The Pacaya River
Monkeys. Certainly, when many people think of the Amazon and tropical rain forests, images of troops of monkeys come to mind. Energetic, acrobatic, and exciting are a few of the words to describe monkeys. Diverse in their sizes, diets, and habits they are always an interesting animal to observe. Today, our excursions on the Pacaya River were all about monkeys.
Taking advantage of the active times of the day, we set out early and stayed out late in our two trips today. And sure, we saw lots of birds, and sloths, and river dolphins, and lush forest, and beautiful scenery. But it really was all about monkeys. From the first five minutes of the morning trip until the last fiery rays of the sunset, we were watching monkeys.
The most abundant were certainly Squirrel Monkeys. Today we encountered many, many troops of Squirrel Monkeys. Some were a little shy, but many paid no attention to us. They were observed eating various fruits, but also picking through leaves and vines to search for insects. Small, fast, and acrobatic, they made some impressive jumps between trees.
Sometimes joining the Squirrel Monkeys were Capuchins. We were lucky enough today to find two different types, both the Brown Capuchin and the White-fronted Capuchin. Larger and more stout, these are impressive creatures. Also doing some impressive jumps, they were challenging but fun to watch as well. Some were even seen trying to open the large fruits of the cannonball tree. A single Monk Saki was also spotted, curled up in a furry ball. With occasional glances at us, it was nice to see its lighter eyebrows moving up and down.
In the afternoon, we were treated to numerous groups of the biggest monkeys around here, the Red Howler Monkeys. Mostly eating leaves, but also some fruit, these monkeys spend lots of time sitting in the tops of large trees. Mostly, they appeared as red, furry, clumps, but numerous groups scampered around in the trees, some hanging by their prehensile tails. As we returned to Delfin II with a spectacular red sunset, numerous silhouette Howler Monkey groups were a fitting end to a spectacular day.
