Hey guys! We went to Mono Feliz this past Friday with our new friends Ken and Sharon. They live right down the beach from where we live. They’ve been to Mono Feliz many times, and are good friends with the owner there.
Mono Feliz is right beside the very last beach in western Panama! It took us almost 4 hours to get there, and you had to drive off-road out on a beach that didn’t have sand, but had very bumpy rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TnfcKmRRgA
Mono Feliz means Happy Monkey. It is owned by John Garney, but he goes by Juancho. He is an old pirate that crashed his boat on the island just outside of Mono Feliz, met his future wife, and never left again! I liked Juancho, he was funny. He doesn’t wear shirts, just like me! He was nice to talk with me.
We saw two different kinds of monkeys. We saw howler monkeys before we got to Mono Feliz. Other than howling, they weren’t moving a lot because it was hot. The howler monkeys were up in the trees, at the top. They were hanging on each other because I was hot. It was cool to see, because there was a momma howler with baby howlers together.
Once we got to Mono Feliz, they told us that we had missed the monkeys. I felt bad, because I wanted to feed the monkeys bananas, and we had driven for so long already. So, instead of seeing monkeys, we walked around the grounds, we hiked some trails in the jungle, and we went to the beach.
We picked up rocks at the beach. They were blue, purple, green, pink, and every other color. We also saw the waves, which are smaller than where we live. The waves were really cool and were crashing into each other because they were coming from different directions!
When we got back to Mono Feliz, it was time to leave. Just when we were ready to leave, the monkeys came back! These weren’t howler monkeys. These were white-faced monkeys called squirrel monkeys. These were a lot more friendly than the howlers. There were around 30 squirrel monkeys there. They came out of the jungle through the tree tops, and they know that Juancho always feeds them good, so they come there to eat when they get hungry.
Monkeys loving the beach life at Mono Feliz
Squirrel monkeys are cute!
Bashful monkey at Mono Feliz
I got to feed them bananas. What you do is you put your banana up close to their tree. They come down and they take the banana from you, but not the peel. My monkey touched my fingers when he was getting the banana.
Squirrel monkey temptation at Mono Feliz
Central American Squirrel Monkey at Mono Feliz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vADIRY88c4U
Mono Feliz was a good trip because we got to see the monkeys, we got to see a different kind of beach, we got to meet Juancho, and we got to ride in the back of Ken’s truck! Until next time, this is John Thomas Gilbert reporting live! (cut)
John Thomas blogging away
Have you missed any of John Thomas’ other blog posts? Check them out here:
http://thegilbertadventure.com/2014/01/29/fun-in-the-sun-at-the-playa/
http://thegilbertadventure.com/2014/01/19/sunday-school-and-church/
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Hello JT! I’m missing all you guys. That was a good blog post, just to see a little bit of your house, wow! Man, That is a great view. (Can you see a hint of jealousy in that sentence?) tell the rest your family hi. And give Jude a big hug for me! Can you do that for me? Thanks!
With love
David