Monkeying Around in Nicaragua

There are many howler monkeys around our beach house. Some days they drop by and we can watch them from the decks. They are considered the largest of the new world monkeys.





Howler monkeys have a short snout, and wide-set, round nostrils. They range in size from 56 to 92 cm, excluding their tail which can be equally as long. Like many New World monkeys, they have prehensile tails. Unlike other New World monkeys, both male and female howler monkeys have trichromatic color vision.This has evolved independently from other New World monkeys due to gene duplication. They have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years. Howler species are dimorphic and can also be dichromatic (i.e. Alouatta araya). Males are, on average, 1.5 to 2 kg heavier than females.
Howler monkeys generally move quadrupedally on the tops of branches, usually grasping a branch with at least two hands or one hand and the tail at all times. They have strong prehensile tails which are able to support the monkey's entire body weight. However, fully adult howler monkeys do not often rely on their tail for full body support whereas juveniles do so more frequently.


As their name suggests, vocal communication forms an important part of their social behavior. Group males generally call at dawn and dusk as well as interspersed times throughout the day. The main vocals consist of loud, deep guttural growls or "howls." Howler monkeys are widely considered to be the loudest land animal. According to Guinness Book of World Records, their vocalizations can be heard clearly for 20 miles (32 km). It is hypothesized that the function of howling relates to intergroup spacing and territory protection, as well as possibly mate-guarding.
These large and slow moving monkeys are the only folivores of the New World monkeys. Howlers eat mainly top canopy leaves, together with fruit, buds, flowers, and nuts. They need to be careful not to eat too much of certain species of mature leaf in one sitting, as some of the leaves they eat contain toxins that can poison the monkey. Howler monkeys are also known to occasionally raid birds nests and chicken coops and consume the eggs.

And we "captured" this little guy early morning having a nap

Rivas Nicaragua

January 2012

A quick update on our trip. I have been knocked over by a stomach virus since last Friday!! I practically missed New Year's but am slowing starting to feel normal.

Last Friday we drove into Rivas, the closest town with a grocery store. It is an hour's drive away with half of it on a dirt road with lots of farm animals.

It was market day and the town was teeming with shoppers leading up to New Year's Eve and Day. There are many pedi-taxis to get you around.

 The market is located next to the bus terminal. Check out the bus in this photo.

Chicken for dinner?

We then headed to the main square to find something for lunch.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at  Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week.


Finished this week (you can tell I'm in an isolated place in Nicaragua):





Recap is here.
It was an OK read, you saw it all coming. Enough said.


From the book jacket:
It was a senselessly violent crime: on a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this didn’t present enough problems for the Ystad police Inspector Kurt Wallander, the dying woman’s last word is foreign, leaving the police the one tangible clue they have–and in the process, the match that could inflame Sweden’s already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments. 

Unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the beautiful but married young prosecuter who has peaked his interest, in this case, Wallander finds a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, but soon comes to realize that it will require all his reserves of energy and dedication to solve.


It was good read with many twists and turns to keep you guessing. I have the second book in the series which I will get to eventually.



From the book jacket
Now that his wife is dead, retired television news anchor, David Cross, believes that he is more himself than he has been for forty years. When Nancy was alive, he had secrets that he kept from her. Now he has a secret that he must keep from his children, Ed and Lucy, namely that he is in some ways happier now than he was when their mother was alive. To Heaven by Water is a touching and hilarious portrait of the Cross family, trying in their own fashion to come to terms with their loss. David knows that his children are perplexed by his increasingly compulsive behaviour while Ed's marriage to the lovely Rosalie, a former ballet dancer, is suffering strain, and Lucy is being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. Both children worry that their father will soon find a new partner. Over all three of them hangs the memory of Nancy. The book opens as David is taking time out with his brother in the Kalahari Desert, re-living his tumultuous and uplifting memories of Rome where he worked on a film with Richard Burton. Back home in London, Ed is trying to balance his affair with a young woman in his office with his real love for his wife, who is unable to conceive the child she longs for. And Lucy, who has just been voted No. 6 in the Evening News section devoted to beautiful and brainy women, is a young woman in pursuit of her real self. To Heaven by Water is a wonderful story of friendship, forgiveness and of love that comes from unexpected directions; it is an exploration of what we might hope for from this life and. in particular. the possibility of transcendence. Into the beautifully observed and subtly composed texture of this tale of middle-class London life, Justin Cartwright weaves sudden shocks that tear it apart, moments of sex and revenge that appear from a cloudless sky to take the reader's breath away.


I loved this book!  I did not see some of it coming.
Symbolism: this book is overflowing with it! Even before starting the story, the title sets the ball rolling. The title refers to the ferryman, Charan, from ancient Greek mythology who ferries the dead across the River Styx to the afterlife. 



I really like the main character, David as he struggles as a retired TV celebrity who is also recently divorced. I can understand his search for some meaning to his life. His grown up children are also trying to find their way as "responsible grownups". 


The book  touched on some aspects of father-child, and child-father, and sibling-sibling relationships especially now as the main stalwart of the family, his wife and their mother is no longer around to be the glue to all family events.


 


From the book jacket:
Anne Enright is a dazzling writer of international stature and one of Ireland’s most singular voices. Now she delivers The Gathering, a moving, evocative portrait of a large Irish family and a shot of fresh blood into the Irish literary tradition, combining the lyricism of the old with the shock of the new. The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him—something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations her distinctive intelligence twists the world a fraction and gives it back to us in a new and unforgettable light. The Gathering is a daring, witty, and insightful family epic, clarified through Anne Enright’s unblinking eye. It is a novel about love and disappointment, about how memories warp and secrets fester, and how fate is written in the body, not in the stars.


This was a quick read and I found it annoying. Veronica's whole obsession with her brother Liam drove me nuts. 
I did enjoy Veronica's creation of a story around her grandmother's life interesting. I also enjoyed all the Dublin expressions.

I truly don't understand how it won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2007.

Wednesday's Words - Rome

San Giorgio al Velabro, Saint George in Velabro. Velabro, meaning marshy land, is the name given to the area in Rome near Palatine Hill where the Tiber makes a sharp turn. The area would often flood creating a swampy marsh. The Velabro holds an important place in the history of Rome as the ancient legend tells us that it was nearby that Romulus killed his brother Remus before founding the city. It was here too that they drifted ashore before being taken and nursed by the she wolf.
The foundation of this church dates back to the seventh century. There’s even mention of an earlier chapel near this spot in the San Callixtus Catacombs dating back to 482. The church was dedicated to Saint Sebastian up until the eight century. As this area was heavily populated by Greeks, the pope at the time, also a Greek, moved the relics of Saint George, yet another Greek, and dedicated the church to him.

Macro Monday

Macro Monday is hosted by Lisa at  Lisa's Chaos.
Macro Monday is easy to play, snap a macro (or any close-up) photo, post it on your blog and come back here and sign MckLinky. 


Another shot from my garden last August.

Nicaragua Update

Sorry, net has been down for two days.

Flight was uneventful landing us in Managua around 2pm.

Got luggage, rental car, some cash and we were on our way.
Crazy directions with hardly any signposts on the road. We took one wrong turn and had help from a man to get us back on the right road.
We were then pulled over by a policeman, who didn't speak any English, however we figured out we had committed an infraction of following too closely to the car in front. Right!! His boss then came over no English either to say we had to give him the driver's license and go to the bank and get $100 US. No way were we surrendering the license but we did have around $70 US and he reduced it to $80 and we make the difference up in cordobas. What a racket but what can you do??? He wouldn't even write up a ticket. DH suggested he come with us to the bank but he said no LOL!!
There are cows, horses, chickens, kids, horse and carts making it a constant circus added to the missing signposts was a harrowing drive.

Anyway back on the road and 2 1/2 hours later and 30 kms on a dirt road we are almost there. We then spot my sister and her husband walking towards us looking for us. They hop in and we tell them we didn't stop for groceries as we wanted to get there before dark.

The house is down a very steep hill but overlooks a bay on the Pacific.

This was the view the next morning! Oh, yes I (we) have a pool boy daily!

We have a lazy morning and then go to Playa Gigante for lunch. When you order lunch here be prepared to wait at least an hour for the food to come.

And then back for a swim while the guys go into Managua to pick up the remaining two nieces, in the dark, on those roads!! All arrived safe and sound after also being stopped for an infraction of turning on a yellow light. Their fine was less and they also tried to make him write out a ticket which he refused.

Saturday Shoes

All dressed up for New Year's Eve!! All the best to everyone in 2012!!!