This forest became a national park about a month ago. It consists of 3 main areas - an old red mahonany plantation, a site where rare red colobous monkey's hang out and a mangrove.

The mangroves grow in waterways along the coast and we saw the tide going out during our tour. The conservation authority has built a boardwalk through the mangroves so that one can observe them without tramping on them or the wildlife that grows in the area. We saw some King fish and many small crabs.

The plantation was started about 40 years ago and boasts an amazing collection of red mahogany, eucalyptus, ficus trees and many different varieties palms and other broad leafed vegetation. There are many 'saw-tooth' palms, just like Rick's Grandmother Ruzycki had in her home when Rick was young (whatever happened to that plant?). There are also many animals that live in the cool forest - bushbabies, bushpigs, lizards and butterflies. Lauren R, any idea what this butterfly is?

Those are Janet's manicured toes (after 6 weeks on the road!). The forest is a nice reprieve from the hot sun.

This is the only place where this species of monkey lives! The local farmers used to kill them when they damaged local crops. Through the work of the conservation authority, a portion of the park admission fee is immediately directed back to the community - 2 separate receipts are issued. The monkeys are protected and the local communities benefit from the protection.

The monkeys are not afraid of humans. They let you get quite close to them and love to jump around while you're there, but thankfully don't touch you or take food. The park rangers have done an excellent job of developing this relationship.

These guys stay in groups with a dominant male and a group of females. They don't seem to get too excited unless one from another group tries to infiltrate!

These creatures observed us as keenly as we observed them.

We're told that they eat charcoal when they get upset stomachs. We watched 2 older monkeys eating charcoal when a younger one snuck up and stole the biggest piece. One of the larger monkeys chased the youngster with the charcoal around some trees, with no success. The youngster sat happily enjoying his prize, until, presumably his mother, snuck up behind, snatched the charcoal away and started chowing down. It was a fine comedy.