Seeing as the word of the week in Rio was MONKEY, it is only appropriate that a post be dedicated to them. Here are some of our favorites.

My first sighting was while visiting the Botanical Gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and have plenty more pictures to share. Brace yourselves.

This troop of monkeys had a substantial amount of members… at one point I counted over twenty from a single vantage point. I spent a good deal of time observing, taking photographs, and dodging spent debris thrown from above.

They mostly kept to themselves high in the tree canopy. It was incredible to watch them propel their bodies from one limb to another, playfully chase other members, and hang by their tails to better grasp food.

Randomly, one dropped directly in front of me… staring curiously for about ten seconds before ascending back into the tree tops.

It. was. amazing.

At dinner that night I utilized my master storytelling skills to share a detailed account of the incident, along with photographical proof.

In hindsight, a major mistake. My husband talked nonstop of monkeys for the remainder of our stay.

Upon being banned from any further use of this word, my husband replied maca several times.

Maca is short for macaco. Macaco = monkey. i.e. This was also unacceptable.

Friday I went hiking on a rock face forested trail and came across these little guys.

In my expert scientific opinion, I would venture to guess that I have discovered a never before seen species.

I sent a picture to my husband who was busy at work in his windowless closet office.

Apparently, he had been talking about monkeys with his coworkers as well. In an effort to quiet him someone replied, “Monkeys are like squirrels back in the states, they are everywhere here.”

To which we both strongly disagreed for obvious reasons. I wouldn’t be doing an entire post on monkeys if they weren’t fascinating and magical creatures.

Who would blog about squirrels? (No need to google that, meet Woody Bob & woman who discusses a squirrel-llama alliance.)

A good portion of the husband’s non work hours in Rio were spent devising a plan to attract and capture monkeys. Plural intended.

Unfortunately, the government of Rio was one step ahead of him and had prepared a warning.

His initial response: “Are they wire-tapping my thoughts or something?”

After further consideration: “Oh – that sign will not stop me, the monkeys will be eating bananas tomorrow if it’s the last thing I do.”