If the howler is the sound of Guanacaste, the capuchin is the personality. Black body, cream face and shoulders, a tail it uses like a fifth hand, and eyes that are very obviously working something out.
Where you’ll see it
Less common in Coco itself than howlers, because capuchins want more forest. You meet them in the dry forest reserves, along forested beaches, and in the wetter hills toward Rincón de la Vieja. Where they have learned that people mean food, they come close. Where they have not, they watch you from the trees and move on.
What to know
They are omnivores and remarkably resourceful: fruit, insects, small animals, eggs, and anything in an open bag. A troop that has learned to raid will do it fast and in numbers.
The rule is simple. Do not feed them, ever. A fed troop becomes a bold troop, bold troops bite, and a bitten person needs a doctor. Enjoy them at a distance and they are one of the great pleasures of living here.
