On Assignment in Guatemala

8/11/13
Rio Dulce



It has been a while since my last blog and I have to say I am very frustrated with my inability to add photos to this blog.  So bear with me and I will keep pushing this learning curve I am on.

As Linda's trip was coming to a close we were getting somewhat weary of making trips, so we decided to travel across the river to hear and hopefully see the howler monkeys.  Unfortunately for those of us that are not "morning people" the howler monkeys are.  So, up at 5:00am and off in the launcha by 5:30, since it wasn't a very far trip just across the river from the marina.  We could actually already hear them in the distance.  These are Black Howler Monkeys.  They live in troops of 4-6 with usually one male and one or two  breeding females and offsprings.  These are the largest monkeys in the Americas.  They have long black hair and a very visible white scrotum area.

We entered a small bay that quickly became a small creek but was navigable by our laucha.  It twisted and turned through the jungle.  Now, imagine being at your favorite nursery and any of the tropical plants there are then multiplied many times over here.  The ferns, palms, and bromeliads are just beautiful and they are in every directions that you look.  We passed a small hut built out of sticks with a thatched roof.  One little girl was in the front "yard" with many chickens running around and one goat tied to a stick.  She waved as we passed by these mayan people are beautiful.  But our assignment was to find those monkeys, and we were feeling like we were part of a National Geographic expedition.  Finally, we heard those monkeys.  The sound is nothing like what you would expect a monkey to sound like.  This is the sound of a pack of big rabid dogs.  And, yes it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.  There was movement in the tops of the trees and after turning off the motor and sitting quietly we found a troop of howlers.  They moved back and forth through the tops of the trees with such ease by the use of that prehensile tail.  We were getting cricks in our necks from watching, must have been a good 30 minutes.  While watching them with my binoculars I noticed the male, ahhh yes with the white scrotum, was beginning to urinate.  We were laughing and then realized that there were things "plopping" in the water all around us.  Before we realized it one of those "plops" hit the boat and Charlie's arm, and not only were they urinating but they were defecating as well.  Gives a new meaning to "monkey see, monkey do".  We had all of the howler monkeys we wanted at that point and made our way back out and to the boat.  And after note:  Early this week Charlie and I made a return trip to the same area in hopes of seeing those crazy monkeys again, but we found that the creek was now impassable due to down trees from a storm we had had several nights previously.  It was very disappointing, but probably a good thing for the monkeys as their habitat is now closed to human traffic.