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 .