DAY
6 – Wednesday January 18, 2017:
This morning, about 7:45 am, I am supposed to go on
the Monkey Land adventure. I’m very
curious to see what this one is about.
At the very least, I will be playing with some mothers and their babies,
whom, I think, will be on leashes with their trainers. These monkeys are supposed to be very tame
and do not bite people; we’ll see how they actually behave. This will be my last adventure on this trip
to the Dominican Republic. Brent, Dave
and James are going on the Dune Buggies adventure this morning about 11:00 am
and will be back after I get back.
As it turned out, the Monkey Land adventure was very
interesting. The monkey colony is
comprised of several mothers and their eight babies (one per mother per year)
and only one father whose job is to impregnate the mothers when they’re in
season. The babies are very tiny, only
one pound! But, they are so nimble and
agile and friendly. Apparently, both
mothers and babies have been acclimatized to be around people. They are not on leashes at all and their
trainers only tell visitors to the colony what they can and cannot do around
the monkeys. The monkeys climbed all
over the trees and ran along the fences that lined the pathways and cheerfully
jumped onto our shoulders, arms and heads.
They are so small, particularly the babies, and I was amazed that I just
loved being around them. The mothers are
only two pounds, so they are also small, but of course, bigger than their
offspring. In fact, a mother can carry a
baby on her back while travelling around on the tree branches. I’ve seen this in my “Planet Earth” DVD video
series at home and now I know for sure that it’s true.
I was reminded of my TV video DVD series “Private
Practice” in which Dr. Violet Turner talks to Dr. Cooper Freedman (her BFF)
about wanting him to travel with her to Costa Rica and “touch monkeys” as their
main vacation activity. Today, I did
just that – I "touched monkeys” during my vacation in the Dominican
Republic! So, when I watch that
particular episode again, I will remember, with fondness, how much I loved
touching these mother and baby monkeys. I
didn’t buy anything afterward though because I didn’t have any more money since
I’d given what I could to Brent.
Pictures of the people (families) and monkeys were taken by the tour
operator, but I couldn’t buy any with me in them, so I guess I will have to do
this adventure again on a future trip to the Dominican Republic, with pleasure!
This all took place in the jungles of the mountains,
similar to where I was when I was on the Caribbean VIP Safari on Monday. This time, we visited another homestead and
saw a similar presentation of the products produced by the Dominicans: cocoa, coffee, vanilla, paprika, oregano, “Mama
Juana”, and so on (there are others, as well).
Still, I found the presentation interesting because it was a totally
different homestead, built on the mountainside, with a beautiful view of the
mountains in the distance and of the zip-line adventure, which was close by. We also had a different tour guide, Patrice
(a.k.a. “PJ”) and he was a real goofball!
Of course, there was a fair bit of driving to be done,
starting from the tour meeting place at the Texaco station where we met other
trucks with other people wanting to do the Monkey Land adventure only, or the
Monkey Land and the zip-line adventure together. And, after the Monkey Land adventure was over
for our group, we had to drive to the homestead situated on the
mountainside. Finally, we had to drive
back to the tour meeting place and reverse the re-arrangement of people we’d
done this morning. The tour guides and
drivers are all used to this and keep records of who’s doing what adventure(s)
and what resorts/hotels each passenger must be returned to afterwards.
Today was rather long, but not nearly as long as the
Caribbean VIP Safari had been – not by a long shot. So, although we were still in the same trucks
and had the same kind of rickety rides to and from the adventure(s), the net
effect was not felt as greatly as it was the other day, as far as I was
concerned. By the time I got back to my
resort/hotel, I was tired, but not totally exhausted. As a result, instead of napping, I got
changed (after lunch at the buffet) into my swimsuit and went over to the pool
to sunbathe and swim until Brent, James, and Dave got back from their Dune
Buggies adventure.
As it happened for them, it was not the adventure
they were expecting. The Dune Buggies
each had a driver’s seat that could not be adjusted to the driver’s
height. Brent found this very
uncomfortable for driving. Also, the
line of Dune Buggies had to keep stopping to allow for public traffic to
pass. Speed was not allowed by these
Dune Buggies as a result, and that fact took something away from the excitement
of the adventure. Neither Dave nor James
was enamoured of this adventure any more than Brent was.
After dinner, Dave and I came back to our room, and
I checked in on Brent and James who had decided to have a late room-service
lunch instead of a regular dinner with us at the buffet. Tomorrow, Brent and James are going to the
“Bavaro and they will keep themselves
busy most of the day with various activities of their own choosing. They can get a ride back to the resort/hotel
whenever they want. We should see them
by around 4:00 pm after they return.
Meanwhile, Dave and I may decide to go to the beach
by ourselves after breakfast tomorrow.
The only impediment is that I must go to the Punta Cana main building to
pay the balance of my Swimming with the Dolphins adventure, which is $75.00
USD, and I can then get my two CDs and my video of my own participation in this
adventure. Some of the pictures of me
and the dolphin and of me and the other animals turned out really well. Alternatively, Dave and I could elect to wait
till Brent and James return and go to the beach later in the afternoon. One way or another, we have to make it to the
beach tomorrow since that is our last full day here. We must fly home on Friday.
copyright 2017 - Anne Shier
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