Thirsty Capuchin

Back in Costa Rica on the last leg of our tour after a short sojourn in Nicaragua and down to the Pacific coastal resort of Jaco. On our first day there we visited the wonderful, but incredibly busy, Manual Antonio National Park.

Our tour guide had warned us not to leave our bags unattended, but not just for the usual reason of pick-pockets or random thieves tempted by opportunity - or just the human ones - but because the Capuchin Monkeys in the park would grab anything and everything that was left unattended: food, especially but not exclusively. The monkeys had also been known to lift wallets, items of clothing, watches, indeed anything that was portable.

These creatures, though, knew how to entertain visitors - posing for photographs, begging for titbits, playing various games and performing as the mood took them. And when they weren't playing to the gallery they were basically quite fearless and, to use a good old Scottish word, "gallus". Nevertheless, they did have their charms.

Dotted along the paths through the park were sinks and taps for the use of visitors who wished to wash their hands. However, some tourists left the taps running and the Capuchins didn't need to be invited to use them as drinking fountains. In truth, many tourists deliberately left the taps running and then took a few steps back, camera in hand, waiting for the inevitable. I reckon this is what had happened here as there was quite a group of visitors photographing these cheeky Capuchin chappies.