Yep. There really are howler monkeys up the Monkey River.

We joined Marsha, Mark, and Amber on a day trip to Monkey River Town and the Monkey River itself. Tricia was the enterprising woman who enticed us to buy a tour from her company Placencia Eagle Ray Tours, www.placenciatoursbz.weebly.com Rene drove the boat and Raymond guided us in the river and showed us his town. We had a fantastic day.

While I’m sure the tour companies like to see their little boats filled with 8 or 10, a group of 5 is a perfect size for us. We piled into Rene’s open boat and headed out the lagoon, slowing to check out a crocodile nosing along among the mangrove shoots, ogling the new and fancy condos and private homes that line the waterfront – so very different from the other side of town – before roaring across the bay for 20 minutes, pulling into the mouth of the Monkey River and stopping to pick up our local guide.

We spotted a whole variety of birds: tiger herons, adult blue herons and immature ones (white), kites and hawks and ospreys, pelicans and cormorants and anhingas, kingfishers, brown jays (the alarm birds), tiny little blue ones that I can’t remember the name of, rufous coloured wood creepers, and a large brown butterfly. We saw a couple of tropical sliders (turtles) and iguanas high in the treetops, the very large head of a crocodile that must have been at least 8 ft long, a pet gibnut, and the piece de resistance – howler monkeys. As we threaded our way through the jungle, we could hear them, and sure enough we soon saw them high in the trees.

This forest was pretty well destroyed in the 2001 hurricane (although it is thick and tall again now) and this colony has been resident since then. What fierce voices they have. It’s not so much a howl as a roar, and we heard one of the males make almost a bark as a young one moved along a branch toward him. Their voices can carry for miles, and I remember from our trip to Costa Rica 10 years ago how they can absolutely fill the air. They stayed high in the trees and it was hard to get a good look, but not hard to hear them, that’s for sure. We found it hard to tear ourselves away from them to continue along our fascinating trail.

Raymond and Rene pointed out numerous trees and bushes and plants – many of them with medicinal uses – in the past and still used today. I just wish I could write fast enough or remember long enough to keep track of it all. (Maybe there will have to be a multi day bush medicine trip in the schedule next year.)

After lunch (delicious fish (snook) or chicken with rice and red beans) we wandered around the town, past the Anglican school, the health centre where a policeman lives, houses (many of them on stilts to protect them from the 8 ft water levels that can come in storms) and a building with this sign on the window: “Dis Da Fu We Building, Ladies Business Group.” I sure wish it had been open – I’d love to have met the women who felt strongly enough to put up a “This is Our Place” sign! We chatted with a group of little girls at the beach as we sipped on coconut water from the nuts Raymond twisted from a branch and opened with his machete.

At one time 1500 residents lived here but since the last hurricane, it is down to 150 and most of them earn their living by fishing, and by feeding and guiding tourists. The mahogany trade was once strong, but those days are gone. Raymond pointed out a house that Canadian students used to live in when they come to study the monkeys. Now, a group comes from University of Calgary every year, but they travel back and forth from Placencia.

It has been interesting for us to see the Canadian link with Belize. We learned of Trent University’s connection with the Mayan sites at Cahal Pech and Xunantunich (and probably more), Calgary’s connection here, and heard U of Western Ontario’s name mentioned somewhere. Among boaters, there are many Canadian flagged boats, and lots of land based visitors too.

On the way back, Rene steered his boat along the shoreline, zooming in and out of little passages among the red mangrove cays, until we reached an area known to be home to the elusive manatees. We eventually did catch a glimpse of a couple before heading for a tiny island where we circled the beach in search of shells. I found a milk conch – one of the few shells I’ve picked up this season.

It was 3 o’clock before we arrived back in town – well satisfied with our day’s outing. The temperature had been reasonable, the bugs not bad at all, the company enjoyable and the guides good. Time for a coconut ice cream at Tutti Fruitti’s!