The Big Event

I couldn’t think of what to title this post, but hopefully this will make sense as you read.

This morning I followed the South Group up to Níspero trees they love so well. When we arrived, there was another group or two already up there. The monkeys stayed pretty tranquilo though; just a few howls and everybody settled down to eat. Even with two or three groups up there, I’m not sure they have much to howl about anyway. There are at least 5 fruiting Níspero trees in the vicinity, so it seemed like there was enough for everyone.

In the afternoon, I followed some monkeys in an area where there was not a trail. As I hacked my way through vines and thorns, suddenly I heard buzzing all around me and could see only yellow and black. Then there was a sharp pain in my arm, sort of like getting a tetanus shot. I screamed and tried frantically to get away but was hampered by the vines. Finally I got away from all that buzzing and miraculously had gotten only one sting. I put on some “Sting-Eze” stuff designed for this purpose and hoped for the best.

As I was recovering from this encounter, I heard some strange noises that sounded sort of like birds and then all of a sudden, I saw the weirdest looking monkeys I had ever seen. For a split second I thought it was some kind of albino howler monkey, and then I realized they were capuchins! These are the monkeys with black bodies and white faces—the only other non-human primate species that lives on Ometepe. All the times that I have been here, I have never, ever seen wild capuchins. This was the big one. The big event. I was speechless. I forgot all about my wasp or whatever sting.

The capuchins had apparently come in for Níspero fruit as well. So in addition to the 2+ groups of howlers, a group of capuchins was now vying for it. The howlers didn’t seem too happy about having the capuchins on the scene, but they also seemed unwilling to get up from their afternoon nap to do anything about it. There was some weak howling and a bit of movement, but nothing like the pandemonium I might have expected. Regardless, the capuchins were extremely skittish. I think they were probably pretty freaked out by me; unlike the howlers, capuchins don’t see people as often and they definitely weren’t habituated. They did not hang around long: they retreated back from where they came, and in the end and I’m not sure that they got a whole lot of the Níspero fruit. Even so, it made my day.

Later on, I also saw an iguana, but under the circumstances, the capuchins made this day more memorable.

Okay, I need to sign off. Here's a picture of a capuchin that Rob took last weekend from Monkey Island; unfortunately I didn’t have the camera with me today. Oh, and by the way, my sting isn’t too bad. Thanks for reading!