http://www.tulummonkeysanctuary.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=2&lang=en
We negotiated our taxi to take us there, then return at 12:30 to come back and pick us up for $120 pesos ($9 USD). It isn’t far from town – about 6km, so it was a fair price for both of us.
The Sanctuary was started about 20 years ago as a place for rescued spider monkeys. Many people have kept them as pets then when they get older, they become aggressive and they no longer want them. The sanctuary now serves as an educational, ecological preserve, as well. In addition to the spider monkeys, they have four rescue horses, a donkey, several rescue parakeets, and rescued street dogs.
Our tour began at 9 am with history of the place, goals, and information about the spider monkeys. The cost was $45USD per person for the tour, but a good chunk of the money goes toward animal food and upkeep of the sanctuary.
John Cavanaugh runs the sanctuary and he gave a history of the sanctuary and information about what the future plans are. He then took us to one of the first enclosures where Mimi, a 6 year old female, and Pancho, a one-armed male spider monkey are being housed. Both Mimi and Pancho are quite enamored with John,but he brought her out of her enclosure and let us sit next to him and pet her.
What a sweet face! 
John did, however, tell us that spider monkeys have razor-sharp teeth and can rip a person apart in no time, if they feel threatened. Video of Mimi, a spider monkey http://youtu.be/Q3lLIaY9b0M The sanctuary has areas with enclosures they use when the get new monkeys and are in the assessment stage of where they will fit into the groups of monkeys. The next two pictures are of the “gordos”, or fat monkeys. They got four monkeys in at one time – two fat, two skinny – from the same family. They have them in separate enclosures trying to regulate their diets to fatten up the skinny ones and reduce the weight of the gordos.
They also have a “monkey island” which is an area enclosed with a low-voltage electric fence. The goal is to release the monkeys to the island where they can be more-or-less in a “wild” setting. Most of the monkey stay within the island, but a few have figured out how to swing a couple of the tree branches so they can launch themselves over the fence and get out! Sometimes they leave the sanctuary, but they come back because they are dependent upon the food provided by the sanctuary.
The Sanctuary relies heavily upon volunteers – most come and stay between three weeks to three months. They are not paid, but given room and board and do everything from animal care to construction and tour guiding. After we spent time with John and Mimi, one of the volunteers from Great Britain, Andy, took us around other sections of the sanctuary. There are two cenotes located in the sanctuary. A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole resulting from the collapse of the limestone bedrock that exposes the groundwater underneath. Most of the Yucatan Peninsula is limestone and there are many cenotes throughout the region. Cenotes were sometimes used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings, but they did not live near them because they were thought to be associated with the underworld. At the first cenote, he explained that at some point, people introduced tilapia into the cenotes (not indigenous) and they have migrated throughout several cenotes that are connected through the underground river system.
There was a crocodile in this cenote and it went after some of the tilapia – pretty cool!Crocodile Video http://youtu.be/oNVIwQmPaRAThere were a few turtles in the cenote, but the crocodile doesn’t go after them – not when fish and ducks are much easier prey!
Andy did a great job explaining some Mayan legend Chechen and Chacah - two brothers and a princess and how the Chechen and Chacah trees came to be. There is a tree called the Chechen or Black Poisonwood and the black tar-like sap can cause terrible rashes. The bark from the Chacah tree is boiled into a tea or paste and is the only know antidote to the poison. The legend tells the story of how the bitterness / fighting between the brothers over the princess caused the destruction of the world.They were both destroyed and came back as trees to help rebuild the world. The trees always grow near each other! The Chechen is in the front right of picture, the Chacah is the red tree. You can read more about the legend here: http://en.blogxelha.com/natural-wonder/mayan-love-legends-in-xel-ha-riviera-maya/
We came to a second cenote in which we could swim. It was a bit eerie swimming in it – we went into the cave-like area and there were bats flying around. Freaked me out!
The tour was over at 12:30 and our taxi was there to take us back to town. We found a little restaurant for lunch.
We had an empanada; ours had pork and veggies inside a fried dough, topped with cabbage, red onion and cheese.
We came to a second cenote in which we could swim. It was a bit eerie swimming in it – we went into the cave-like area and there were bats flying around. Freaked me out!
The tour was over at 12:30 and our taxi was there to take us back to town. We found a little restaurant for lunch.
We had an empanada; ours had pork and veggies inside a fried dough, topped with cabbage, red onion and cheese.
We also had a salbute - a puffed deep fried tortilla that was topped with chopped cabbage, carne asada, tomato, pickled red onion, avocado, and lettuce.
Our last item was a panucho which is a refried tortilla that was smothered with refried black beans and topped with chopped lettuce, pulled chicken, tomato, pickled red onion, and avocado.
Our last item was a panucho which is a refried tortilla that was smothered with refried black beans and topped with chopped lettuce, pulled chicken, tomato, pickled red onion, and avocado.
Including drinks, our lunch came to $60 pesos ($4.50 USD). Everything was really good – including a slightly spicy guacamole sauce. The guacamole here is very thin and more like a sauce than a dip that we are used to in the US.
We stopped to pick up fruit and veggies on the way home, then hung out by the pool before cleaning up to go to dinner.
We walked back into town and looked at menus at lots of restaurants before deciding on Restaurant Bar y Mariscos Caribbe Mexicano. We split the “happy hour” special – the fish filet served with rice, salad, mixed vegetables, and a cerveza. Neither of us drink beer, so we substituted a coke! The fish was cooked with garlic and was quite tasty. With tip, dinner came to $135 pesos ($10.25 USD).
Today was another great day! We are looking forward to seeing what adventures tomorrow will bring!
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