During our week in Costa Rica we saw capuchin monkeys every day and howler monkeys a couple of times, but we only saw this fellow, a spider monkey, once.

This picture was taken during a guided tour of Curu, a nature reserve about an hour’s drive from Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula. Spider monkeys are almost extinct in this part of Costa Rica, and Curu runs a program to reintroduce rescued and abandoned monkeys back into the wild. (I managed to get so close to this guy because he used to be someone’s pet. I hope to have a video up shortly.)

Curu is a great place to visit. The reserve is dedicated to rescuing and protecting threatened species such as Scarlet McCaws and crocodiles. And it’s packed with a variety of animals, including capuchin and howler mokeys, agoutis, ocelots, white-tailed deer and margays. It’s also full of birds, from hawks to hummingbirds, and a wide range of butterflies, including the spectacular morpho.

According to our guide, Curu was established by a European immigrant, Frederico Schutt, who bought the seventy hectares of land in the 1930′s for $5. His very elderly wife, Julietta, still lives in a house on the property with no electricity or running water. During our visit we passed one of her sons driving a herd of cattle through the woods on horseback. Quite another world from New York. What I wouldn’t give for an editor to send me back to write a feature about the place.

Related:
Howlers (EiNY)
Montezuma Holiday (EiNY)
The View From My Hammock (EiNY)
Costa Rica Wildlife (EiNY)