The Wildlife of Isla Palenque

In April I went back to the Resort at Isla Palenque. This was my third visit but the first time for Maree. It was also the first visit for me where I was able to spend all my time relaxing instead of working on photos for Ben, the owner.

Taking the 20 minute boat ride out to the island followed by the jungle van ride Maree felt like she was entering Jurassic Park. For me it has always been really weird every time I visit due to the continual development of the resort over the years.

This year there are two areas of the island up on high hillsides that offer lodging in the form of "Tented Suites." They are a more immersive jungle experience, sort of like the luxury camping you might encounter on an expensive African safari but better because of a real bathroom and hardwood flooring.

The island has thousands of crabs. I saw half a dozen different species while i was there. These guys are the most common in the beach areas and they spend 100% of their time avoiding you if you are on the beach. It's neck breaking work to get close enough to one for a picture.

Another, larger type of crab lives in tidal rocks. These guys have orange eyes and a body close to the size of an adult open hand. With their legs they can be a foot wide but they scatter if you get close than 10 feet. It seemed like they would perch on the edges of rocks, like this one, and when a wave came in they would jump in the water, later climbing back out to do it again as part of their underwater foraging behavior. They would hide even if spotted underwater so they must get preyed on by birds. They have a pretty exoskeleton and their heads are shaped to inspire the design of a giant Kaiju.

They are excellent rock climbers. This one was trying to hide from me. To get a really close up picture i would have had to lay still for a few minutes on wet slimy rocks that were getting regularly splashed.

Palenque has hundreds of different birds. This one is an American Oyster Catcher.

This time around I was most impressed with the new beach bar on the other side of the island. Last time i had been there the island crew were just beginning to dig out the foundation. Las Rocas is a great beach bar and dining area just a few feet from the ocean. You can watch the sunset while wading through the surf with a cocktail in hand, and that's exactly what we did every night. You can also go body boarding, paddle boarding, or do some yoga. It's really nice, and in an interesting twist for me, it's located at the point where I first made landfall during my first visit 7 or 8 years ago. That time the jungle was thick and empty. We backed the boat up into the shallows, jumped off the side, and tried to hold it in place while battling the waves and unloading all the stuff we needed for the day.

Maree says it looks like Jurassic Park

Uncrowded beaches and good music. My first trip here, before there was anything, I was charged by feral pigs on this beach. They had a taste for crab.

Having drinks at Las Rocas.

A few years ago they had a major storm that washed up a bunch of huge driftwood logs, so they took advantage of it and used the logs to support the roof.

The beach bar was not here last time i was around.

Stingray skeletons.

One of the guides on a paddleboard. I tried paddleboarding but it was hard due to big swells that day. My legs got worn out quickly.

In the trees above the bar and all over the island you can watch Howler Monkeys complain about life. This one has a baby clinging from underneath.

It was the peak of the dry season so they were having to exert extra effort to find food. The good thing about that was the trees that had lost their leaves made it a lot easier to see monkeys.

One day the monkeys were going crazy and there was a towering vortex of large birds directly above the monkeys. Something unusual had happened, maybe a baby fell to the forest floor. Here a frigate bird was hovering in place moving slowly left and right, back and forth, methodically scanning for something.

Not a very nice tree for climbing with a newborn is it? Prick your hand and jerk, baby might fall.

Some vultures showed up and settled down exactly where you would expect to see vultures.

Another vulture got much closer and perched on a palm at the same level as the monkeys.

When the sun set the monkeys dissolved into the black shadows and the birds dispersed with no reward.

Palenque has made a name for itself in the region and has a perfect rating on Trip Advisor. There were a lot more guests staying on the island this time but it didn't matter at all. The island is so big with so many options that i rarely saw them. The one time we did all have dinner at Las Rocos I was honored to be told by the guests that my pictures had played a large role in choosing the resort for their vacation.

This time Ben didn't need pictures, so if you want to see the rooms and all that you can look here. Left on my own, Maree and i went hiking (and got lost) in the jungle looking for monkeys. We stumbled upon the rumored pre-Colombian ruins. It was obvious to me when i saw the stones, that they were not natural. They are presently under archaeological study. After our jungle hike we quickly learned to adapt our activities to the time of day. Wildlife watching and temperatures are better for jungle hiking in the early morning. Swimming is good any time of day or night but for most days I found the early afternoon best for just relaxing. Around 4pm the mid day tropical heat diminishes, a breeze will likely develop and i enjoyed exploring tidal pools and rocky cliffs along a section of shore near the main lodge. Then it was off to Las Rocas for drinks, sunset and dinner.

When i was taking pictures of the paddleboarders i kept hearing thumps on the ground right at my feet but i didn't know what it was. Finally i looked straight up and this big black squirrel was eating fruits and dropping them right next to my head.

In a tidal pool in front of the main lodge we found some sea slugs. When one of them came out of the water i discovered that it actually had eyes. Little black eyes that were looking at me. Freaky.

A new part of the island with rock pinnacles and sea caves. I found a lot of conch shells in this area.

Another beach had several large sand dollars.

Hermit crabs live along the edge of the beaches or in mangroves. They are timid and clumsy. I guess they look for things that have been washed up on the beach or find things under the forest leaves.

They seem to prefer to have company rather than be alone. I would bet it's just for security, the hope that a bird will fly away with their crawling buddy instead of themselves.

We were going to do two tours, one was a boat tour of the nearby marine park, the other was a kayak tour of the huge mangrove estuary on the northwest part of the island. We weren't able to do the boat tour but I really enjoyed the mangrove tour. It was a new area for me. It has to be timed with the tides to get into the estuary because the ocean enters through a narrow and very shallow opening between two very nice beaches, so the current is strong. There aren't big waves on that side of the island but the entrance is so shallow and the water moving so fast that it causes some mild whitewater, adding drama to the adventure. In reality if you fell out it would only be knee deep.

Inside the mangroves was a hidden world of twisted trees, shady tunnels, creepy crabs that livid on vines dangling in the water, and a lot of birds. It's a maze that changes as water shifts sediments around over time. We went as far as we could that day and when the tide dropped low enough we were able to get out and walk through the mangrove forest. No pictures though, I didn't trust bringing my camera along on that ride.

Lilly is doing very well these days and likes to race down the jungle roads at night by light of the jungle vans.She super sweet and very fast.

The last big change since last time i was there is the recent addition of the jungle dog Lilly. Lilly showed up on the island by apparently swimming a short distance from another nearby island. Famished, pregnant and neglected or abused by her owners she gave birth to a stillborn litter very soon after arriving. That was probably a good thing. The cool thing about jungle dogs is they are nearly self sufficient. They might disappear into the jungle for hours or days and then eventually show back up when you least expect it.

Lilly likes to race up and down the beach.

The main beach crab on the island spends it's day sifting through the sand between tides making thousands of little balls of sand. There are thousands of crabs on each beach so by the time the tide comes in the entire beach may have been worked over.