Sunpond

As we were doing some research on things to do down here we found one that looked pretty interesting.  The Jungle Place was rated high on trip advisor (#6 our of 85) so we thought we would check it out.  It’s a sanctuary for Spider Monkeys about 30 km from Playa del Carmen.  They only take a few visitors a day so we were lucky to get a last minute spot.

The Jungle Place consists of a few stone houses and lots of chain link fence in the middle of the jungle

To get there we had to travel down the main highway 307 until the turn off at Chemuyil.  This in turn took us through a small town where we stopped and had lunch (couple of meals, couple of bottles of water, and a smoothy for $8… woo hoo!).  Then we continued on a small paved road until it became a dirt road which in turn became a series of potholes occasionally bridged by small flat islands of road.  It was one of those drives where you keep telling yourself “I must have missed the turn” as you drive along, fortunately we stuck to our guns and eventually saw a sign for the Jungle Place.

One of the young spider monkeys staring out from the tunnel, wondering who we are...

Heidi and David started this place in 1999 when they rescused a spider monkey being sold as a pet who was on the verge of death.  Over time they took in more spider monkeys that had been sold as pets and since abandoned.  The monkey’s were captured when they were young and never developed the skills necessary to survive in the wild so they couldn’t be released.  Instead they built a series of cages with connecting tunnels to be a place for the monkey’s to live (reminicient of one of those hamster habitats with colorful plastic tubes for the hamsters to crawl in… but on a much bigger scale).

When we got there another group was finishing up.  They left and the 7 of us met with Heidi and David and had a seat around a long table just outside of the monkey’s habitat.  Heidi and David (and maybe the monkey’s) needed a little break before they were ready for the next group so we all just sat around and talked for a while.  It seemed like quite a long while actually and we began to get a little antsy waiting for things to start.  We chatted with Heidi as David started bringing out little containers of food.  Tortilla chips, lettuce, walnuts, grapes, and cantelope that would soon be instrumental in our visit. 

Not all the monkey's would sit there politely accepting treats, instead they would try to pry your hand open to get at what was inside

David handed out some tortilla chips and walnuts and told us to break them into little pieces.  It was time to go in.  They warned us to remove any jewelry or clothing that the monkey’s might play with.  I left my shoes behind and gave Heidi my camera to take pictures.  The cage had two chain link doors set up in series so that one door was always closed when the other was open to prevent the monkeys from escaping.  I was the first one in, followed by Sandy and then the others.  They had us sit on the floor with our legs out in front of us because this was a non-aggressive pose and the monkey’s would feel more comfortable.  We each had a clenched fist filled with bits of chips and nuts that we had been given.

The monkeys knew the drill and soon they were all over us, seeking the bits of yummy treats that we had.  Some would politely take the pieces offered while others would try to open your hand to get what was inside.  We were warned that one of the monkeys, named Luna, was a little aggressive and basically we should give her whatever she wanted.  She was also the one monkey they warned we shouldn’t pet.  They pointed Luna out to us so we’d know which one she was.  The only problem is that all of the monkey’s look the same!!  Heidi and David could tell them apart but for me, not a chance.  Despite the warning, the monkeys were all very friendly.  Heidi and David would periodically point out Luna and remind us but there were no problems.

"I know there's something yummy under Sandy's leg"

Heidi was the only person not in the cage with the monkeys. Periodically, she would go get more food and then throw it through the chain link fence at us.  Crackers or grapes or cantelope would go flying everywhere.  Some we would catch, some ended up hidden beneath our legs or between us and the monkey’s would start searching for it.

We only interacted with the females.  The males could be a little more aggressive and unpredictable so to play it safe they were all off in another cage.  The females all had their own personalities, one just wanted to cuddle with one of the girls in the cage with us.  Others were explorative, curious, unfortunately one was ostracized from the group and set alone watching us with sad eyes.

Sandy almost loses a shoe as one of the monkeys figures out how to undo the velcro. Fortunately for Sandy, the monkey lost interest before she was able to get the shoe off Sandy's foot.

Sandy fighting a losing battle for possesion of her hairband

Sandy had worn her hairband into the cage and after a while Maya discovered it.  Maya went to work quickly and it didn’t take long before she had pulled off the hairband.  Heidi joked that Maya had a collection of those.

Let's try some bribery... wouldn't you rather have this tasty grape than that old hairband?

Sandy tried bribery, holding up pieces of food so that Maya would drop the hairband but she did not want to let her little treasure go.  At least she didn’t let it go until we stopped paying attention to her.  Once she was no longer the center of attention, Maya let the hairband drop to the floor.

The game is only fun as long as someone else wants to play... no longer getting the attention she desires, Maya drops the hairband.

Sandy and Maya make up... still friends