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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

hey, hey we're the monkeys!

The magic of today is hard to even express, really.


But I am going to try, and luckily I have some pictures to aid in the process.

When you hear Monkey Mountain, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Namely, a mountain on which there are many many monkeys.

But actually going there? Seeing it? Playing with the monkeys? Feeding them?

Just amazing.
Thrilling.
Transcendent.

We knew we were on the right trail when we came upon this sign,
and I was sure hoping that the monkey with the boxing gloves was hyperbole.

Cause...yikes.

And then we crested the mountain and saw them.
Chilling.
With intelligence in their eyes and fingers that are uncannily human.
Once we were actually with the monkeys, we saw one more rule that we hadn't seen before at the bottom of this sign.
The problem was that since we didn't know exactly what putting a load on outside entailed, it was hard for us to make sure that we weren't doing it. But that didn't stop us from pointing out that we were pretty sure one or the other of us was putting a load on and the person in question had better stop before that monkey put on his boxing gloves and made us all cry uncle.

And the babies, well they pretty much stole my heart.
Especially when one chirped, ran towards me, and wrapped his velvet little self around my ankle and started climbing up my leg.
I am not gonna lie and say that I wasn't somewhat terrified when his mother came towards me and wondered fleetingly if letting a baby monkey wrap his silky arms around your ankle was in fact putting a load on. She got closer and closer and I just froze. We all felt relieved when she simply grabbed her errant baby from my leg and went on her way.

Phew.

And here are some short clips I took of the monkeys...babies playing together, their feeding time outside with us, and when we got to feed them from inside this cage (for our own protection).

If you care to see these adorable little buddies in action, take a look.

And really, my time with the monkeys may have just trumped all that I've done so far in Japan.

13 comments:

Pop said...

Did you pet the monkeys, Jess? How do you think Tally would handle co-exiting with a little Japanese monkey? Remember, Mom sneaked an monkeyish bush baby home from Africa when she was a kid so stealing animals from other countries is in your genes. Do you have a monkey in your backpack as we speak?

Michele said...

Oh Jess! That has to be the most fun thing in the world! Did you make sure to feed ALL the monkeys? How could you walk away from those cute faces? I don't think they liked the music in the second video :( How crazy was that baby on your leg! How scary/fun to have her mama come take her away!

Jessica said...

Pop-lol, I think it's safe to say Tally would HATE the monkey and try to eat it for breakfast! I didn't pet any monkeys cause we weren't allowed, plus the adults got mad pretty easily. You couldn't look them in the eyes either, or else they'd think it was a challenge and attack. My friend David did by accident an one ran after him!! But the babies were really friendly and wanted to climb me, so that was awesome!

Michele--I didn't get to feed all of them cause there were too many!!! But it was truly amazing and having tha baby on my leg was one of the sweetest things ever! You would have loved it:)

Unknown said...

Love that place, and would go again and again! I'm glad you went!

jason said...

I wish you had video of the monkey chasing David! That sounds kind of scary and kind of hilarious!

Nina said...

Okay, first manatees and now monkeys...how lucky are you? That experience sounds pretty magical -- especially the baby who wanted to climb your leg. Glad you're having so much fun.

Mandy Hornbuckle said...

That is SO COOL!!!

Jessica said...

I know, JR!

Jase--I wish I had that, too--I always forget my phone takes video! I need to do it more often!

Nina--I feel quite lucky:)

Mandy--right???

Jenna Latshaw said...

oh my gosh i am so jealous. that looks like it was so much fun! i must go to monkey mountain before i die.

Jessica said...

Jenna--there is NOTHING like a baby monkey wrapped around your leg. :-)

kathiek said...

Those babies are just too cute, oh my! What a wonderful experience, Jess!

Karenkool said...

Did you stare at that baby monkey in the eye?

"putting a load on"??? I'm going to wonder about that for a long time.

Jessica said...

yeah, I think something was definitely lost in translation!