In Search of Howler Monkeys

As part of our South American trip, we spent 2 weeks on the Ecuadorian coast learning Spanish at the Montañita Spanish School.

While idling around the town one day, indulging in the fantastic freshly blended tropical fruits juices available from almost any street corner, I overheard some people talking about how it was possible to see howler monkeys by going on a horseback trip into the Machalilla National Park. 

Any outdoorsy trip that involves wildlife is guaranteed to get me interested, so once our course was finished and we were leaving Montañita to head to the Andes, we first stopped off for a couple of nights in Puerto Lopez – a short bus ride up the coast.

There was plenty that could have kept me exploring around here for much longer, had time allowed, but as it was we just had time for the one trip. Booking a full day trip to go horseback trekking in the rainforest of the Machalilla National Park, we were met the next morning and driven to the hills behind the coast to meet our guide. It was a very small scale and informal affair, which felt perfect. We were dropped off our guide’s house where his wife treated us to a tour of their vegetable and fruit garden while he got ready.

Then we met our small horses, and began riding.

It was only a short ride on the road before we turned off on a track, and soon we were surrounded by the dry rainforest of the National Park.

Our guide (I feel terrible, but I don’t remember his name) was very knowledgeable about the local  flora and fauna, and although he did not speak English and our Spanish was minimal, with effort on both sides and some words luckily sounding similar in English and Spanish, then the bits we couldn’t fully understand we at least got the gist of.

The guide was very interested in the bromeliads. I was fascinated too – these colourful ones are on sale in British supermarkets as exotic pot plants. It felt incredible to see them just growing wild in the trees, far more beautiful than in garish plastic pots.

Looking carefully through the trees to spot the monkeys (los monos, in Spanish) our guide excitedly points out a bird to me. It is far away through dense foliage, but I can see it sitting there with its oversized bill – it’s a toucan! Such an iconic bird. This is possibly a Channel-Billed Toucan, as it doesn’t have such a brightly coloured bill, but there are over 40 species of toucan, so I’m not really sure.

The guide has been making monkey calls for a little while, so that when the monkeys call back in reply he can try to locate them. After quite some time of riding through the jungle the patience and careful looking pays off – signalling to keep quiet and pointing upwards, he directs us to some furry black shapes in the canopy above. A group of howler monkeys is moving through the trees above us!

We get some fantastic views, although my camera struggles to focus on the monkeys themselves with so many layers of leaves in between to confuse it.

The monkeys are fantastic to watch, carefully moving around the branches using their prehensile tails as an extra limb.

After watching a while, the monkeys seem to get concerned and alert.

The guide knows the signs and the animal calls well enough to know what this means. Moving quickly back to the path for a clearer view of the sky, he calls us after him. Pointing to a bird away in the distance, he explains that this is an eagle that preys on the monkeys. Amongst the largest eagles in the world, this is a harpy eagle.

Watching a short time, he becomes more excited – there is another eagle. As he explains that it is very rare to see two eagles, he is suddenly overcome with excitement. A third eagle has arrived! He has never in his life seen three eagles at once before, and he tells us we must be the first tourists to see so many together. They swoop through the sky, a male and two females perhaps, maybe fighting over territory or mating rights, before they disappear out of view. Incredible!

From the largest birds to the smallest: as we stop for a bit of fruit and a leg stretch at a viewing platform on the way back, we are treated to the equally special sight of an Esmeralda Hummingbird, one of the World’s smallest and rarest hummingbirds. Barely bigger than a bumblebee, this little beauty was in stark contrast to huge eagles from earlier, with their wingspans of around 2 metres.

Our day of riding through the jungle is coming to an end, and although we have to head back now I can’t feel sad that it's over – I’m too busy still processing how many incredible things I have seen since breakfast!