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Not to be outdone, a group of spider monkeys swooped into the scene. If howlers
are the heavy metal section of this jungle band, spider monkeys are the acrobats
and aerialists. |ey moved with an efortless grace that always leaves us staring in
awe. Long limbs, long prehensile tails acting like ovh arms, they nowed through
the canopy like liquid, covering distance in seconds that would take us an hour
on the ground. One spider monkey paused on a high branch and looked down at
us with what I swear was a mischievous glint, then leapt across a gap that looked
impossible to clear. Of course, it cleared it easily.
And then the squirrel monkeys — little fuzzballs of frenetic energy — crashed
the party. |ese guys are pure chaos. |ey’re tiny (around 1 kilogram), lightningquick, and fearless. |ey zoomed through the mid-canopy around us, using every
vine and branch like a highway system we couldn’t even see. One moment a face
with huge eyes would pop out of the leaves a few feet away, and you’d inhale
in surprise, and then it’d be gone before you could exhale. We tried to follow
the troop through the understory, stepping over roots and decaying logs. It was
hopeless to keep up; they move in three dimensions and we’re stuck in two. But
we did catch a few glimpses and a couple of photos: a mother carrying a rather
large baby.
|at was immediately followed by a colorful Bairds Trogon that I managed to
capture in night. |ese are one of the most colorful birds that reside on the Osa
Peninsula and having them remain stationary long enough for quality photos is
oven very diocult.
Howler, spider and white face monkeys.
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