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Monday 14 September 2009

Monkeys

Hi , we've had a busy couple of weeks . Getting into a new routine now my daughter has started school.It's still a bit hectic , but we're getting there.
Just before back to school , we decided to go to Monkey Forest at Trentham near Stoke on Trent. Both of my kids love monkeys , and you can get close and see them in their natural environment here.
We have been to Monkey World in Dorset twice ,and I have to say I was disappointed. The first time we went , my daughter was quite small ,and they wouldn't give us hot water or warm any up for us so I could feed her , so we walked out without seeing much. I complained ,and to be fair , they sent vouchers for a return visit , but they didn't get used as we weren't going to that area again within the time limit.
We went again last year , and I felt you couldn't see any of the primates very well. I know it's more about their comfort and lives , but when you pay that much you want to see something. My daughter kind of put a damper on it anyway as all she wanted to do was play on the playground. Typical kids , but if she'd been able to see more it might have been different.
Anyway , I've heard good things about Monkey Forest , and it's more local to us , so we set off. It's a bit deceiving actually , as the Barbary Macaques are not monkeys , they are apes. Monkeys have tails , apes don't , and these did not have tails . I suppose Ape Forest didn't sound as good , lol.
It's not cheap to get in , and the gift shop is small , limited and expensive , but the park as a whole is great . There is a picnic area, as well as the restaurant and a couple of playgrounds a well as the "monkey" enclosure . You can't take food into the enclosure , but you can get a pass to return to the park if you need to go back to your car for anything , makes life a lot easier.

There are two main feeding ares where the macaques gather , and there are hourly feeding talks at alternate areas , so you're pretty much guaranteed to catch at least one of them. The beauty is you can go in and out as often as you like.

There were babies there , which was lovely to see . They are so cute and playful .

Most of the macaques are just know by their ID number which they have tattooed on their inner thighs , but some have been given nicknames by the staff. My daughter asked one of the staff members about their names ,so we got to know a couple. This one is George , and he's one of the older ones.

And this one is Snow White , she definitely was the palest one there .

We had a great time , and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in wildlife.

You may have gathered that I kind of like monkeys and apes ,so here's a picture of another one of my stitches

I bought this kit on a day trip to York quite a few years ago. The office my husband worked from used to have annual days out , and I went with him a couple of times. I love sunsets too , so this just caught my eye. It was fairly quick stitch as it's mainly colour blocks , though I tweaked it a little bit to suit my eye.

Thanks for visiting .

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

beautiful monkeys !!

parker

Lindsay-ann said...

Thanks for sharing your great monkey pictures. I love George and all his friends, especially the tiny baby one. Your stitched picture from York looks great.
Thanks for your comment about my arbour. It needs some nice comfy cushions and then perhaps it will be a good stitching spot for next summer!
Hope you are having a lovely Tuesday.
Lindsay
x

Cath said...

Let's hope we have a good summer next year then ;D .
Thanks Lindsay