“Get off me! I don’t have anything!” the skinny brunette French woman yelled as a monkey climbed up her leg and clambered all over her.
I stared, eyes wide. I had no idea why this monkey had all of a sudden jumped on this unsuspecting tourist as she walked along.
“Your water!” an American walking towards us pointed to the woman’s open handbag. Sure enough, a bottle of water was poking out of it.
“Here!” the woman snatched the bottle and threw it at the monkey.
Happy, the monkey jumped off her and ran after the bottle, sat down with his legs spread either side, unscrewed the bottle with his hands, and tipped the water into his mouth.
Another monkey strolled over to him, and tried to snatch the bottle from his hands. Frustrated, the monkey swatted the other monkey away from his hard earned drink.
It was a quick welcome to the Ubud Monkey Forest. The ground rules had been laid – the monkeys were clearly the boss in this part of Bali.
Cheeky monkeys
Walking into the Monkey Forest, it soon became clear where the phrase ‘cheeky monkey’ comes from.
At the gate, visitors are warned to empty their bags of all food and drink. ‘THE MONKEYS WILL FIND YOUR FOOD,’ the sign warns in capital letters.
Normally I’m not one to follow the rules, but I’m glad I heeded this one.
Dave and I steered clear of the monkey, while other tourists encouraged them to climb all over them, by tempting them with bananas.
Although I think the monkeys are cute, both of us decided we’d rather admire them from a distance.
Monkey aggression
I didn’t really know what to expect before our visit to the Ubud Monkey Forest.
Mum, who’d been to the Monkey Forest before, had warned me to be careful of them, as they could certainly be mischievous and sometimes even aggressive.
Indeed, a few days earlier I’d seen a shop keeper chase a large monkey out of her store, while the monkey hissed and bared large gleaming teeth at her.
While we were strolling around the monkeys’ home, we carefully sidestepped the furry creatures as they sat in the middle of the path, picking fleas out of one another’s hair.
A local Balinese man was asking people if they’d like a photo with a monkey. He’d entice them onto a tourist with a banana, snap your photo and then feed the monkey.
One girl, aged around nine, decided to give it a go. As the monkey hunkered after the banana, he suddenly got aggressive as the Balinese man pulled it high, further out of his reach. The girl suddenly screamed, “He bit me!”
She jumped up and showed her parents the mark. The monkey hadn’t bitten through her skin, but nonetheless, there was no way you could pay me to get one of those monkeys on me.
Apparently around three tourists are bitten by monkeys in the Ubud Monkey Forest each day, and some of the monkeys can carry rabies, so it’s important to be careful!
Working next to the Ubud Monkey Forest
Our office, the co-working space Hubud, is opposite the Monkey Forest, and sometimes I’d see monkeys crossing the road in front of me while I worked. Dave suggested we pay them a visit up close, and he’d dragged me along in the midday sun. For some reason I wasn’t all that enthusiastic.
The monkeys did seem very happy and healthy, and it was easy to see why, with tourists buying them bananas from touts left right and centre – this wasn’t a place where the animals had to earn their dinner.
Dave and I strolled to the back of the forest, watching many monkeys gorge on food or relax in the shade of the trees. It was a peaceful place and it was nice to be away from the many noisy motorbikes of central Ubud, and take a break from work.
A monkey attacks
Dave was walking a few steps ahead and I stopped to take a photo of a little monkey. Moving the camera away from my eye, I stepped around a tree, right into the path of a huge male monkey.
All of a sudden, he bared his teeth and came running at me. I screamed my head off, and tried to run away, half falling down an embankment of leaves on the side of the path. He disappeared behind another tree.
Not knowing where he was, I was scared to take another step. A woman, who had been walking around with a notepad and who I guessed was a researcher, yelled out to me, “Just don’t look him in the eyes, he thinks you’re threatening his turf!”
Thankful for the advice, I slowly rounded the tree, eyes downcast. In my peripheral vision I could see the monkey sitting nearby, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes.
I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. “Dave, I think it’s time we go, I’m over this monkey business!”
He agreed, and we headed for the gates.
As we left, we heard a monkey screaming at some tourists behind us. “Hope they don’t have any food on them,” I muttered underneath my breath to Dave as we left the monkeys’ home.Tips for visiting the Ubud Monkey Forest
I’ve devised a quick list of tips I learnt on our visit to the Monkey Forest, so you can be a bit more prepared than we were.
- Don’t carry in any food, the monkeys will smell it, and if you have a bottle of water make sure it’s hidden where they can’t see it.
- Wear closed shoes – monkeys have been known to snatch flip flops from tourists’ feet!
- Don’t buy bananas and encourage the monkeys to climb on you – this could lead to a bit.
- Avoid the touts who try and get a monkey to climb on you for a photo.
- Walk calmly around the forest and don’t get too close to the monkeys.
- If a monkey does jump on you, try not to scream and fuss as it just excites them further.
- Don’t look the bigger monkeys in the eye, because as I learnt, they find this threatening!
Have you ever been to the Ubud Monkey Forest? Or a place where you could easily interact with wild animals?What you need to know
Cost: It costs 30,000 IDR to visit the forest (AUS$3) for an adult, and 15,000 (AUS$1.5) for a child.
When to go: The Ubud Monkey Forest is open every day between 8:30am and 6pm.
How to get there: The Monkey Forest is near the centre of Ubud, on Monkey Forest Road.
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