There really are Fairies in the woods (part 3) Monkeys

[Horus]

As we continued along the other side of the lake we head back towards the entrance, the distance is about 1 mile. Although it is at this end of the lake is where we find the open area Monkey park, it is a separate enclosure that has another admission charge, but as dogs are not allowed then little Annie will not be making a visit. The Barbary macaques live in a large forested area around 60 acres surrounded by a very high security fence as shown in some other pictures. There are around 140 apes in two groups which live totally free all the year round and they can range around within this area, visitors can walk along paths that wind their way through certain parts of the woodland and come into close contact with the apes. This section is now closed for the Winter months, but you can still spot the odd monkey sat up in the trees. Here is a link if anyone wants some further reading:
http://www.trentham-monkey-forest.com/i ... p?id_cat=1

I had to take these with my long lens, but as it was hand held and I had a little dog pulling on her lead, the pics are not very sharp



Further on we pass a swampy part of the lakeside which has a low level walkway that meanders through it with some wicker spheres that hang from the trees and give it a mystical air, it was here that we spotted the giant frog (seen in the second image)



You can even spot a flying Fairy if you look closely in the trees.



Then passing close to the monkey park fence another fairy beckons us towards the Italian Gardens


Can you spot the flying Reindeer?


We now had to take a diversion away from the lakeside due to some restoration work, but it gave me an opportunity to take a wider picture of the park. As I said before it was now getting late afternoon and a mist was starting to close in around the park and it was only possible to get the next series of pictures by using a special low light setting on my camera.



After passing a large spiral observation feature we make our way down towards the Italian gardens




It is in the Italian gardens that we will meet the best Fairy yet! And Perseus slaying Medusa!

[Ruby Slippers]

What a lovely place to walk, Horus! Good photos too, despite the weather!

[Horus]

Thanks RS, I am lucky to have such a lot of nice places to walk very close to where I live and of course they all look far nicer in the Spring & Summer

[Kiya]

I agree a great place in the spring/summer months, it'd be great with small children for the " I spy " game for the fairies etc etc

Nice pics again Horus although grey & cold looking

[Grandad]

Interesting and another good set of pics on a dull day H Must keep a note of that park for when, or if, we venture into that area.
Only this PM we were saying, why not just go off for two or three weeks in the early summer and just go anywhere. As long as there is wifi somewhere I can make some bookings ahead. So your park will be on my list because we always have family in Staffs to call on. And not far from Trentham.

[Horus]

I agree it was a dull day, but that sort of minor detail never seems to bother little doggies
To be honest it was quite nice and bright when we started off, the problem was that after half way around the lake we were walking back on the shaded side and with the short daylight hours it very quickly started to get dark and then add the mist into the mix and it looked to be a worse day than it actually was.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Lovely park and great photos Horus. Love all the fairies and reindeer especially since they're built so well into the natural landscape.

In the Italian Gardens what that a fountain that was going?

[Horus]

Yes LLL, that fountain is one of many in the garden

[Jayway]

The monkey part looks ugly and dangerous --- I am quite sure I would NOT want to "interact" with any of them, wonder why they chose monkeys and not a nicer animal - - - Love to see your winter scenery, makes me feel cold even tho its 23 in here ! ! They must employ a lot of workers?

[Horus]

Not sure what you mean by "ugly and dangerous" Jay? do you mean the metal fence? If so you have to remember that it is Winter so there are no leaves on the trees that would normally screen most of it from view and it is too far away from the path to be of any danger. As to why they chose monkeys, well if you read the link that I added you can see how they are displayed for vistors to walk amongst them and children love that sort of thing, also the people who run it also have two other similar monkey parks elsewhere in the world.

Jay, here is the video from the link I gave and I can't imagine why you find the place ugly

phpBB [video]

[LovelyLadyLux]

Quite enjoyed the link to the monkeys. Would be a terrific place to visit

Am a bit surprised that PEOPLE are allowed to walk amongst the monkeys. This I'm saying with my USA hat on with a view to Liability should anybody ever suddenly scream a monkey bit them, tripped them, touched them etc etc etc. The closest, in the USA, I ever came to an animal was at Northwest Trek (same idea of an open park with native animals) where you get to ride on a train as it winds through the animals.

I think it is lovely you can actually get up close to the monkeys so you can actually see them and watch them.

[Horus]

That sort of creeping litigation is or has become a problem for us over in the UK too, luckily this sort of thing is still allowed. They do have keepers stationed along the way to advise and to supervise visitors and stop anyone handling or annoying them. In addition the monkeys have a vast area to roam about in and the paths form only a very small part of the enclosure, so they voluntarily come into contact with people so I suppose the stress level is reduced as they can come and go as they please.

[Kiya]

Awe I think the monkey's so cute

[Jayway]

Well, I dislike monkeys, apes etc. Hated them in Gib after seeing them rip a womans handbag from her, detested them in the english parks where you drive though, as they tear your windscreen wipers off and the big ones hurl the small ones from your car bonnet, leaving blood smears all over it from the bitten off fingers .. No monkeys for me thankyou . .

[LovelyLadyLux]

I have personally never been in any sort of park that has monkeys that I could have touched or have them touch me.

In the US close to where I was was a park called Northwest Trek. There you could get on a train that drove in a big circle through the park and you could see different animals from the train however it was also built up high so the animal couldn't touch you nor could you touch the animal. The type of animal they had there was buffalo, deer, mountain goats, elk, moose, caribou etc. The park was huge like this one and different areas were designed to attract a specific type of animal i.e. the area for the goats was high and rocky while the area for the buffalo was pasture land. No way could anybody get that close.

I remember as a child an "African Safari" opening. You drove in your car through the park where you could drive through lions. I quite liked it as a kid. Not sure they still have these types of parks now but they were definitely so much better than the cement cages with bars in the zoos.

[Horus]

Jay, So can I take it you don't like monkeys then?

[Grandad]

Well, I dislike monkeys, apes etc. No monkeys for me thankyou .

I don't know if Ring Tailed Limas are classed as monkeys Jay, probably not, but they are very sociable animals. We have a small wildlife park nearby with a walk through Lima enclosure. There are quite a lot in there and they don't take too much notice of visitors until they have eaten the fruit put out to distract them. Then they get up close and personal.

[Kiya]

Awe they're cute

[LovelyLadyLux]

That is very very interesting to me that animals, especially theoretically wild animals are allowed contact with people. Really doesn't happen here and definitely not in the USA to my knowledge. The "liability" is sky high which is rather sad cause in my opinion it usually isn't the animal that breaks convention and causes an incident. It is usually some silly person trying to feed the animal, hold it or touch it improperly that causes an incident.

Love animals myself however have watched a couple documentaries re: chimps attacking their owners and their attacks are indeed very violent so am not too sure even if the chimps were calm and gentle I'm not too sure I'd want to interact with them personally.

In Mexico I've seen something similar to Grandad's Limas walking about and hanging about the restaurant areas begging food from the tourists. Likewise huge iguanas were also there gobbling down anything that hit the floor too.

[Jayway]

The Lemurs look nice Grandad ... a 5 week old baby costs 2250 $ ! ! or you could get a greater crested Porcupine for a thousand ! !- - - YES Horus, I dislike monkeys and rats and alligators ,and medusa having been chased around a yacht by one, with the spanish next mooring yelling me to swim faster - - - I prefer a nice rabid dog to any monkey - cant say about lizard things, never met a big one, just the little ones here that will bite - - I suppose you could call me a very racist "animal lover"