Knysna: Monkeyland

The second I saw a brochure for Monkeyland, I knew I had to visit.

After hippos, I'd say monkeys are my favorite animal. They are the type of creature that I could spend hours watching. Perhaps it's because they resemble humans in so many ways, but something about their spirit of jest and clever thinking never fails to entertain me. I couldn't wait to visit a place where you're surrounded by them!

Mylene, Dids and I set out together to make the hour's long drive. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was beating down on us and the wind was low. 

As we passed a local beach in Plettenberg Bay, we thought lunch at The Lookout would be the perfect opportunity to soak up the view and stellar weather. And right we were!

The restaurant was a steep drive up a small mountain and its patio overlooked the ocean. What a visual spread for us to enjoy! The water sparkled under the mid-day sun and the beach out stretched long and wide. We could see dozens of surfers enjoying large 15 foot swells off in the distance, while to our right sat beautiful orange and sandy colored rock formations. 

I sure am going to miss the beaches of SA, that's for certain! 

A surfer coming in after hitting the waves all morning 

The magnificent view from our table

Soaking up the sun! 

We feasted on fried calamari and chips. They were great although a gentleman sitting behind me had ordered a curry and damn, did it smell delish. With its large Indian population, South Africans definitely know how to make a good curry (as does Dids! Gotta get him to teach me...).

After lunch, we took a few pics on the patio deck and then continued on to Monkeyland. Dark clouds were rolling in and I was scared our day outside was about to be ruined. 

 

Really wish my camera could capture the scale of this beach. It was huge! 

Pulling into the parking lot for Monkeyland, I was a little intimidated. There were huge fences erected and topped with electrical wire. I wasn't sure how the whole place worked so I was a tad hesitant. 

That is, until the introductory guide told us that the centre is the world's first free roaming multi-specie primate sanctuary. This means that all the monkeys are free to roam the trees, buildings, and pathways as they please!!!

How flippin' awesome is that?!

I was super pumped. Monkeys in cages at the zoo are exciting enough, never mind monkeys that walk and swing and play all around you! I couldn't wait to begin our tour!

Entrance

The fee was around $20CAN for the full tour. It was nice that we were paired with a guide that could tell us all about the different species of monkeys and animals. 

As we walked outside to meet up with our tour group, I caught my first monkey glimpse in the trees. There, not more than a handful of feet away, was a brown capuchin monkey! Just hanging out, chilling. So cool. 

Our guide warned us to keep our bags closed and cameras close. The monkeys are uber clever and have been known to disarm tourists by acting cutesy and then snatching their belongings in the flash of an eye. Our guide himself was hilarious and kept the mood light with many funny personal stories of monkey mischief that he has witnessed.

Our guide showing off a tortoise hidden in the grass. Apparently the monkeys like to pester it by thumping on its shell and eating its eggs. What meanies, eh? 

Our tour took us through a windy path in woodlands. The air was rife with screeching monkey calls. By this time, the clouds had fully blanketed the sky. It was great on one hand, as we didn't have to worry about heat or sunburn, but it sucked for our cameras. A lot of the pictures came out really dark. Sorry! But I still got some neat ones to share with y'all. 

Look how close the animals are! Pretty amazing! 

Young vervet monkey (Leah's arch nemisis! haha)

One of the coolest animals we saw were the lemurs: both ringtail and black-and-white ruffed. They sort of look like pandas and monkeys had a baby. Our guide kept ripping them off, saying they are the dumb-dumbs of the primate world. 

Unlike monkeys, who are akin to humans in their ability to visually interpret social cues and physical shapes, lemurs depend primarily on smell. This makes them act quite dumb, as everything they do and eat must first pass a smell test. Our guide used the banana example: a monkey will see a banana on the ground, recognize it as a yummy food, pick it up, and pop it in its mouth. A lemur, on the other hand, will see the banana and not realize it is a yummy food to be eaten until he has smelled it -- even though he has eaten hundreds of bananas before.  

Black-and-white ruffed lemur 

Shame, our group was witness to a very sad but funny encounter during our visit to a feeding table. 

A black-and-white- ruffed lemur had been nom-noming away until a pack of vervet monkeys hopped up and took over. They screamed in the poor lemur's face and chased him off the table and onto a nearby tree branch. Every time the lemur made a move towards the food, the little monkeys would bully him backwards. 

It was so sad! The lemur was there first and he was the bigger of the group, but he just couldn't get his act together enough to out smart and out bully the monkeys. So, unfortunately, he ended up sitting in silence, looking longingly at the food until it was his turn. 

You can see the monkeys in the background turning to bully the poor lemur off the feeding table

My favorite monkey of all is the teeny tiny squirrel monkey. They are just so cute and so quick! It was so neat to have them run over your feet or whizz past your shoulder as they scooted around, looking for snacks. 

Squirrel monkey sighting! 

The ringtail lemurs were also beautiful. Their coloring was so distinct and their yellow eyes practically glowed when they turned and started at you. 

Ringtail lemurs munching away on fruit 

The monkeys living in this sanctuary were all rescued -- either from poachers, poor pet owners, or failed zoos. It was nice to know this place existed so that they had a safe place to live out the rest of their years instead of being put down. 

The animals aren't neutered, which I thought was a bit odd. Our guide told me that this was to preserve their natural instincts and behavior. Which, fair enough, I can understand, but in the grand scheme of things it seems silly to allow them to breed. A lot of the species are not endangered and therefore would not benefit from being bred in captivity. Plus, a larger population results in needing a larger living environment. I can't see the owner of Monkey Land wanting to dish out infinitely more dollars to buy more and more land. 

What do you think?

Did's favorite resident was the one and only gibbon of Monkeyland. His name is Atlas, he is from Thailand, and here is a rather rude picture of Atlas scratching himself: 

Interestingly enough, gibbons are not monkeys but are apes, like us humans. You can tell the difference by looking at their bums: monkeys have tails whereas apes do not (oh, the world of information you learn through guided tours haha). 

Towards the end of our walk came one of the coolest parts: a freakishly long suspension bridge!

It's the longest in Africa, as a matter of fact. 128 meters long! That's 420 feet! 

Only three to four people could cross at a time. Any more than that and the bridge would swing back and forth wildly. 

The bridge floor itself was made out of thin branches about an inch wide. They really didn't feel very strong -- and that's me talking! I can't imagine a 300lb rugby player feeling very comfortable about what was underfoot. 

Me getting psyched up for the loooooong walk across

Mylene and Dids at the halfway point 

Whew, we made it! 

I felt like I was in the middle of a rainforest safari :)

Our finished suspension bridge walk took us to a different area of the sanctuary where the injured or rambunctious animals are housed. They are kept in separate cages to help rehabilitate them before letting them loose with the other free animals. 

One naughty yellow monkey was rescued from a careless private homeowner. He was such a little shit!haha. You could tell he had been raised by humans because he was constantly screeching to get our attention and reaching out to us through the bars of his cage. 

Our guide told us he was known for being mischievous, hopping on the backs of his keepers and rifling through their jackets and pockets for trinkets to play with. I could see why someone would want one as a pet! He really was so cute. Life certainly wouldn't be boring with a squirrel monkey flying around the house!   

...wonder what happened when he pulled her finger?

All in all, Monkeyland was amazing. Nothing beats being able to see and interact with animals in an open habitat. Visiting monkeys in zoos will now pale in comparison! 

Nervous Marie vs. the little capuchin monkey