Monkeys at Punta Laguna

So today we headed out to the Punta Laguna Spider Monkey Reserve in the hope of seeing, eh Spider Monkeys. To be honest we had a slight hope of seeing Howler Monkeys albeit the website says these are much harder to see. 

We paid our entrance fee 200 pesos (about £9) and were off. We did have the option of a guide which would practically guarantee seeing the Spider Monkeys but this cost 800 pesos and we were on a budget travelling over 8 months. Also, we kind of wanted the thrill of searching for (and hopefully finding) monkeys ourselves.

The forest was lovely with lots of different layers of vegatation.

We stopped briefly to check out the lagoon and climb the tower here.

Heading off into the forest again we walked for about an hour with no monkeys to show for it. There were a few birds about but nothing new. A Common Yellowthroat by a river, a Boat Billed Flycatcher in a tree.

We turned and started heading back towards the car and I was starting to question our decision to go without a guide. But then a rustle in the trees above us and two black shapes emerged – large Howler Monkeys. We watched them through the binoculars and saw their gentle movements along the main branches and tree trunks. It was a large male and a smaller female. From a photography point of view the situation was tricky, a dark forest and bright sky, half a dozen layers of foliage between me and the subject, a subject that was all dark. Lots of things made this challenging. But the male kindly moved out and rested on a clear branch and I managed to find part of the path with a clear view and fired off a few keepers.

After a while we moved on leaving the Howlers in peace. We almost immediately heard commotion above us and this was quite different to the Howlers. Branches were swinging and leave falling as a group of Spider Monkeys swung through the branches high in the canopy. This was even harder to photograph than the Howlers as in addition to all those challenges the Spiders were moving fast, feeding and not really sitting still at all. Nonetheless I got a couple of opportunities of them moving and just hanging out.

A lovely couple of hours, happily recommend this reserve, do use a guide if you can afford as a worth while cause but also take your time and explore. 

We found the remains of an eaten bird on our return (not sure what this feather is – if you know please say in the comments).