Singin' in the rain...forest

Saturday afternoon we went out to the Parque Natural Metropolitano. It is the only rain forest within the city limits of a modern metropolis. I really wanted to see the rainforest. This place is so jungly. But it seemed that just wandering out into some random woodsy area wouldn't be a very good idea. Besides, I left my machete at home. The Park had very nice hiking trails to follow and it was suitably jungly for my purposes.

I was especially hopeful to see some wild rainforest critters, and the park did not disappoint. We immediately saw several lizards and turtles and several scary looking bugs. About halfway into our hike, once we got far enough from the road, we began to hear rustling above our heads. We looked up to see a little monkey. He chattered at us as we took some pictures of him. A couple more monkeys joined him and for some reason that sparked fear in me. "They're going to attack us!" I yelled at John, which made him laugh (I mean, these things weighed maybe 2 or 3 pounds). Although I think I was right because I was soon pelted with something from above. probably a nut or a berry of some type. I was just glad it wasn't poop.

The hike was amazing, lots of vines and palms. The sounds of insects buzzing and exotic bird calls, and monkeys chattering at us from the trees made me feel like I was in another world.

The only downside was Alex fell asleep only halfway into our hike. He missed out on the monkeys entirely. John had him up on his shoulders and Alex started to slump over his head. It was actually quite funny, but I didn't think to take a picture because I was worried he'd passed out from the heat or something. Turns out he was just tired and the motion of John walking just lulled him to sleep.

Toward the end of our hike we met another little monkey and I stopped to take a picture of him when John said to me "You know, monkeys view standing still as a sign of weakness". I immediately turned on my heel and walked briskly away to the sound of John laughing at me. God, I am so gullible.