About the Monkeys

I'm trying to remember where and why I've grown up believing monkeys are rather tame and sweet and entertaining.  Early visits to the circus, perhaps?  TV shows that featured a mischievous but harmless chimpanzee?  Curious George?  Not sure.  But it's okay, because I'm cured of that notion now.

Sure, the little ones are adorable.  And there's something fascinating about how human-like much of the monkey movements can be, especially with the hands.  But there's something that immediately puts you on the wary side of things when a feature of the attraction is that they lend you long sticks.  Just in case.  

Despite my first anxious anticipation, however, we didn't really come across too many monkeys right away.  This is a Buddhist shrine against a sheer cliff that drops down from a rather dense part of the jungle.  

There was a cave as well, but it was closed.  Many in the region no longer operate as a tourist spot since twelve Thai boys were trapped in one, not far from here, in 2018, as you might remember.  I was fine with that, but it did seem then that the monkeys were basically all that was left to see.  If we could see them.

We strolled over to a pool where some large and colourful fish helped decorate the place a bit.  But there were maybe two monkeys over at that spot.

Never mind.  Just a short walk over closer to the cliff and we found them.  Hundreds of them!  They're the same colour as the rock face and very well camouflaged.  Until the food shows up.  That's when they just all start coming down off the crevasses and trees and you realize how many of them have been watching you all this time.

Here's where the sticks come in handy.  And here's where my nonchalant stroll on the Skyway yesterday was replaced by me being a scardy-monkey today.  Bell, Suradet and Yupa were all quite fine with going right up to the woman with the food and paying the 10 baht for a pail.  I'm like, no thanks.  I don't see this as ending well.

You know how these things work.  What starts out as a sweet gesture towards semi-wild animals at an attraction, ends up being a little more than you anticipated.  I have a deer-at-Marineland story too!  And like the deer, the monkeys came running.  And not only that, they were quite territorial, and, sorry to say, hope I don't offend anyone, greedy and nasty!

Okay, so the video doesn't really capture the full extent of the drama.  It wasn't until we were done with the feeding that the attendant told us that there are about four different groups of monkeys with about 100 members each and all with a dominant male leader.  It was the snarling and growling and chasing and baring of teeth that bothered me a little.  I think I was walking away fast, rather than trying to capture that on video.  Honest.  You'll just have to believe me.

But maybe it won't be too hard.  Because, doesn't history kind of tell the same story for the more "superior" primates?  If I'm honest, it was more than just the hand movements that made this seem so human like.  Made me want to be extra careful of my own tendencies to get nasty, especially now, when global affairs have the potential of pitting us all against each other.  

It was all fine in the end.  We came out unscathed.  No one got bit, and no one had their purse stolen (another thing they warn you about when you go in).  And I'm glad we went.  Made a memory.  

And perhaps a cautious reminder to my own soul about keeping things real, and keeping things kind.