Howler Monkeys - the Second Loudest Mammals on the Planet.
09.26.25 Travel Banter. We go into the jungle and find a troop.
Howler Monkeys are known for their iconic roar. They are the alarm clocks for many in Bocas del Toro, and on Isla Colon. Their howl is a frightening sound that carriers for miles away. But up close they are small and playful creatures.
How can such a tiny, two-foot animal be the second loudest mammal on Earth? It has to do with a unique part of their physiology which we touch on in this episode.
Monkeys and people share space on the islands. People slowly push the edge of the jungle inward and bifurcate the old monkey routes with widening roads and power lines. These cause injuries and deaths.
The community wants to limit the impact and has been working with power companies to insulate and bury the power lines. These efforts delivered a few wins, but also ran into some pushback.
The work continues. The local citizen groups installed monkey rope bridges across roads. The effort is nascent but is making a difference. It is not enough to entirely tip the scale yet, but all big things begin small.
If you are on our island, or elsewhere, and interested to help the monkeys thrive, you can donate to @keepbocaswild on Facebook and Instagram.
A travel buddy and I were wending our way down to South America in 1976, when we came upon Playa Tamarindo in Costa Rica. There were no tourists or hotels at that time and few nomads knew about this exquisite beach. We decided to camp out on the far end of the beach since we had everything we needed--mosquito nets that slipped over our hammocks, sleeping bags, cooking equipment etc. We were in paradise and stayed five weeks. We gradually became accustomed to a pack of howler monkeys that visited us bright and early each morning. No chance of sleeping in. I think we may have pissed them off with our overstay. The last few days a mom came very close to us with her baby riding on her back. The last morning, mom threw her baby on top of my mosquito net and he almost dropped onto my face. The baby howled and scrambled to get off of me and the rest of the tribe seemed to be laughing. We got the message, packed up and headed south. Loud is an understatement of the howlers but we loved them anyway. Great story!! 🐒🙉🌎🙏