Monkey business!

THE WORLD OF BIRDS

Fun with the squirrel monkeys.

Horned owl in the trees.

A young stork that had been injured

Pretty flamingoes.

 

Crested crane.

 

Scarlet ibis.

White naped crane.

 

Colourful parrot.

 

Secretary bird.

Saddle billed Stork.

Meerkat.com.

Carol's friend Siphoo, a capuchin monkey.

Wednesday 4 May.

We both had a great night's sleep, the bed was very comfortable and although Carol thought we might be cold and offered us a hot water bottle we were lovely and snug under a thick duvet. It does get cold at night here in the Cape and Carol and Ray are feeling the difference after staying so long in KZN but it isn't as bad as Scotland in the winter.

I got up quietly at 6:00 am and made a cup of tea which we had in bed while reading the paper. We were late getting up waiting until Carol and Ray wakened then after showering we had breakfast. Mid-morning Carol was going over to her friend's house again to feed the cat and we joined her. Instead of coming straight back we went for a walk to an inland the middle of the marina. When we reached the bridge to the island the dogs would go no further, they had been frightened by a mongoose some time ago and they remembered. Carol and Ray took the dogs home but we continued over to the island. Recently the residents in the community had funded renovations on the island, gravel paths had been constructed, benches set out in positions with good vistas, shrubs planted and a bird hide built. It was very nice and we had a pleasant walk along the path around part of the shore line. There were excellent views of the mountains and there was plenty of bird life. Again Carol had warned us about it being cold and we had put in our fleeces but it turned out very warm and they soon had to come off. At the end of the island there was a bench that was strategically place for the best view and we sat there for 5 minutes to soak up the magnificent scenery before heading back.

Sitting beside statue of seals

Mountain scenery from island.

When we returned we sat and chatted until lunchtime. In the afternoon Carol was going to a bird and animal park, 'World of Birds', near Hout Bay where she works one afternoon a week for a coupe of hours as a volunteer. They have a 'monkey jungle' there where the little squirrel monkeys were running about and swinging through the trees and bushes. You can wander through and the monkeys come to you and jump on your head and arms, primarily looking for food. Carol's 'job' is to make sure you don't had any bits of paper or anything the monkeys will try to eat in your pockets as that's what they make for, also to keep an eye on naughty children being rough with the little friendly creatures. She said we could come along and we readily agreed but Ray wanted to relax at home with a book.

I wasn't sure where we were at first as Carol drove along back roads but then I recognised Constantia Neck and as we descended the hill to Hout Bay I remembered running up the hill a number of times when competing in the Two Oceans Marathon. The 'World of Birds' was just off the main reaching before reaching Hout Bay. We walked up with Carol to the 'monkey jungle' and past cages with lots of exotic birds, guinea pigs, and ponds with pelicans and flamingoes. At cages with various types of monkeys; baboons, capuchin, chimps, macaque, marmoset and rhesus; Carol stopped and they came running over to see her seeming to recognise her. There were a number of people waiting for Carol to open up the 'monkey jungle' when we got there and she first of all warned them about things in their pockets that the monkeys would go after. As soon as we went in the little monkeys were all over Carol and then they jumped on my arms and one sat on my head. Moira took a video on her phone and later she sent in to Hollie and Ewan. After we had seen and had fun with the monkeys we left Carol with her duties while we had a walk round the park, Carol was there only for another hour and a half so it gave us plenty of time to see everything.

We walked down to the entrance again then made our way back up visiting all the attractions we had missed. There were circular tours through areas of exotic birds, birds of prey, owls and vultures. It was really very good and a wide variety of birds on display. We got back to the 'monkey jungle' just as Carol was telling the people that it was closing time. Once everyone was gone we had all the squirrel monkeys to ourselves and we sat down and Carol photographed them crawling and jumping over us. We made our way out by another path and saw a group of tortoises in one area then penguins, an antelope and pelicans in others.

We headed back to house the same way and I could now see how steep the hill was that I used to run up to Constantia Neck doing the Two Oceans. We stopped at a vineyard the way down the other side, 'Constantia Glen', where we booked to take Carol and Ray for lunch tomorrow. When we got back to the house Ray hadn't managed to read much of his book, he fell asleep after only reading a couple of pages.

We had a lovely dinner, chilli con carne with rice and Carol opened a bottle of a lovely sparkling wine. We sat and watched some TV after dinner but there was only house renovation and food programmes on the channels they watched. I reminded Ray that the semi-final of the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Man. City was on. It wasn't a very good game and at half time Real Madrid were leading 1-0 so we gave up and got to bed.

There was a text from both Margaret and Suzanne on the phone telling us that both Ewan and Hollie were thrilled with the video of their Papa and the monkeys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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