To the Amazon and Beyond...: Lunch in the Devil's Garden

Today we decided to brave the Danta trail and ended up eating in the devil's garden. Along our way to the beginning of Danta we had to travel down some of Lago. On Lago we saw a group Squirrel Monkeys. They are very cute, light brown with black tipped tails. While cute, they are very quick and hard to take pictures of. I was not able to get any pictures then, but I was able to notice the group of Titi monkeys that were at the same spot. Titi monkeys are medium in size, with black coats and red shoulders and head. Their most notable feature is the white eyebrows that they have. I found Titi monkeys extremely photogenic. I was able to get many pictures. Both groups of monkeys were about five feet or 2 meters above my head. I have never been that close to a monkey before! It was amazing. I can't help but think going to the zoo will not be the same anymore. After the monkeys we shortly began Danta, only to stop and watch some Wooly monkeys eat in a fig tree. When our necks began to ache we continued our search for baby Inga leaves. We were not very lucky today with baby leaves. Around lunch time we decided to eat at the next spot down the hill. So we descended down Danta into devil's garden. That was where we decided to eat lunch. A devil's garden is the term given to a clearing caused by ants protecting a certain tree that they live in. The ants kill all other plants but their tree. It was one of the best spots we have eaten lunch. Little bit of sunshine, small amount of bugs, nice view, and no plants that may or may not be covered in biting ants. After lunch we finished the Danta trail. It was surprisingly short, 525 meters or a little over five American football fields. We decided to go back along Danta as our way home. On our way back we say another group of Squirrel Monkeys and this time I was able to get a picture. I also found a cute frog. I was going to kiss him to see if he turned into a prince but decided not to, It might be poisonous. So I open my mouth to get a picture of me pretending to eat it, when it jumped and barely missed landing in my mouth. I laughed really hard thinking the frog was trying to kiss me!