The Monkeys of Loboc River Resort

 

I've never seen a monkey up close besides for at the zoo. It's been one of my unspoken bucket list things. Really on my list is to hold one, and get all snuggly,  but this was good, too. At our resort in Loboc, they had a tiny little island on their property. It was surrounded by a small river. A river big enough to keep these, afraid of water monkeys, on their little Monkey Island. Before you get all PETA on me and talk about how messed up it is to trap monkeys on a small island, just know these guys are happy & fed very well. Also, anyone from a country that actually has monkeys roaming around will tell you that most of them are pests & little thieves. To spare everyone at the Loboc River Resort & all the neighbors from being attacked by hungry monkeys, the resort trapped them on their little island, and feeds them every day. If a guest is so inclined, they can go with for the feeding time. Reader, I was so inclined. I was VERY inclined. I was jumping up and down with excitement inclined.

 Z and I jumped on that little boat there, to make the very, very quick trek across the tiny river to Monkey Island.

 Z on my lap, of course.

 

This was what they looked like as soon as we hit shore. This being an every day routine, they knew what was coming, lots of fruit goodies! Food! They were very intent & jumping around all over the place in anticipation.

 

Oh ya guy. The food is coming. 

 The resort had set up several little pedestals that we'd put food on, to avoid monkey fights. Only one monkey dared to by on the pedestal at a time. They'd jump up & grab the food super quick. Sometimes so quick, they'd not even grab something but accidently knock it off. They were skiddish little things.

 This guy was the king monkey & was the only one daring or brave enough to take the food directly from my hand. He didn't do this casually either. He'd eye me for a minute or two, until he stuck his hand out super fast to grab what I was holding & run off as fast as possible. Several times he was in such a hurry to grab it he ended up just knocking it out of my hand, then looked at me, like  I was the crazy one about to try and mess with him with my food flying everywhere, when really he made it fly. Crazy monkey. The other monkeys were afraid of him. Any time any of the little guys would grab food, they'd look to see where King Monkey was, to make sure he wasn't about to attack them or steal their food.

 

This was by far one of my favorite pictures. He was watching King Monkey in the tree, while searching with his hand for the mango peel. He couldn't bare to take his eyes off the tree while grabbing for it.  He finally found it with his hand, stuck & stuck it in his mouth, all without taking his eyes off King Monkey. Monkey King must be pretty mean by the way these guys were acting.

 Thankfully, he usually always had food, so the other ones could get their own.

He was always looking hard for more food & to make sure I didn't make any sudden movements.

This was the closest most of them would get before they'd quickly reach out to get the food I was holding.

You guys, if ever you get the chance to feed or interact with wild monkeys, take a good camera with a fast shutter speed. Our big camera was out of battery so we just took our small one, and I was disappointed with how blurry most the pictures came out. Those monkeys move fast & aren't stopping for any picture! I was beyond ecstatic to be a little more up close and personal with these little creatures. They were fascinating & not in the least bit cuddly, but it was wonderful. Thankful. Also, please notice Zachary isn't in any of these pictures. That's because Zachary just sat back watching his wife try to become a Monkey Whisperer and convince the King to climb on my shoulders, or let me touch his hand or something. Zachary could have cared less about the monkeys there. Crazy, right?! But hey, at least he's supportive. :)