Be part of the change, Get involved! Salve Monos ‘Save the Monkeys’ Foundation

Last year I saw not 1 but 4 monkeys electrocuted in Tamarindo with the electric lines and thanks to Luna Llena hotel 3 were saved. This is happening all over the country due to non insulated power cables.

Larry Graziano, my colleague at Coldwell Banker Tamarindo, has worked tirelessly to help prevent this, and I was proud to support him last night at the 10 year anniversary at the Reserva Conchal golf community.

Party started at 4 pm and we had a delightful open air concert by one of the best pianists in Costa Rica Don Manuel Obregon followed by a few words from Larry. At sunset we had an amazing buffet courtesy of Reserva Conchal’s Beach Club.

I studied Biology at Uni,  and a while ago I was going to do a volunteer program in Thailand in a animal rescue center; in the end I was not able to go but I always wanted to volunteer for a worthy cause

Seeing what these volunteers do here made me think that you really dont have to travel far to help the animals.  We always have this idea of going to many amazing countries to volunteer and we don’t realize the problems that our own country has and how to get involved.

Since I met Larry I have been trying to learn a little bit more about what the organization does and I am amazed of all the achievements and everything that is planned in the future and I hope to be part of it and help them as much as I can.

Last night I also had the pleasure to meet Brenda who dedicates her life to taking care of all the injured and orphaned monkeys in the area.  The objective is to heal them and return them to the wild.

Just last week she took in 7 orphaned baby Howlers

If it wasn’t for the refuge for wildlife and SalveMonos most would not survive

I want to thank Brenda, Larry, Pato, Simmone and each and every person that has been involved in this amazing work. I know it takes time and dedication and of course love. Without you this would not be possible.

SalveMonos (Save the Monkeys, in spanish) is a nonprofit Association with the mission to “protect and rescue the wildlife, especially monkeys, through actions that reduce the threats to their way of life, create the environment needed for the survival of their specie and guarantee assistance to monkeys that have suffered accidents or are in danger.” It was created in Costa Rica in 2004 by two local entrepreneurs of the region of Guanacaste (in the Pacific coast of the country) Patricia Sterman (owner of Azul Profundo Boutique) and Simona Daniele (owner of Hotel Luna Llena). Worried about the increasing reduction of the howler monkeys they decided to take action. Howler monkeys have very important presence in the area, and economic and touristic development is threatening their way of life. The construction of buildings, houses and roads has a negative effect on the amount of trees available for monkeys to move around. When there are no trees, monkeys use streets and electric cables to move from one place to another. Car accidents and electrocutions are the main cause of deaths and injuries of howler monkeys in the area, because cables are usually not isolated and drivers are not always aware of the presence of monkeys on the roads. (Salvemonos.org,2015)

If you want to know more about their work, want to volunteer or adopt a monkey click here for the refuge of wildlife and click here for Salvemonos.org

Here is Vincent’s story one of the many baby howlers that arrive to the center.

Andrea Ochoa