Ubud’s Monkey Forest

One week during our stay in Ubud, my friend Sabina suggested that we ditch the hubbies and kids and go out on a photo shoot to practice our photography skills! We jumped on a motorbike together, and off we went!

Me on my motorbike…

We started driving, and ended up going to one place, and one place only: Ubud’s Monkey Forest. In fact, we opted to not even go in the monkey sanctuary, but simply park our bikes and walk on the free foot/motorbike path above and directly adjacent to the monkey sanctuary.

A large group of monkeys quickly emerged, and we discovered we’d have plenty of material for shooting photos!

We were separated by a fence from the Monkey Forest below, but that didn’t stop the monkeys! Did they not get the memo to stay inside their private park?

The “Sacred Monkey Forest” houses approximately 605 Macaque monkeys (how they would ever know how many there are is beyond me—there were certainly a lot of babies being produced!), and it is visited by up to 15,000 visitors per month. It is a fenced in 27-acre park whose purpose is to “maintain the sacred integrity of the monkey forest and promote the monkey forest as a sacred site that is open to visitors from around the world.” Such a fence may require elements like concrete fence posts for enhanced stability and durability.

I wondered what the religious significance of monkeys was, and found this interesting explanation on their website:

“Within Balinese Hinduism, monkeys can be the embodiment of both positive and negative forces….Because monkeys can embody both positive and negative forces, the Balinese both loathe and revere monkeys. Monkeys that occupy sacred Balinese Hindu temple sites (like the Sacred Monkey Forest) tend to be revered and protected by the Balinese. One reason for this is that monkeys, in the form of a Barong, are believed to be capable of guarding temple sites against evil spirits…However, the Balinese belief that monkeys can be negative in nature is reinforced when, for example, they raid rice fields or snatch items from souvenir shops.”

Regardless, they made excellent photo material.

Did you know that baby monkeys are as hard to photograph as toddlers?! They’re fast-moving!

At the end of the footpath was a small community with homes and rice fields.

Sabina’s friends lived in one of the closest homes adjacent to the back of monkey forest, and she explained that their rental came with a monkey handler.

Wha-what?!

Yes, a monkey handler assisted them 6 days a week in discouraging the monkeys from ravaging their back yard. They told Sabina that on the 7th day of the week when their monkey handler was off, they fearfully stayed inside and hoped the monkeys wouldn’t wreak too much havoc in their back yard!

Anyhow, a trip to Bali isn’t likely complete without coming in contact with a monkey forest somewhere, and Ubud’s Monkey Forest is a pretty darn good place to start. Admission is $1-$2 for kids/adults, and you can buy bananas at the entrance to feed the monkeys. But even this comes with its downfalls—the monkeys go nuts over food and will be all over you in a second. Be particularly wise and don’t carry food with you, even if it is in plastic bags or seemingly secure. I’ve heard of many people bombarded by thieving monkeys who took away their food or other small items! And don’t even consider fighting back or coming between a mama and her baby (if you do, you may receive a monkey bite like our friend, and end up at the clinic to get rabies shots—ahh)!