Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary

In the morning, after breakfast, I walked down the road to the Monkey Forest. It's where you can get to see lots and lots of crab eating macaques. Despite the name, crab is not the main item in their diet. They are probably the monkeys of my childhood in SEA.

There are a few entrances to the forest. I went for the main entrance where there are statues of Balinese mythical beasts. Bali produces a lot of statuary, many of Hindu derivation but also Buddhist.

I have to say the detail is very elaborate. Architect is a highly regarded profession. On the thousands (yes, you read that right) of temples on Bali you will see bricks set in a stepped pattern creating a edged relief effect.

Famous saying.

Visitors can buy bananas to feed the macaques. They are used to humans thus unafraid to approach or even clamber over you.

There is a list of dos and don'ts posted. One should not carry bags or the macaques may search them for food. They might even search your pockets if they think you have food. When they take the food, one should not hang on to it at the risk of being bitten. Also one should not stare or they may feel threatened. And feeding them junk food is forbidden.

Quite long tails.

Busy eating.

A father saw this and said to his kids, look, a durian. I had to disappoint them, it was actually a jackfruit or possibly a cempedak, a relative. He did know about pungent smell of the durian though.

These macaques are enjoying a water hole.

This one was trying to open a nut by repeatedly hitting it on the ground. Perhaps done in water to help soften the shell. I don't know if it succeeded.

Mother (I assume) and child.

Pura is Balinese for temple.

They spend a lot of time grooming each other.

Ahhh, a little further down, yesss.

A stream flows through the sanctuary.

There was a bit of commotion around the bridge. Apparently a macaque was trying to fish a banana out of a tourist's pocket. A sanctuary worker was shouting, give it to him, give it to him. The tourist could have been scratched or bitten if he had resisted. Here's the culprit with its gains.

Tourists like to pose with macaques on their shoulders, bribed with food, of course.

Yes, that's where it itches.

At the other entrance/exit.

Walking up the very touristy street back to my guesthouse.