The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary

I finally made it to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. I stumbled upon the sanctuary my first night in town, nearly a week ago, and now finally made it there.

I awoke early in the morning and had my usual breakfast to start my day off right. I got my daypack put together and headed out for another day of exploring. I knew where I was going, but getting there can always be an adventure in itself. If you keep your mind from wandering while walking about, there are many things to be seen and heard. Everyday there is something new.

Today was no different. As started the long walk towards the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, (I was now staying at the opposite end of town) I stumbled upon a Balinese wedding. The house was decorated with carefully crafted palm leaves that were shaped to make a colorful entryway. It was very interesting to see. The design was beautiful.

As I strolled a bit further, I came across the Royal Palace. It was nice, but a lot of it was blocked off to the public. While I was there, a young college student asked me if I would take a survey about tourism in Bali. I needed a pit stop so I agreed, much to his likening. The survey took around 15 minutes and asked the typical questions any survey asks. He thanked me for my time and I was off again.

The day was getting awfully hot by this time so I ducked into an Internet Café that advertised a/c. As I entered, I soon realized the sign was misleading. The cramped room was the same temperature as outside minus the refreshing breeze. Needless to say, I made my stop short.

I was now almost to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. I could see the swarms of people gathering around. As I approached, I saw the same monkeys that I had seen a previous night while strolling around looking for food. Everybody was curious to see a good monkey show, causing a large buildup on the street, and they sure put on one while attempting to get food from the people.

I sat and watched with the others for a while, and then I paid the entrance fee and went in to see what all the fuss was about. As soon as I entered, I knew I was going to be in for a treat. There were monkeys everywhere… big ones, little ones, sleeping ones, and fighting ones.

There was even a small pond in the middle of the courtyard with monkeys swinging from the branches into the water below. It was comical. It looked like a bunch of kids playing on a jungle gym. While watching the monkeys for a bit, I noticed that they have many of the same traits as us. Our mannerisms are very similar. Time after time, they reminded me of little people.

The sanctuary was full of tour groups. I tried to stay away from the groups so I could catch the monkeys of guard. I got a lot of great photos of mother’s feeding their babies, mothers picking bugs out of the father’s hair, and mothers carrying their little ones to higher grounds to avoid the crowds. I also got photos of the monkeys eating bananas, drinking out of water bottles (the way humans do) and playing with rocks and all sorts of other things. These were brilliant little creatures. I couldn’t get enough of them.

Similar to humans, there had to be a couple of bad ones that would try and attack the onlookers and steal their water, food or whatever else they may be carrying. They were clever little thieves and it was fun to watch until they came after you.

I spent a few hours with the monkeys. It was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone. It was much better than a zoo. Although similar to a zoo, it was as if you were put into the cage with the animals. This was a clever concept but unfortunately you can’t do that with all animals. I suppose we could try.