Sunday, May 07, 2006

Best of Small Town Mexico-Monica and the Monkeys

I am happy to report the post-travel doldrums have lifted. I can once again report on some positive aspect of living in Small Town. I have my my friend Monica to thank for that.

On Saturday, on our way to the beach, we paid her a visit. She is a spider monkey that lives at a kind of so-called "crocodile reserve" on the way out of town. It's more of just an old abandoned ranch with a little old caretaker guy who looks after the monkeys and crocs. The place is almost always locked up, but if you drive by and notice it is open, you can meander on in and explore. The little guy will come out and chat about the monkeys and demonstrate how he can call a loose, one-armed howler monkey out of the trees to have a banana.

In the States, the only animal "interactions" you are allowed to have usually involve a basic group of small farm animals. And if you do get to touch something cooler than a goat or a sheep, it is under heavy supervision usually with a one- or two- finger touch policy (like a sting ray or baby shark). If it is something way cooler, you probably have to sign an insurance waiver. Not here in Small Town Mexico. If you are brave (or stupid) enough to touch it, you can. Good luck suing anyone though if something goes wrong.

Anyway, back to Monica, she is a spider monkey that is on a long leash. She is very tame (knocking on wood as I type), and such a sweetheart. We took her a bunch of bananas. If you sit close by, she will come over and sit right on your lap. And she clings to you when you try to stand up.

Here's Guapo holding her:


There is also have a cage full of other spider monkeys. One little mama had the sweetest little baby. Every time I got close to the cage she would reach out with both arms to hug me.

Here she is with her baby:


Look at this little face:

So sweet! I am so baby hungry. Well, baby monkey hungry.

12 comments:

Grammy said...

That is adorable. It makes me want to fly down and hug monkeys with you. BTW you look gorgeous in that picture.

Super Happy Girl said...

That baby monkey is so cute :D

In Isla Mujeres Yucatan, there's that place where you can actually 'ride' those big old turtles (I doubt the turtles like it much); in Puebla there's a zoo where I got to pet the lion and tiger cubs and ride the baby elephant; when I was little we had a 'mono araƱa', his name was Tito.
My kids were surprised to see pictures of the wild animal interactions

Good luck suing anyone though if something goes wrong: indeed.

Nettie said...

He's so sweet! We had a traveling animal show come through town here that let you have a picture taken with a lion cub. But they wanted way more money than we were willing to pay for such a priviledge.

smart mama said...

totally baby monkey hungry too

Anonymous said...

Cute baby monkey! I'm sure the minute they see you, they start howling with glee.....probably not many people bring them a lot of bananas! We'll have to pay Monica a visit very soon.

Anonymous said...

I don't why, but the monkeys have an almost spooky attraction to Gabriela. Monica went nuts when Jacquie tried to leave. I don't know why she attracts monkeys so much. It makes me wonder about myself.

Rachelle said...

Great pics! You have such a fun life!

Blackeyedsue said...

I love the baby monkey picture! I wish I lived by monkeys that I could hold. Monkey hugs!!! :)

T said...

Oh my goodness that's awesome. Definitely a plus of Small Town Mexico!

Anonymous said...

AWWWH baby monkey, so cute!!

Gina said...

That is soooo sweet! And yes, that baby makes me craving a tiny baby too!

Anonymous said...

We've always been suspicious about Guapo too. Maybe that spooky monkey ransome note you got a few years back (remember-"Resistance is Futile!")was implicating something else.