Adventure to the Monkey Jungle Part 2: The Monkey Jungle

Our boat and room were ready at about the same time, so we elected to drop our stuff off in our room. We weren't expecting much and we got much more. We were lead across the river to a bungalow that was situated right on the river, with stairs that lead down into the water. Inside it had a large sleeping area, a refrigerator, with bottled water already supplied (water is an annoyingly constant cost, so this was a very nice perk), and 2 toilets and 3 showers. One shower/toilet combination was in an indoor bathroom, and the others were accessed by going around the corner of the bungalow.
We set down our bags and changed and got ready to hope in the boat, which was pulled up right in front of our room.

We put on our life jackets (I hope all parents reading this take note of that) and headed on our way. As we went down the river towards the Bay of Thailand we saw people living in houses on the river all on stilts, all with boat docks. As the river widened, the boat picked up speed, causing the brackish water to spray into my mouth. In the distance we could see tiny huts dotting the horizon. The skyline was covered by them, like a town on a flat plain. We drove past a couple of them, which we knew to be fisherman huts. I couldnt see any evidence of habitation at the moment, so I figured they must not use them extensively during this season. Our boat turned to its port side towards a tributary cutting through a mangrove forest.

At this point I was certain that we were about to see some monkeys, but other than that I wasnt sure what to expect. In the air anticipation mingled with the smell of the salty water. Suddenly off of our starboard side I spotted a macaque monkey sitting on branches and pointed it out to everyone. This was it, this was what we had come to see, this was OUR monkey! I wasnt sure how many more there would be (Although I was hoping for a good dozen) but now at least there was one monkey, regally perched on a branch, in his natural environment, and I thought that it was worth the trip.

As i was adjusting to the excitement of seeing a monkey in the wild for the first time in my life, I saw more and more monkeys emerging from the trees. The forest in this area, wasnt exceedingly dense, but many branches were hanging low, and it took a moment for me to realize how many monkeys were appearing.
A group of birds is called a flock, fish a school, wolves a pack and monkeys a troop. I had always thought that troop was a dumb one (well, school is equally dumb, but I care less about fish). I know understand the term. The monkeys were like soldiers deciding to allow us to see them as they came out of thier hiding places, and we were flanked from both sides. Sure, we had superior speed, but they had greater numbers. And by that i mean hundreds. At any one time i could see maybe 30-40 monkeys at any one time, and they had reinforcements in the forest. The banks were lined with the troops, some of them would follow us along river as we cruised along, while others would sit and stair. They were on the ground and in the trees, ready to jump down onto the boat if they so choose. The situation looked dire, luckily we had brought a peace offering. We threw a plantain into the river and waited to see what would happen. The monkeys broke rank and went for it, into the water they plunged, each vying to be the champion of that fruit. They clamored for more, and we happily obliged.

The plantains were tossed into the water, and the monkeys went bananas for them. They raced for the fruits like Olympians, sprinting diving into the water and desperately out-swimming their kin. Some of the more enterprising amongst them waited in branches that overhung the river to dive bomb onto the floating targets. they reached their tasty reward they grabbed it and put it into their mouth and swam back to shore. A monkey can eat a banana more efficiently than i would have thought possible. Holding it lenthwise they bite into the peel and use their teeth to rip it open, they then shove the entire yummy part of the banana into their mouth and toss the peel.
Sometimes two monkeys would reach a banana at the same time. If in water this resulted in a dunkfest, and on land a primitive match of thai boxing.
After what seemed like equal parts instant and eternity feeding the monkeys we ran out of plantains to feed them. We thought this would bring our time in the Monkey forest to an end and then the boat driver started to drive the boat right up onto shore.
I was much confused by what was going on as the boat hit shore mere feet from creatures who i was certain could kill me if they so desired. Being that the boat driver didnt speak english i couldnt say anything like "ill give you money if you dont let me die here". He then got out of the boat and tied it to a tree. This was of comfort since the monkeys didnt seem to want to draw and quarter him as i had expected. He then pulled a handful of young mangrove trees from the back of the boat. It was tree planting time.


We stepped out of the boat and into this forest and squished into the mud. With every step we made a delightful sound similar to what one would imagine someone with a sharting problem and an overdose of laxatives would sound like. And despite the disgusting auditory picture that I just painted by that statement, it was magical, because above and around us were trees, and we heard only the sounds of nature and far away boats in the bay. The monkeys did not launch an offensive and when the watery muck we were standing on gave way to about shin height we created the perfect holes to place the mangroves in. Navigating the terrain that our own feet were Turing into a pockmarked landscape was a bit of an issue which caused many balance issues. We eventually had all the trees planted and laboriously made our way back into the boat. It is quite challenging to clean mud off of ourselves when the water was muddy, but we somehow were able to do with some success.

At this point I thought our excursion was over, but I was pleasantly wrong. We left the mangrove forest and the monkeys as we talked about the fact that the trees that we just planted will someday be the homes for the grandchildren of the monkeys that we just feed. We then motored back to close to where the river meets the bay, and we saw a beautiful flock of white cranes. We approached them and they nonchalantly flew about 75 yards away from us. Our driver took out what looked like a rudimentary surfboard and showed us how to skimm along the mudflat with it.
Steve was the first of us to try it out, and he set the bar fairly low. After a few yards he got stuck and didnt seem to be able to get back into the rhythm of it.

Johnny went next and was quite a bit more successful. I went after Johnny and attempted to go visit the cranes. After about 20 yards I realized that it was not going to happen, but by stopping I also proceeded to get stuck for awhile. Jennifer showed us all up, but i will attribute that to her being the lightest of the 4 of us.

Upon her reentry of the boat (which was not something she did very well, lots of getting muddier while trying to get clean), Steve goaded me and Jennifer into a small mud-based altercation (which is the politically correct way to say mudfight). Steve and I wiped mud all over her head and back, and being that I was the only one not holding a camera she retaliated all over my face. I took the opportunity to open a complimentary waterbottle to be as helpful as possible and poured it over her head--to help get the mud off OF COURSE.


After this excitement it was time to return to our room and we were dropped off at the stairs that lead up onto our deck. As the boat was leaving another one pulled up and delivered our kayaks. I was not in any way expecting a kayak delivery and nor was any of the other 3. However once we were clean we took the kayaks on a small tour of our area of the river. getting into the kayaks was not very easy for me, as i slipped on the algae covered bottom step and cut my big toe, although not much. However the salty water did not make it feel very well, but the fun must go on and we finished with the kayaks before i dealt with it.

For dinner we ate a small buffet that the resort put out. The food here was country Thai food, and by that i mean it was not toned down the way it is in bangkok for the city slickers and tourists. Steve and Johnny made the mistake of adding the amount of spice that we were used to adding to the dishes back in bangkok and were red, sweating, crying and spitting by the end of the meal. Seeing their mistake I opted for a different dish and didnt add any extra spice. Despite this I endured the same fate.
After dinner darkness had settled on the river. We retired to our porch and shared drinks and chatted and bonded late into the evening. Periodically a boat would shatter the silence as it speed by us on the darkened river like a noisy ghost, leaving only a reverb and a wake behind it.
Eventually our glasses were dry and our eyelides were heavy and we finally turned in for the night, endeavoring, in vain, to really comprehend everything we had done during that day.