Battle of the Apes

Had an incredible day in Manuel Antonio. We started off our day at a local restaurant with our Casado meal – typical Costa Rican breakfast of gallo pinto (rice and beans), plantains, and eggs. We then took our rental car down to the beach area, parked our car, hired a local guide, and had a tour through the rain forest near the beach. This is a national park / nature preserve, which has been protected for over 35 years. Our guide managed to find some incredible things including squirrel and white-faced monkeys, sloths, Jesus Christ lizard (it walks on water), iguana, toads, poisonous grasshopper, cicada, many birds, including a rare owl, bats, rodents, and hundreds of hermit crabs. We then spent the remaining time at the beach. All total, we were there for 6 ½ hours. The most “exciting” event was my Battle with the apes. Huh? You may ask. Well…as we were relaxing on the beach, Denise, Mike, and Madison were all in the ocean swimming, I was quietly reading my book when I heard a, “Senora! Senora!” A gentleman behind me was trying to catch my attention as a monkey had snuck up right behind me and had grabbed the bag with our books in it. I turned around and he looked at me. First, it was a battle of the eyes - we stared at each other, each determined to make a stance. The next, after he got bored with that, was the battle of the bag! He had his hand on our book bag, and I grabbed the other side of the bag. I pulled toward me, and frowning, said, “HEY!” Then he pulled back, then I pulled toward me again, stating “Hey!” once again. I really think if monkeys could frown, he would be frowning. He was quite irritated that I wasn’t giving up my booty. After a few more attempts on his behalf, I rattled the bag fiercely (with an evil gleam in my eye), and he finally departed – defeated! However, his mischievous deeds were not completed – he looked for easier game with other people around the beach. Eventually he was irritated that none of his attempts came up with a catch, and left the scene.


Manuel Antonio



Naughty little monkey