Monkeytown

After having driven past Monkeytown many times, we finally made into it. It's a kind of a sanctuary for monkeys who have been saved from the pet trade. They also have three chimpanzees there and a few other species.

I started off having a personal exchange with the squirrel monkeys, which was great fun. They are so soft and gentle, but they don't want to be petted nor held. They prefer to jump on one and select the most tasty nuts that we had brought. Most of them preferred peanuts to hazel nuts - strange? Then we walked around getting to know most of the other residents. When we were ready to leave a guide told us that he would give a presentation during feeding. We joined it and he was very entertaining and informative, but his message was clear: "Do not take monkeys as pets!" He dubbed me "monkeylady", because I probably showed the most interest, but I also knew the answers to most of his questions. Perhaps I should change my "nom de plume" to that...