I'm a big fan of monkeys. They're like tiny furry people, with more cheek and less spite than the average human. The Padangtegal Mandala Wisata Wanara Wana Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud is home to over 600 crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), which unlike what their name suggests, seem to subsist on a diet of kumara and cucumbers, as well as bananas viciously wrestled from unwary tourists. This place is definitely worth a visit, as it's pretty cool watching monkeys have free reign over their surroundings without the constraints of a zoo enclosure. And much like any other primate, this generally results in pillaging and hoarding food, putting lesser monkeys in their place (with us tourists being on the bottom of the ladder, of course), with a healthy (?) dose of sudden surprise monkey sex on the side. We watched a particularly determined one try to crack open a coconut in vain for ages, while another macaque sat to the side, judging him and making what were no doubt patronisingly sarcastic quips about his fruit-handling technique. We left him alone after a while, in case he was failing due to performance anxiety. I hope he got to eat his sweet sweet coconut in the end.
Pictures taken March 2015.
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