Monkey Spotter

I am the official monkey spotter of our vacation duo. After an amazing dinner last night of local fish and the companionship of fellow travelers from Toledo, OH, we crashed early and awoke to the sounds of the local howler monkey troop. I recorded it but am not able to share it from my iPhone app. Anyway, this morning I spotted a howler monkey in a tree on the bank of the river across from our cabin. It was really special to see it in the wild.

We spent the morning at the Altun Ha Mayan ruins with Ed, the owner here at the resort. We learned so much about the site and the Mayans, as well as about Belize. Richard and I are both very inquisitive and Ed was more than happy to indulge us.

After returning from that activity, we decided to go canoeing. Ed and his son dropped our canoe in down from the resort and told us it would take 2 to 3 hours until we made it back to our cabin . With Ed's departing words of "Richard, look in the trees" away we went! It was just the two of us, the river, and the wildlife for the next 2 1/2 hours. This was the highlight of the trip so far for me. We saw lots of birds and of course howler monkeys!!! I spotted one right off, and it was so amazing. I had heard something in the trees and there it was; Richard missed seeing it and I felt a bit bad, but a little while later I spotted a few more and we both were able to enjoy them! The banks of the river were gorgeous jungle and the wildlife we saw (birds, cows, and monkeys) made this canoe trip very special. Later on the trip Richard spotted a spider monkey hanging out on a dead tree right above the water on the bank; we paddled really close and watched the monkey jump from a branch and miss his intended target, (another branch) fall in the river and swim to shore. Like I said, this was the highlight of the trip for me so far and something that I will never forget.