50 minutes by boat from Iquitos is La Isla de Los Monos (or Monkey Island in English). Founded in 1997 as a refuge to protect and preserve monkeys native to the Amazon, Monkey Island is exactly what it sounds like.

When we stepped off the boat we were greeted at the dock by Louis, a friendly spider monkey. As we walked up to the main house, we saw the more than two dozen monkeys who roam freely on the island. When we visited, there were 7 types of monkeys on the Island, ranging from Sakis to Tamarins.

We spent the first part of the morning playing with orphaned monkeys at the rescue. Some of the monkeys were shy and remained high above us in the trees. However, the braver monkeys came down to eat bananas from our hands. These curious little monkeys played in the branches, swung from branches and climbed all over our photographer.  When the monkeys were comfortable enough to play with us, we learned we had to clutch tightly to anything the monkeys could grab and steal (especially sunglasses and hats!)

After monkeying around a bit, we walked into the rainforest to learn about the flora and fauna on the island which the staff of Monkey Island works to conserve. Under the shade of the canopy, we snacked on wild jungle fruits (like sweet camu camu and sticky caimito).

Below are a few photos from my our visit to Monkey Island (check my flickr set for more)