Granada is located about an hour away from Managua on the Northwestern shore of Lake Nicaragua. A popular tourist attraction is to take a boat ride around “las isletas” or the 365 tiny islands that were created as a result of the eruption of Mombacho Volcano thousands of years ago. The huge lava rocks, which have now become home to local fisherman, wealthy expatriates, an 18th century Spanish fortress—built to protect Granada from pirate attacks—and Isla de los Monos (Monkey Island).

Some say these monkeys were pets that were abandoned here by their owners. While the island used to house countless monkeys, there are now only four remaining.

Here is a picture of one of them hanging by his tail to take a refreshing drink from the lake.

The reason there are only four left is because the dominant male (on the right) killed all the other monkeys. We also hear that none of the four are able to reproduce, so unfortunately the “Monkey Island” novelty won’t be around much longer.