Get Up Close & Personal With A Macaque!
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Recommendation added: 16/08/2006 12:29
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +825)dewberry has been thanked 5 times for this contribution
"My daughter is absolutely nuts about animals, so what better way to celebrate her 10th birthday than with a visit to a park which promises monkeys roaming freely for visitors to get close enough to touch.
Monkey Forest is just that place. You're not, of course, allowed to touch the monkeys but you're certainly close enough to if you could! Basically a park guide will let you into the massive monkey enclosure and then you're free to walk around at your own pace, watching the monkeys' antics and taking as many photos as your memory card will hold.
The monkeys are Barbary Macaques and there are 140 of the cute little creatures in Monkey Forest, ranging from older apes to tiny wee babies who are being nursed (and constantly pulled about!) by their mums. You have to follow a designated path through the enclosure and are warned before entering that you're not to climb over the small fences as the monkeys can get very territorial.
The fence is, however, nothing to worry about. Your view of the monkeys is totally unhindered and they can very easily duck under the fence and actually walk across the path in front of you. The majority of them will stay behind the fence but as it's only about a foot high you'll easily be able to get close to the ape of your choice.
The enclosure is as close to the monkeys' natural habitat as could possibly be achieved; they have large grassy areas where they can play and also a huge forest where you'll see the monkeys' sitting in the trees and swinging from branch to branch. Very Tarzan. It's lushly green and wonderfully quiet even with the hordes of people walking around.
The monkeys' themselves are so tame it's unbelievable to think that they're basically wild animals. You can attract their attention easily for a photograph and if you interest them enough they'll happily come within a few yards – don't try to get too close though as a monkey baring it's teeth to you is terrifying, however small and cute they look! As long as you follow the short set of rules given to you at the start of your visit, the Macaques will not find you threatening in the least and will leave you alone, the most important rule being to leave the babies alone as monkeys in general are very protective of their young.
They are so sweet. Some of the babies are tiny with black coats which means they're very young, and then there's the 'toddlers' who are running around being chased by the adult Macaques and generally causing havoc.
My children are seven and ten years old and they both absolutely loved this place. They've seen monkeys at the Safari Park before but have never been able to get so close to them and actually watch them doing their natural thing; my youngest daughter didn't stop laughing in the three hours we were there!
After you've exhausted yourself in the monkey enclosure you can stop off at the Banana Café where they sell a decent range of hot meals, sandwiches and ice creams – not to mention the much called for cup of coffee! Next door is a small gift shop which sells everything monkey related for pretty reasonable prices. In this shop I bought two fluffy notebooks, pencils, a couple of fridge magnets and two toy monkeys and this cost a total of £15.65 which although expensive isn't too bad as the quality of the items is superb.
To come into Monkey Forest costs £5 for adults and £3.50 for children which I think is an absolute bargain considering the cost of a trip to Afghanistan, which is where the Macaques come from originally! The Forest is open from 10am – 5pm through the summer, although depending on the weather these opening times will change from season to season.
Because of the nature of the enclose, it's not fully accessible to disabled visitors. There are some very steep hills and winding pathways which would make it hard going for someone with mobility problems. My mum visited in her disabled scooter and the upwards hill is so steep that her battery wore flat after around 30 minutes, so please be aware of this should you decide to visit.
To find Monkey Forest is easy, it's well signposted from Junction 15 on the M6 and also the M1 (Junction 23a). There's a very large car park at the Forest so parking is absolutely no problem. You can also catch the train to Stoke-on-Trent and catch a taxi from outside the station, or grab the 101 bus from Hanley Bus Station – the 101 runs approximately every 15 minutes and will drop you directly outside Monkey Forest.
Trentham Monkey Forest
Trentham Estate – Southern Entrance
Stone Road
Trentham
Staffordshire
ST4 8AX
Tel: 01782 659845"
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