Starting to catch up: monkeys

The internet in the jungle came and went, and also it was hot and humid, and so we were mediocre about updating.  Apologies, Internet!  We have many pictures to post and more updates to write, and I thought I could at least quickly check in before dinner (we're in Rio, which is AWESOME) TO SATISFY OUR RABID FANS.  The internet at the Windsor Miramar Rio, like all things at the Windsor Miramar Rio, is above and beyond,* so it seems like a good excuse to start to give an update on what we've been up to.

Also, I just realized I last checked in on the 19th, and it is now the 23rd.  Whoops!  That sloth was pretty awesome, at least.  Anyway, to start catching up:

On  the morning of the 20th, we did an additional canoe tour,** along a different "path" through the flooded jungle (as compared to the day before).  Evidently the canoe "paths" follow the same walking paths that the guests take during dry season, but it's a complete mystery to me how the guides keep track of where to go.  The water is currently dropping between wet and dry season, and so A) the landscape is constantly changing and B) the canoe periodically gets stuck, meaning that we had to take alternative pathways.  If our guide had abandoned us, I'd still be out there, trying to climb a tree to figure out where tf we were and how to get back to the lodge.  I managed to swing enough Portuguese to ask our guide how he knew the way ("Como voce sabe o caminho?"), and he just laughed at me (it was good natured).

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...THE MOSQUITOS NEVER SLEEP

The best part of that canoe trip was the moment that our guide looked up suddenly and said, "Uacari?", and started paddling with purpose.  The Uacari floating lodge is named after the Uacari monkey, the object of study of the biologist who founded the Mamiraua reserve.  For all that, the Uacari is one of the rarer sights in the reserve: they move quickly and aren't as numerous as, for example, the squirrel or howler monkeys.  They're especially interesting, however, because they don't blend into the trees at all.  They're fairly large, and have white fur and red faces.***  They also have fairly distinctive shrieks, though I definitely didn't catch it the first time (as our guide did).

But!  We saw them!  Faces and all!  I didn't catch one of their faces on camera, of course, but you'll have to believe me that they are, indeed, red.  My pictures of the Uacaris are all 100% terrible, mostly comprising blurry monkey backsides as they rush away through the canopy, though I hear Adam got a good one of one of the adults jumping through the trees.  I take consolation in the fact that I did catch part of the baby:

(part of a) baby uacari monkey!

One takes what one can get.

My mini-update is bringing to mind all the things that we haven't yet told you about!  I have an awesome video of like 12 caimans swimming around our boat!  We saw so many dolphins!  We met interesting Haitians in Manaus!  Rio is awesome!  But right now, I am hungry.  MORE LATER INTERNETZ I PROMISE.

*I think the agent told them about the honeymoon thing, so they keep sending up chocolates and desserts and stuff, and we were upgraded to an oceanview room.  Serious business:

Why yes, that is Copacabana beach.

**While I don't remember our jungle tour in Peru being especially strenuous, our jungle visit in Brazil was notable for its lack of strenuousness.  It turns out that staying in a hotel that is, for all intents and purposes, on a dock, and viewing the wildlife via a boat or canoe that someone else is in charge of conducting/propelling, does not result in a tremendous amount of physical activity.  Walking around Rio this afternoon did us some good, I think.

***Our guide in Manaus said that they used to be commonly referred to "Englishman monkeys", because British people also turn red in the face when they visit the Amazon.