We were going to camp at the lakeside park just outside the town of Arenal, Costa Rica.  However, it was a bit isolated and various people kept showing up, so we decided to camp in town instead. In the morning we drove down to the lake to work on website pictures and relax a bit. While there we heard a noise like a roaring tiger. Ana, being fearless as she is, went to investigate. She found a pack of about 15 howler monkeys hanging out in the trees above the lake. There were several very small babies as well as several smaller adolescent monkeys. They were eating the guayabe fruits. The males had glaringly white testicles and occasionally they would pee from atop the trees. Ana and I made sure to never be directly underneath the monkeys. We were able to get within about 15 feet of some of them though. The howler monkeys were really cute and peaceful.   At one point most of them gathered in a few trees near each other and took an afternoon nap. The babies would cling to their moms and crawl all over them like a big hairy jungle gym. The howler monkeys seemed disinterested by Ana and I walking underneath taking pictures. However, whenever someone would drive by on a motorcycle, one of them would usually voice their characteristic howl which to us sounded more like a lion and less like a monkey. We later learned that howler monkeys often howl to engine noise as they think it is another pack of howlers calling out to them. We also learned that one reason they sleep a lot is because of the length of time required to digest their food. Howler monkeys are one of the few mammals which predominantly eat leaves and require large amounts of time for their stomachs to ferment the leaves for digestion and nutrition. We spent several hours just gazing up at these monkeys and enjoying being so close.

Click here for more photos: Howler Monkeys Photo Gallery

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