In Search of Panama’s Elusive Spider Monkeys

For a brief moment, as hundreds of blue morpho butterflies floated gracefully around us, the green hues of the tropical forest were transformed into a neon blue.

But the dreamlike scene, reminiscent of something out of James Cameron’s “Avatar,” was interrupted by a series of loud chirps from the canopy above. Straining my eyes to see up into the treetops, I caught a glimpse of the culprits: a pair of orange-tinted Azuero spider monkeys searching for fruit.

This incredibly rare subspecies was the reason we were here. After six grueling days spent fruitlessly trekking through Panama’s tropical dry forest, we had finally found them.

The sighting was momentary. The sound of cows from a nearby pasture startled the nimble primates, and they retreated deeper into the safety of their forest home.