Monkey River is a small town only accessible by boat. We stopped there to order our lunch for later and then headed out by boat into the River. We stopped along the way and saw birds and a turtle. We trekked a little bit into the jungle to see/hear some howler monkeys. We were a little disturbed that the guide basically yells and whacks the trees to wake up and annoy the monkeys, but it was still a neat experience. I think within one millisecond of stepping into the ankle deep water I might have gotten about 500 mosquito bites.
We meandered along on the boat looking for crocs (didn't see any...the river was too swollen) and interesting wildlife. Then we headed back to Monkey River to eat our lunch of fresh fish and rice and beans and what might have been the best tasting Orange Fanta known to man.
After lunch we headed back and stopped a good spot to try and see some manatee. We didn't get any great pictures, but we saw a mother and baby, and at least one other manatee. They look like such enormous grey blobs! Then it was back to the hotel for a refreshing dip in the pool.
With much convincing from Tom, we decided to ride bikes into town. We thought that Placencia was about 4 or so miles away. It was incredible hot, and yet we wore long pants because we were afraid of the bugs (which really weren't bad in the end). 7-8 miles and a lot of sweat later we arrived at the Barefoot Beach Bar. We had a cold drink (Bellikin for Tom and watermelon cooler for me) and then ate at the Secret Garden Restaurant. It was full of yummy food, and a very talkative waitress/owner from Canada.
Then the bike ride BACK to Casa at Last. There was a good breeze going off the water, but when we got to the airstrip, that breeze was blowing completely against us. I thought I was not going to make it through, but I persevered. What seemed like a million hours later, we pulled up at Casa at Last. It was a nice long day.
