Moon Pie Pyramid

Went into Belmopan early to take care of some business. I wanted to straighten out my insurance and some others had errands to run, but unfortunately it was Sunday so everything was closed.

We spent the afternoon cruising north to the Community Baboon Conservancy near Burrell’s Boom. For $5 + tip (well, I don’t know about Frank and Sabrina) we got a guided tour of the local plant, animal and insect life. The tour followed a small path that wound its way around the outskirts of the village towards a more dense jungle like area. The guide let us know that this was where he last saw the group of howlers that is accustomed to people and he began to “call” the monkeys. If you have ever heard a howler monkey’s call it is you know that it is a sound like nothing you have ever heard. To the unknowing ear, it sounds like a monster or perhaps an angry jungle cat hunting you down. Just one howler can make this eerie grunting that can be audible for nearly a mile. Soon after the guide made his call, the tree tops began to rustle and several monkeys appeared. He picked some leaves from a nearby bush and held them up as an incentive for the monkeys to descend. “They love to eat this plant” he told us and sure enough within seconds three of the howlers were down within arms reach trying to get a mouthful of the greenery. It was really neat to see these animals up close but at the same time I felt guilty that I was party to imprinting these animals to human behavior. I asked the guide about it and he said that of the 2-3 thousand howlers in the conservancy, this was the only family that was used to human contact and would actually approach people.

After some time with the monkeys we headed back. Even some of the little things that our guide showed us were amazing. There was a plant that immediately folded its fronds with the slightest of touch and ants that had pinchers so powerful that the locals used them to stitch cuts in their skin or tears in their clothing (simply have the ant bite the tear and then pop its head off and it will stay clamped). We went back to Amigo’s again for happy hour. We all came back for dinner and then afterwards celebrated Peter’s birthday with a mound of Moon Pies (that’s all we could find that was even close to a cake).