Day 39

Monkey Sanctuary trip day! We woke up early to be in Agona so the bus could pick us up there at 8. We were there right at 8 when we got a text from Jackie and Lauren telling us they hadn’t left yet but they’ll be leaving soon. That gave Cassie and I about 30-minutes to hang out by ourselves in Agona. We went to the Gentle Spot Bar and got a soft drink. Once Jackie, Lauren, and King showed up they met us at the bar to say hi to Mama Doris’ mom Nana and wait for the bus. King said it was running a little late so just sit back and relax for a little bit. Well after about 2 hours of ‘relaxing’ we were anxious to get going so we went out to the market place to wait in the open for the bus. It’s a good thing we can entertain ourselves easily because the bus didn’t come for another 2 ½ hours. At one point we deemed any inappropriate words acceptable, as this situation was frustrating. Africa time at it’s best really can test your patience.  A car selling cassette tapes came by blasting music and our 20-minute dance party in the middle of the market really entertained the crowds. We probably looked mental but that’s what waiting for close to 5 hours for a bus will make you do. Once the bus arrived we spent the next 2 hours in the most gorgeous scenery I’ve ever seen since I’ve been here. We got off the bus at a market station and it’s still a blur to me but we squished into the smallest taxi I’ve ever seen to go to the Sanctuary. I don’t know if it was a left over sugar rush from our soda this morning or what but singing the Lion King theme song seemed very appropriate as we drove through rural hilly areas. The roads were awful and we drove slow most of the way there getting tossed around in the car. Once we arrived at the sanctuary, our problems began. First the taxi man wanted a ridiculous amount of money to stay and drive us back because taxi’s don’t come by that area often. Then the men running the Monkey Sanctuary ripped us off by saying it cost 10 cedi to enter the park even though our friends that were there 6 months ago said it only cost them 7 cedi. We were thankful we had King to argue most of the prices with them but it was pretty futile and we were anxious to get going as most of our day had been wasted waiting for the dang bus. We agreed to pay them all afterwards and went into the park. We were all pretty upset about everyone trying to cheat us until we saw a crowd of monkeys at a cross section in the jungle. I thankfully had bought bananas while we were waiting in Agona and had tons of extras so we could feed the monkeys. A few shrieks of joy might have been let out in my behalf as I was to excited to do anything else. The monkeys come so close to you and grab the banana right out of our hands and stare at us with their big beautiful eyes. We took a hundred pictures and videos and kept walking. We saw this crazy hollow tree that we were allowed to climb. It was a very easy climbing tree with holes everywhere in the tree. We each climbed to the top, took more photos, and then continued on. We were already getting pretty dirty and knew it was only the beginning of a very muddy long day. The next sight we saw was the monkey cemetery. People in this village and surrounding areas honestly believe that the monkeys are actually people in monkey form. The story is that the village was about to be under attack but the King knew a spell that could turn everyone into monkeys so when the invaders came they didn’t see anything but empty houses and monkeys. The king didn’t change himself into a monkey so they saw him and killed him. He was the only one who knew how to turn them back so they are all stuck as monkeys. Many of the villagers will put food out for the monkeys, as they believe they are their relatives.  

The jungle was absolutely gorgeous. We were surrounded by some of the coolest trees, plants, and animals. Occasionally a butterfly would pass us with the most breathtaking wings.  We left the jungle for a bit to find the bigger monkeys. We were all pretty confused why we were in the village area because the tour guide just told us how much these specific monkeys hate people and yet we were going to the village to find them. We went into a pocket of the jungle and found about 4 of them sitting 50 feet above us in a tree. It was cool walking around seeing the monkeys but we wanted to get rid of our tour guide that kept rushing us. We paid him the easiest money he’ll ever make in his life and went back into the sanctuary. We went back to where we saw the little monkeys and fed a few of them again. On one of the trails we took we saw a beautiful almost holy area and decided to separate off and spend some time enjoying the beauty around us. While I was sitting there reflecting on my time here, so many thoughts were running through my head. One though I had was I will never be able to give back to these people as much as they have given to me. I learn how to be more patient, more kind, less worried about problems, and how to enjoy life. We wrapped things up and walked back to the entrance of the sanctuary so the monkeys could finish off the couple of bananas we had left. Our lame taxi driver came an hour early and tried to tell us that we agreed on leaving at 4 even though we all heard him say he would come back at 5 in English. He just wanted to get his money sooner and his friend was even saying things like it’s probably going to rain soon or it’s hard to drive back on the roads when it’s too dark so you have to leave now. The sky was bright blue without a cloud but these men were annoying that we decided it’s not worth it and packed up and got into his clown car of a taxi. The roads were similar to ones you would go off-roading on except we didn’t have a tough jeep, we had a small car where everything rattles and nothing works right. I thought we would for sure get stuck somewhere but made it back safe to the taxi station just in time for the next bus. We were starving but there wasn’t any real food to eat so we just grabbed sweet bread and sugar coated cornbread. I was so tired from the day I spent the bus ride home listening to my music while unsuccessfully trying to drift off to sleep. We got back around 8, showered, and I was out like a light right at 9.