Near as I can figure…

Thanks everyone for your posts. It was a loooong day and I am exhausted so will make this brief. When I got to the forest this morning, I discovered that the remains had been scavenged, so my quandary over whether to have a proper burial or preserve the skeleton for educational purposes turned out to be a moot point. After searching high and low all through the day, I did not encounter Wrinkle Belly. At this point, it really does seem to me that he is the monkey who died. Most of the North Group stayed in the vicinity of the mango tree—the scene of the crime. The group did split up a bit after their breakfast, and I searched each of the sub-groups thoroughly. I really think that if Wrinkle Belly were alive, I would have found him. What is interesting and also eerie is that the North Group is remaining in the area where he died. Everybody says that howler monkeys are dumb, but I really think they know.

It was a wretchedly hot day in the forest; I ran out of water and am sunburnt to a crisp. When I was on my way home, I saw Simeon for the first time in months. He was walking along the road, using a stick for a cane. He had been sick and had to have surgery in the hospital on the mainland, but he is doing better now. It will be about another month before he can go up into the forest again though. He laughed because he told me he’d heard that Rob and I climbed the volcano and how much trouble we’d had, and how we were so sore afterwards that we didn’t leave the Hacienda for a week. Well, I guess news travels fast in a small town. He asked me how Wrinkle Belly was, and fighting back tears, I told him. He said, maybe Wrinkle Belly would show up yet. And if not, we both agreed that Wrinkle Belly was an old monkey, who’d lived many years and had a good life. Well, I don’t know if he had a good life, but I certainly hope so. Of course, what I really hope is that he turns up yet. It just occurred to me how much Wrinkle Belly loved unripe mangos, so if the mango tree is where he met his end, then at least he’d had a good last meal.

Tomorrow I’ve got to stay in to use the TT, but if I find anything else out when I am back in the forest, I will be sure to post. Thanks for reading.