Monkey Business

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Koh Tao is littered with coconut trees - they’re everywhere and it has been my concern for a while that I might be prematurely skittled off this mortal coil by a falling nut, especially since the weather turned a bit windy - windy enough for a couple of trees to have been blow over on the beach near the dive resort where we are now resident. It had perplexed me how they got the coconuts down, what with the trees being quite so high and their being little evidence of tall ladders and a distinct lack of tall people.
Well today, to my childish delight (so childish, I do believe I let out a squeal) we found out - - it’s monkeys! Well perhaps it’s not always monkeys, but here, where we are staying right now, trained monkeys are climbing the trees and throwing the coconuts on the ground. Now I’m not a fan any animals in captivity but its hard not to be moved to see these beautiful animals in action just inches away. Watching the monkeys at work with their owners - there seems to be a genuine, affectionate bond between them. At one point one of the monkeys and its master sat down side, mirroring each other as they watched the other monkey at work - each seemingly lost in thought. Then when the monkey had finished his work - he was rewarded with a carton of juice, which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy, expressing a little frustration on discovering it was all gone.
There were two larger monkeys working and a smaller one, a trainee perhaps, drinking water out of a mug, enjoying a snack and observing the proceedings. When they had finished their work, they had a little rest - one in the tree opposite our porch and one lying down on porch of the bungalow next to us, and there they stayed for a good twenty minutes until it was time to jump on the truck and head off - the two bigger monkeys hanging of the railings at the back. Before they left one of the owners shared a bottle with his simian charge, which, I’m not ashamed to admit, brought tears to my eyes.
I’m not sure how common an occurrence this is - but it was certainly rare enough for one of the guys who helps run the bungalows to bring his son, who must be about 3, out to watch. They came and joined us on our balcony where the young chap naturally took and interest in pressing the buttons on my computer, so we showed him some pictures of Sammy and Izzy that are on there, which were greeted with a beautiful gigantic grin.
I was showing him the pictures we had taken of the monkeys and him and his dad on the camera, and he was deftly scrolling through them himself, when his tiny finger deviated and accidently hit the button that brings up all the properties of the picture, at which point he exclaimed - in perfect English - “Oh my god!” much to his dad’s amusement- who kept repeating it quietly to himself and chuckling.
After a while our new friends left and the little chap performed a beautiful traditional bow for me, at which point I could feel myself welling up again.
It was an unexpected and wonderful start to a long day - the rest of which was spent in the classroom learning our dive basics.

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Comments

[Rachel Ormston]

Monkey business
I am very very jealous. I haven't seen any monkeys recently, but we did see Steven and Nettle the other week. They have got very, very fat - more like beefburgers than sausages.