Greybeard. Not a terribly original name for the little Macaque I saw sqatted out the back of the Losmen I was staying in, but then I again wasn't feeling that original myself after a few weeks of arduous travel overland from Timor.
The first thing that struck me was the poor living conditions this little fellow had to contend with. He was tethered by a rusty chain to a metal stake in the ground, surrounded by scrap metal, corrigated iron, old tyre rims and general builders waste. The tether was then wrapped around his hind quarters above the hip and it seemed not to have have been loosened since attached as two open wounds had developed on each side where his body had grown and come into contact with the metal links. He was being cut in two.
I was used to being witness to such things as over the years I had seen many similar such examples of pets kept in this condition but I always feel awfully for the animals and this time I was determined to do something about it. Not today though as I was tired and just wanted to sit down and relax.
Klaus and Gerolt were two german adventuers who were staying in the losmen also. These European friends had both finished individual pursuits and were meeting for their last week away in Bali for some R+R. Klaus had spent the climbing season in the himalaya exploring small peaks and Gerolt had just ridden his pushbike from Larantuka at the eastern end of Flores. I had met Gerolt in Mone at the base of Keli Mutu and it was pure coincidence I saw him again here.
We all now sat around the dinner table enjoying our Indonesian fare and exchanging tales from the road. Both men had far more wild and adventurous tales than I so I quite willingly sat back and soaked up the many stories that were being told.
After about an hour the heavens opened and a deluge of water began to fall and I couldn't help but think about Greybeard out exposed in the torrent. I must have looked a little agitated as Klaus enqired if all was ok. I then explained the predicament of the little monkey to them both and pleasingly they were as troubled as I was.
In a thick heavy german accent Gerolt asked, "Show me this poor little animal." And with that we all walked to the back door to view poor Greybeard. We had to wait for lightning flashes to see Greybeard as it was pitch black outside.He was still there exposed completely to the elements and it was truly heart wrenching. The two adventurers then spoke to each other quickly in their native toungue and disaperared to their rooms.
I walked back to the dining area thinking how I might diplomatically speak with the losmen owner to see if I could help the monkey. As I'm doing this Klaus and Gerolt appear, heads adorned with mountain lamps. Gerolt was armed with a hammer and pliers from his bike kit and Klaus was holding a small coil of wire. I was only armed with enthusiasm and with our individual tools we all headed into the wet night.
The plan was to utilise the scap and rubble to build a monkey house, and with the three of us bending iron,wiring and stacking broken bricks we had constructed quite a large structure around the stake in which Greybeard was sucured, in about forty minutes.
Moving away from our from the stucture about twenty feet we stood cold, wet and rather pleased with ourselves but Greybeard seemed not to notice or care about what we had done, and now we had the problem of getting him into his house. No problems. I went to my day pack and produced two bananas. I handed one directly to Greybeard and placed the otheer in his hut and sure enough when we looked out on him an hour later he was grooming himself in his new home.
The next day we explained to the losman owner what we had done and asked if we could clean the area up and build Greybeard a more permanent home. The owner agreed and by the end of the day Greybeard had a two story bamboo abode any Macaque would have been pleased to own. Klaus also tended to Greybeards wounds and we bought a new tether with rubber outcasing so there would be no more cutting into his body.
Three years later the structure still stood and Greybeard had refound the mischievous glint in his eye that all little monkeys should have.