ACEER Canopy Walkway

by Gary Riggs, Veterinarian

Late afternoon today we again went up the walkway. It was a perfect day for viewing highlighted by a small flock of macaws passing overhead, calling as they flew. After about an hour, I left by myself to go back to camp and descended into dim lighting of the sub-canopy layer. Once back on ground, I proceeded a short way down the path when I was stopped by crashing noises in the trees all around.  I stood silent and tried to focus on the source of the disturbance. At first, nothing was visible. Suddenly though, I was able to make out a large group of tiny faces staring back at me from behind the trees. Apparently I had stumbled into a group of saddle-back tamarins (monkeys) that were moving through the area where I was walking. We all stared at each other motionlessly for a few minutes until they decided I was no threat. The group then continued their activities of playing, climbing and food foraging acting as if I wasn't there. I watched them for a few minutes more until they slowly moved out of sight, capping off a routine day in the jungle for them and a very memorable one for me.