No Touch Monkey!

I'm here. I'm in Africa, in Tzaneen, South Africa--home of the Vervet Monkey Foundation where I will be volunteering for the next four weeks. Will be volunteering. Eventually...

I remember seeing a funny sign when I was in Thailand—“No Touch Monkey”—and now I can’t get that phrase out of my head because, well, I haven’t exactly done much interacting with the little buggers since I arrived a few days ago. I have a terrible cold, surely brought on by the exhaustion of my ridiculous travel schedule, and haven’t done much more than cough and sneeze for the last few days.

I did manage to sit in the chair on the admin building porch yesterday, and watched their general comings and goings. Vervet monkeys certainly are interesting to watch, particularly if there is something for them to be curious about…like a car, for instance, which has lots of things hanging off of it and even more tempting objects just on the other side of the glass. Their curiosity is hilarious.

So...the monkeys are cool, but the cold has taken over my life since I arrived. After two nights of suffering through this cold while sleeping in a tent in the sanctuary’s Tent Village (where all volunteers stay), I asked to be driven into town to stay at a lodge with a proper bed and electricity and tissues that don’t feel like sandpaper. I was driven to the closest lodge to the sanctuary, Tzaneen Country Lodge (www.tznlodge.co.za/), and, uh, it didn’t take long to decide that I was not going back to Tent Village. I loved camping while on overnight backpacking trips with Warren, but this is different. I’ll be honest…so far, it’s been misery!

So, I have just finished arranging to stay here for the remainder of my time at the monkey sanctuary. I don’t know how all the other tent-bound volunteers will feel about it (apparently this is the first time a volunteer stayed ‘off campus’), but I don’t see how sleeping in a tent in any way helps monkeys, and the sanctuary manager was actually quite agreeable to the idea. Ah, let those other volunteers think I’m a princess. Whatevah. I’ll be off relaxing at my four star African country lodge (for just $42 a night!)

Huh, my cold seems to be letting up. Interesting coincidence. :)

(The picture below is of the breezy patio café at the lodge, where I'm sitting right now to write this blog entry.)