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| Monkey River Tour |
$
62.00 per person |
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- Rates
are in US dollars and per person
- Include lunch,
gear, park fee, guided day, boat
transfer
- There is a
10% General Sales Tax included in all of our tours rate.
- We accept
Visa, Master Card, Amex, Discover, Travelers Check, US
& Belize currency
- “Full payment is due in order to confirm the tour. A 50% refund will be granted if cancellation is received 36 Hrs or more prior to departure. There will be no refund if cancellation is received less than 36 Hrs prior to departure. We reserve the right to cancel any trip prior to departure under circumstances that may make operations of the trip inadvisable. All trip payments, which were received, will be promptly refunded. This cancellation policy applies to any reason cancellation, including airline delays, strikes, world events, personal issues or Acts of God”
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The village is bordered on the west by riverine forests-a good place for experiencing the Belizean jungle.
A drive upriver through beautiful flora and fauna and broadleaf subtropical forest, in the comfort of a skiff. As you glide by, iguanas dive into the water, troops of howler monkeys race through the trees; birds dart from tree to tree; and crocodiles sun along the banks of the river.
Stop for a hike through the jungle. Your guide will point out herbal medicines, tarantulas, crocodiles, snakes, howler monkeys, and various birds including toucans and oropendulas. Several mangrove cayes lie off the rivermouth. One island is a bird sanctuary for many wading birds such as egrets and herons. The birds congregate in huge numbers to roost for the night.
Monkey River Village was known as (Monkey River Town), is the northernmost village in the Toledo District. This small, community has a population of 217 people, sits on the southern and the northern bank of the mouth of the Monkey River.
The village is as “real” as it gets-the houses are mainly wooden; with a few concrete structures. The entire village has one community center, one school, two churches, two shops, three hotels, and three restaurants and bars. A small boardwalk borders the lagoon at the back where fishermen dock their boats. A roving sand bar protects the river mouth. Wide sandy beaches stretch out along the mouth of the river and the east side of the village. Some of the beaches along the southern edge of town has eroded during Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Iris in 2001. Born with the banana industry, Monkey River was promoted to a town in 1891. At that time, the population was over 2500 people, and the main source of income was the banana industry, logging, and export of rice. The demise of the banana industry forced the majority of the people inland in search of other jobs. The town was downsized to a village in 1981. In recent years, the village has come alive again. Each family has a boat, and most villagers make a living from fishing, lobster, or the tourist trade.
BLACK HOWLER MONKEY Alouatta pigra
The Black Howler Monkey, known as the "baboon" in Belize, is the largest monkey in Belize and one of the largest in the Americas. Throughout most of its range, the Howler Monkey is endangered from hunting and habitat destruction. Fortunately, Belize has a healthy population of these loudest of primates.
Black howler monkeys live in troops of between 4 and 8 members. Each troop has its own territory in which it feeds and lives. The size of the territory depends on the size of the troop, ranging from 3 to 25 acres. Baboons defend this territory from other troops through the use of their voices. The howling is one of the loudest animal sounds in the tropical forest of Belize.
Howler monkeys are vegetarians, feeding on flowers, fruits and leaves. Within Belize, a special community based conservation organization has protected land along the Belize River for the Howler, ensuring that their food trees are not destroyed to make way for pasture. This "Community Baboon Sanctuary" has supplied numerous animals for translocation throughout Belize, most successfully within the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.
KEEL-BILLED TOUCAN Ramphastos sulfuratus
The Keel-billed Toucan, known as the "bill bird"locally, is the national bird of Belize. The most obvious characteristic of the toucan is the huge yellow, orange, red, green and black bill. The toucan's bill is amazingly dextrous and allows the bird to feed on a variety of tropical forest fruits.
The Keel-billed toucans are a very social bird and can often be seen in flocks of six or more birds. They are found throughout Belize's forests and nest in holes in tree trunks. They lay one to four eggs and the parent birds take turns incubating the eggs. This bird displays a rapid, heavy flapping of the wings when flying and calls with a creek creek sound, similar to a frog.
Toucans are primarily fruit eaters, feeding on a wide variety of tropical fruits of the forest. It feeds by snipping off the fruit and flipping its head back to gulp the fruit. Toucans will also feed on insects, lizards, snakes and event he eggs of smaller birds. |
