Monkey (River) Business

Original airdate: May 28, 2009

Two Crazy Chicks Productions, in association with WorldWildPhotoGraphics and What Am I Going to Tell Your Mother? Productions, is proud to present Episode 3 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden: Return to Belize...

The damage done by the earthquake is most obvious in the nearby village of Monkey River, half an hour by boat from Placencia.  The town dock is several feet underwater, houses are tilted or sunken, and concrete sidewalks are cracked. There is mud everywhere, the result of ground liquefaction.

Our intrepid heroines and their guide for the day, a muscular, wifebeater-wearing Belizean named Alrin, have just stepped onto shore when a small aftershock strikes. Most of the village’s 200 inhabitants are out and about, talking about the temblor and surveying the wreckage, and this latest tremor causes much consternation.

Our fearless females and Alrin reboard the boat and head upriver. Immature little blue herons fish in the shallows. Social flycatchers flit from tree to tree. A troop of howler monkeys loudly lays claim to its territory.

Alrin pulls the boat up to the bank.  “We had rains a few days ago. You have insect repellent?”

The moment Miko and Eden step onto the trail they are assaulted by mosquitoes in numbers that they have never before encountered in all of their travels. The buzzing bitches are everywhere, and Eden swats at them madly, her hands covered in blood – no doubt her own – but they are relentless.  Ears, neck, arms, the palms of her hands – all sustain bites.

Despite her long-sleeved shirt and a plant-frond flyswatter, Yumiko, always a bug-magnet, is not faring any better.

Alrin points out native flora and explains their medicinal uses, but Miko and Eden are beyond caring. Even the monkeys they encounter fail to interest them.

They are thrilled to return to the boat some 20 minutes later, where Eden and Miko proceed to doctor the dozens of bites they have suffered. Eden notes with alarm that Miko’s right eye is swollen nearly shut while Miko observes that Eden’s arms have turned purple around the elbows.

“Let’s hope that malaria medication we’re taking is effective,” Eden mutters grumpily.

The trio slowly motors its way downriver and out into the lagoon. In the shallow green water where the sea grass grows, they spot manatees. Mosquito bites forgotten, our intrepid heroines watch in amazement as three of the endangered creatures surface within 5 feet of the boat.

Eden’s desire to jump in and swim with them is strong, but she manages to restrain herself.  Someday, she thinks wistfully. Someday. 

© Eden Feuer