In two previous posts about Costa Rican monkeys we saw spider monkeys and hauler monkeys. While in Costa Rica we also got close and personal with the white faced monkeys.
Manuel Antonio National Preserve is full with wildlife. Anyone visiting Costa Rica should plan to visit this wildlife park. There are a lot of tour guys trying to sell their service and give you a tour in the park. They usually carry nice monocular with a tripod and they can spot wild life in the trees and let you observe it close and personal via monocular. If you come to the park with your own binoculars, monocular or good telephoto lens then I’d suggest to save some money and not hire guides. You’ll gain flexibility and you can always see them pointing out the wildlife to their customers. Just come over there and look for yourself with your own equipment. Let someone else pay for spotting. Also, the reality of the Manuel Antonio National Preserve is that it is full with animals and for most of them you don’t need any spotting. They will be right in your face, as long as you go off the most common routes and decide to explore side way hikes.
We went on a hike around little half island between two of their main beaches and first saw these monkeys hanging around on the trees, playing and sleeping. We came down to a secluded beach with only a few people hanging around there. A French couple brought their lunch with them, they had loaf of bread, sausages and cheese. White faced monkeys were very accustomed to people and very much in your face, especially if you have any presence of food. Well, not long after these Frenchies opened their food, there was an army of monkeys trying to steal it from them, and they were not shy about it. We had one or two bananas in our backpack, and they somehow sensed it tried to get into it as well. I had to get a stick and shoo it away, that monkey was not very happy.
Click on any picture to see it large and to open them in my photo gallery which has many more pictures with these monkeys.
