Monkey Island

Just a few minutes away (by speedboat) from our luxury lodge in the Amazon, lies a little place called Monkey Island. It was started as a preservation effort, to help save the various species of monkeys in the rainforest. Sort of by accident, the monkeys have become extremely friendly, and welcome tourist with open arms. Literally.

As soon as we got off the boat, a wooly monkey named Josè ran toward us with arms outstreched. Bean bent over to pick him up, and he climbed up her until he was resting on her shoulders, prehensile tail wrapped around her neck. Not content to just sit there, he treated her as his personal jungle gym, while lightly biting every exposed patch of skin.

José was quickly joined by a spider monkey, Luis, who was a bit more loving, and less bitey. Soon after that, a tiny baby red howler monkey (we called him Logan, after Bean´s baby boy) joined the party, and quickly peed all over Bean. Once he was fully evacuated, he jumped over to me, and just cuddled sweetly. If there is anything better than cuddling a baby monkey on an island in the middle of the Amazon, I am not sure what it is.



We eventually saw all eight different species of monkeys housed on the island, including marmosets and tamarinds, each one cuter than the next. If you´re ever in the area (about an hour down river from Iquitos) I highly recommend stopping by Monkey Island!