{"id":12120,"date":"2015-06-16T20:13:59","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T20:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=12120"},"modified":"2015-06-18T05:29:33","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T05:29:33","slug":"meeting-monkeys-alsace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/meeting-monkeys-alsace\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Monkeys – Alsace"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Discussing the price of bananas…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ten days of hecticness until school ends for summer, and I become a lady of leisure once more (well kind of!)…<\/p>\n

I still have Budapest to write about, and a weekend trip to Colmar, but to keep you in the loop in the meantime whilst things are so busy, here’s a place you definitely have to visit should you be anywhere near Colmar and its surrounds…<\/p>\n

Built as a reserve for the (now sadly endangered) Barbary Macaque, La Montagne des Singes<\/a> is special in that there are no cages involved, just lots of open space and woodland (over 60 acres) in which these 200 odd monkeys roam freely.<\/p>\n

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Keeping hold of baby…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Conditions are controlled in that obviously you are not allowed to feed the monkeys any old rubbish, rationed handfuls of plain popcorn are doled out as you enter the sanctuary.<\/p>\n

Neither are you allowed to get too close, with a metre being the absolute minimum. \u00a0 You cannot run, shout, or reach out to touch the residents (all common sense!) – \u00a0but you can see them behaving naturally, running freely, jumping amongst the tree tops, playing and interacting with each other – and also with humans from time to time should they deem you worthy enough (out of pure cupboard love mostly!).<\/p>\n

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fly-catching<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s also really interesting to witness their incredibly humanesque behaviour… \u00a0I sat a fair distance from this couple for a while, and watched as they sat hugging each other.<\/p>\n

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I hadn’t realised at first that they were new parents completely obsessed with their newborn – Barbary Macaques are one of the few monkey species where both parents usually bring up offspring together…<\/p>\n

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We loved this place, and it was definitely a highlight of our weekend. \u00a0 It’s not huge, but set aside two hours at the very least to get the most out of it.<\/p>\n

Feeding times occur at least a couple of times a day in French and German, but most staff speak English so don’t be afraid to ask questions, they are more than happy to help.<\/p>\n

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Perhaps my favourite picture of the day. \u00a0Whilst the crowd stood watching feeding time, nobody spotted this little bystander not sure what all the fuss was about!<\/p>\n

La Montagne des Singes, \u00a0La Wick, F-67600 Kintzheim \u00a0Tel: +33 (0)3 88 92 11 09<\/em>
\n Open from late March to late November (please check site<\/a> for opening times etc).<\/em><\/p>\n

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