friend-3, Karen, from Wareham to Glastonbury where we met up with my parents. We drank lots of tea, tried on capes of many colours, browsed bookshops full of second-hand spell guides and eventually climbed up the Tor to visit St.Michael's Tower and see the view over Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.

I've pretty much adjusted to being back now. The only time it feels a bit weird is when I wake up at night and can't hear any insects, although I still check under my pillow for centipedes. Other things it's hard to get used to include not being able to order a Tiger Beer at a bar, getting strange looks for bidding people 'jumpan' instead of a 'see you later' and mistaking a grey squirrel rustling leaves for a long-tailed macaque. Mistakes anyone could make, I'm sure.

Love to all on the other side of the planet!
Rachel x