The Day I was Attacked by A Monkey in Central America

“Save yourself, let me die!” the lady said as the monkey was sitting on top of her head. It was at that moment that I knew that I needed to help. What kind of person would I be if I let that monkey take her life? I knew I needed to do something but I had no idea how I was going to do that. I also had to help myself.

It was mid-November in the year 2011. My friend Amy had asked me to backpack Central America with her and all my traveling heart could scream was yes! We planned a six week adventure. We were on a backpacking journey starting from Panama and planned to end up in Mexico. We had the best of time traveling together and it was all smooth sailing at the start anyway.

The traveling life really seemed to be the best kind of life. We sipped coffee in Panama, visited the Panama Canal, went horseback riding as we traveled along to Costa Rica, zip-lined in Monteverde, hiked in the rainforest while spotting howler monkeys, and sailed a boat to a little remote island in Nicaragua called Ometepe. Life really couldn’t get any better. That is until it got worse. Much much worse.

When we reached the island, it was very peaceful. There was not a whole lot that you could do besides relax, read, eat and hike. My friend and I decided to go on a hike but unfortunately, she ended up getting sick. I decided to take it easy for the day. I hung out and meet a gal from Spain. She was a fellow backpacker who was in her mid-forties and was alone for the day because her daughter was hiking a volcano. She asked me if I would like to go kayaking and eagerly I agreed.

I went to put my things away in the hostel and met her by the kayaks. We jumped in and started paddling. She offered me a small banana and as I declined, she threw her peal into the water. We kept paddling towards some tree branches and noticed some monkeys on the trees. The lady took out her camera and was very excited to capture such great photos of the animals. I noticed that our kayak started to get closer to the tree and to the monkey. I told the lady that we needed to start paddling away from the branches and the monkeys but by that time, it was already too late.

The monkey jumped on top of the lady’s head. I was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do. The lady started to panic, so the monkey started to panic and attack her. I yelled out, “What should, I do?” That’s when she answered very sarcastically, “Save yourself, let me die.” But I knew I couldn’t do that. I am a Christian and to live fully you cannot live just for yourself. I had to help her.

I took my kayaking paddle and swung it towards the monkey. Monkeys, I found out are very strong. It grabbed the paddle away from me, which turned the boat. The paddle ended up in the water. Now what was I going to do?

I then noticed that there was another monkey on the branches and before I knew it, it was on top of my head. Because I saw the lady panic, I told myself, “Stay calm, stay clam.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to do but I knew that I couldn’t freak out. I said a quick prayer and asked the Lord to watch over me.

          Then the monkey started digging it’s sharp claws into my skull. It started to hurt so I took left hand and grabbed the monkeys arm. I twisted it’s arm and threw him into the water. Little did I know, monkeys cannot swim so it dragged me down with it. I was at a total loss. What in the world was I going to do now? How were we ever going to make it out of this mess? At that moment, I saw the lady’s camera floating by. I thought to myself, “If we make it out alive, she will probably want her pictures and camera because I know I would want mine.” So I began to reach for the camera.

          As I reached for the camera, the monkey by me saw me reach for it. He quickly grabbed the camera before I got to it, probably thinking, “Oh, shiny object, “showed his monkey friend and together they both climbed back up the tree. That camera is what saved our lives that day.

          We screamed for help and luckily a couple heard up quickly. At first, the thought we were little children playing until they realized that wasn’t the case. They got us on their kayak and brought us back to the island.

We took an emergency motor boat to the hospital which was an hour away. When got there the lady exclaimed, “This hospital is worse than the monkeys!” Keep in mind that this is a third world country with FREE health care so what do you expect. Since she was bleeding profusely, the doctors treated her right away.

They were not even going to check on me but I told them that I was very dizzy and they needed to look at my head. The doctor was very nice and spoke some English. He had the nurses place ointment on all my scares then he checked my scalp and gave me 5 stiches. I then got a shot and some medicine. He asked me if I wanted to stay overnight. Without hesitation, I said no and my friend and I were on our way back to the island. When I got back, I told all the other travelers what had happened. They were in shock and fear but glad the lady and I were ok. I emailed my parents and notified my friends and family via facebook.

It’s the instances like these when something crazy happens and I am still safe and alive that make me realize that God had a big plan for my life. I am still alive because He is not finished with my story. There are still things that I need to accomplish. Life is a true blessing and when I take it for granted, I remind myself of the day I was attacked by a monkey, how I am still alive, how I should be grateful and it puts everything back into perspective.