howler

so yesterday when I came out of my hotel room in the morning, I was shocked to find a young howler monkey right in front of me. it was literally at my doorstep. When he saw me, he went down the stairs, and sat on top of the hotel owner's head! I was fascinated cause I have never seen a howler that close up before... but I was also a little saddened cause it really isn't good for monkeys to be so close to people cause tourists often behave stupidly and can put them in danger.

She explained to me about this howler (whose name is Chicho) - his mom was raised by the previous owners of the hotel. The little monkey family is still wild, but they will come down from the trees and hang out with the hotel owners. As she told me this, I had so many conflicting emotions. I wanted to tell her that primates shouldn't be raised as pets, but at the exact same time, I wanted that little howler to come and sit on my shoulders.

I think I am probably a terrible primatologist. I love learning about primates, but i find myself wanting to reach out and touch them all the time. this is bad. I also am always petting the stray animals I find on the street - even when they are gross. I want to take them all in and clean them up, feed them, neuter/spay them, get rid of their parasites, and send them on their way. Someday, when I am a vet I would like to do this.

Last night i was eating at this little open-air restaurant when it started to rain. A crazy downpour. This skinny stray dog kept trying to sit under the roof to get out of the rain but the waitresses kept shooing him away. When they weren't looking, he came and sat by my feet. I petted him and gave him the leftover crusts of my pizza. he was sooo happy to have somebody pet him. He sat his head on my knee and nudged my hand each time I stopped rubbing his ears. I paid the bill and left and he followed me the whole way back to my hotel. The poor little guy just wanted somebody to love him. It broke my heart.

I wish i could fix all the broken and unloved animals. anyway, here is a video of the howlers by my hotel. Cute little gremlins huh?