Monkeying around at Monkeyland

This day started out quite interesting and it would become a day of contrasts. I awoke to realize I had left all of the food that we had grilled for the next few days in the oven overnight. After realizing that disappointment, we ate breakfast and began our lessons. The vervet monkeys came to visit us again, but this time in greater numbers as I had left out the grill rack and they were eating the crumbs off of it. There was a mama with a nursing baby and two older siblings. One of the siblings did jump on the door handle and try to open it. This batch were much more aggressive, especially when Cam came outside to eat his morning toast.

MONKEYLAND

We arrived at Monkeyland, the world's first free roaming, multi species primate sanctuary, only planning to have a cool drink in the restaurant and watch the monkeys from there. We were planning to visit the Bird sanctuary after that and then spend the majority of the warm day at the beach at Natures Valley. We started visiting with an employee named Lara Mostert, who ended up being one of the visionary founders of the monkey and bird sanctuaries. It turns out she had purchased some property in Branson, Missouri, just a few hours from where we’re from in Arkansas. We had a great time discussing this with her, and after a few more minutes of watching the monkeys come right by our feet and into the restaurant, she came to us with a great surprise. She gave us free tour tickets for the whole family, a monkey sanctuary species guide and Monkeyland coloring books for all of the kids! We hurriedly thanked her as our tour was heading out and promised to keep in touch.

As we entered the sanctuary, we were told that all of the monkeys here have either been previously owned as pets or were from zoos, circuses and laboratories.We spent an hour in the forest with the various species of primates. Later we would learn from the guidebook that about 400 apes, monkeys and lemurs live here on a 12 hectare forest. Most of these primates had previously never encountered a tree, let alone an individual of their own species. Here they go through a dehumanisation and rehabilitation process called "Eden Syndrome" which necessitates a no touch policy. During our tour, we crossed the longest suspension bridge in South Africa suspended high above the forest full of yellowwood trees. We were accompanied in our tour group by people from Argentina, Zimbabwe and Israel. Our tour guide was quite hilarious and made the trip even more adventurous.

Here is the the spectacled langur from Thailand who lost its mate, and so , according to the guide, now had to resort to internet dating.

The ringtailed lemur from Madagascar keeps his tail in the air when he walks so that the rest of the group won't get lost.

After we finished the tour, as we were leaving, there was a little 2 year old girl walking out with her sandwich. A capsican monkey leapt down grabbed her sandwich and then took off. She was standing in tears as her parents were laughing! Apparently the monkeys are cleptomaniacs and will take anything they like, even pick pockets! Here's the sign posted at the gift shop.

We headed out to picnic lunch before going over to the bird sanctuary. We had no sooner grabbed our food and closed the van door, then realized we locked the keys in the car! Thanks be to God that our window was down an inch and the rangers were able to help us unlock it.