Monkey Business

Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Placencia, Stann Creek District, Belize
On Sunday, we were up bright and early to meet at 8:00 for our day-trip to Monkey River.  Jason, our guide, grew up and still lives in Monkey River Village and knows the river, and the jungle around it, like the back of his hand.  But first, about an hour boat ride south along the coast, passing Harvest Caye, the island that Norwegian Cruise Lines bought to use a cruise ship terminal and resort stop for its passengers, and through some winding channels among the mangroves.  It was a very calm day and it was a pleasant ride down.
A quick stop in Monkey River Village to order lunch for later and then we headed up the river.  Lots of interesting birds to see along the way and Jason knew the name of all of them but, of course, I forgot them as soon as I heard them.  I remember there were lots of different types of herons and some cormorants.  Also saw some of the Black Howler monkeys in the trees along the river as well a couple of crocodiles, but they were staying low in the water and I couldn't get a decent photo.  It was quite cloudy by the time we were on the river and the crocodiles only like to come out on the banks when it is sunny.
About an hour up river, we stopped and took a little hike through the jungle to find some more monkeys and learn about some of the many medicinal trees and other interesting flora in the area.  A guy with us on the tour (there were five of us in all) had a bad reaction to some mosquito bites--the bugs were really thick in spots--and Jason cut him some bark from a "Tourist Tree" to rub on it and it had cleared up substantially by the time we got back to the boat. Then we headed back down river to the village for a tasty fish lunch.
After lunch it was time to head back for Placencia, but along the way we made some detours and stops looking for manatees.  We did find a few and could see them swimming around and under the boat, but they didn't want to come up to the surface for air anywhere near us, so couldn't get any decent pics.  But we did see them.  Once in Placencia, we stopped at Toucan Jack's on the way home for a few cocktails and then had dinner at home.
Monday was a pretty low-energy day.  Enjoyed the dead-calm water on our beach in the morning. 
Tacos for lunch at Rumfish y Vino and then we did do a bit of exploring, heading out Sunset Pointe Road to the lagoon side of the peninsula, along one of the many boat channels that have been carved out.  Always interesting to see how "the other half" lives.  Lots of high-end condos and little resort hotels along the lagoon side.  A few nice boats also, but in high season I am sure that the channels are packed with luxury boats.  Back at the cottage in time for a torrential downpour in the late afternoon.  But it stopped in time to head over to Cha Chi's for a very nice lobster and mushroom risotto for dinner.  This was the first night that the curfew has moved from 9pm to 10pm.  Didn't matter to us--we barely stayed awake past 9:00!

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2025-02-15

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