We started out with a short hike in the jungle where a guide pointed to items of interest and shared some lore of the area. On this hike we occasionally heard the very distinct and loud howling of a monkey at our destination, which built anticipation of our arrival.
When we got there, after about a 20-minute walk, sure enough they were there, this family of howler monkeys. The noise that we'd heard was caused by the previous group of tourists, which irritated the male of the family. And the reason he was so irritated was because his girlfriend and baby most obligingly hung out (literally) very low in the branches to interact with the people below. The male became more vocal as the tourists got closer to observe and take pictures.
And here is mom. The branch was so low and she was so close that at any given time someone could have reached out and stroked her fur, though no one did because we were strictly admonished to refrain from that temptation. She was clearly curious and was subject to her own temptation to get as close as she could to us. Meanwhile, the male stayed high up in the trees and hooted and hollered his displeasure at what was happening below.
Though the photo above makes it look as though she is alone on the branch, there was such a rush among those in our group to get the best camera angle or simply to get very close that I kept my distance down the path and waited for a better opportunity.
That was a strategy that did not work to my advantage. The pissed-off male, hollering and hooting up there in the tree, obviously saw my isolation as an opportunity, and before I knew it he had taken position directly above and rained his own brand of misery on this unwelcome intruder. I felt something, looked up, and, realizing what was taking place, got much closer to the pack that you see below (tour guide in orange on the right):
No comments:
Post a Comment