My posts in the past week have been a bit grim, so I thought I’d write on a lighter topic today and talk about my second favourite animal: monkeys. (My first favourite are cats, if you haven’t figured that out already ;-))

I was born in the Chinese zodiac year of the monkey and so was my husband. We both therefore have a particular affinity for monkeys in our household!

Throughout our travels we particularly seek out places to  bring us closer to monkeys where we can, which is something that isn’t that hard in Asia, where monkeys seem to rule the region and all its tourist attractions. We’ve had our encounter with monkeys of the Monkey Forest in Ubud, the cheeky monkeys up and down the steps of Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, and the native macaques in the mountains of Taiwan. I love to watch them go about their business and to manoeuvre around the people seeking trouble.

These cheeky buggers have stolen many things from tourists, from drinking bottles, wallets, snacks and sunglasses. Of course it’s not entirely their fault. Us tourists have a tendency to ignore warnings signs of “don’t carry food around in the open” and “keep your belongings tied to you at all times”. This means, no sunglasses on the head and don’t tempt the monkeys with fruit and snacks in your hands!

There are still a world of monkeys to meet, and these two are on the top of my list:

Japan’s snow macaques

These snow monkeys are famous for their ability to look so comfortable in the hot springs. As I work away at my desk I wouldn’t mind swapping places with them right now!

Bohol’s Tarsiers

I am excited that I’ll be meeting the Tarsiers this December on our upcoming trip to The Philippines. These are the world’s smallest primates and only live on the island of Bohol and are close to extinction. Aren’t they adorable?!