Welcome to the Jungle

So, please forgive me if I think that this is the photo of the year, but I am pretty sure that it is. As I wrote in my last post, a group of us went to visit the jungle this past weekend. The first place we stopped after the four hour ride was a park that specializes in rescuing abused monkeys and jungle birds. For the low low price of less than $1 we were able to enter this park an get a face to face view of these critters....literally.

As we walked in on the trail, you could stand there and watch all the different species of monkeys jumping around in the trees. As we continued, though, there was a little area where you could sit down and watch the monkeys and some anteaters too. Well, there were two of us, myself and my friend Eric. I took the camera first and he went down to pick up a monkey. I snapped some good shots and everybody was happy. However, when we changed roles, everything changed. One of the volunteers, a British girl, saw me trying to pick this little critter up and she said, ¨Don´t pick them up! That´s when they bite you!¨ Naturally, I returned the monkey to the ground and grabbed a seat for myself. At this point, I should also mention that I was sweating profusely (as usual) and I think the monkeys like that becuase that little guy jumped right up on to me and started licking all the sweat off of me. And as if that wasn´t enough, after he licked my nose (see photo), he started digging through my hair looking for a snack. Another lovely British girl warned me, ¨not to make any sudden movements, because that´s when they bite you.¨Anyhow, finally the monkey had enough and made a run for it, and I ended up with a prized photo. Special thanks go to Eric for that shot. You can check out his blog here.

The rest of the weekend was filled with eating strange foods, experiencing the wrath of Montezuma yet again, and thouroughly exploring the jungle on Sunday afternoon. I will have many more stories and prize winning photos to share.