December 21 - 22, 2006

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From Addo and its surrounding towns we traveled on the N1 along the famous Garden Route driving back to Cape Town.  The next day we stopped in Tsitsikamma National Park to see Storm's River Mouth.  This gorge is one of the deepest in the world and boasts the "world highest commercial bungee jump" at 1000 ft.  I know the question is coming so no I didn't make the jump; for lack of time not interest.

	On the left is the gorge from about 4 km upstream of the Indian Ocean.  The bottom of the picture is nearly straight down from where I was standing on a car bridge and is about 300m below me.  On the right is a suspension bridge that spans the river mouth at the ocean in Tsitsikamma Nat'l Park.
That's me doing my Captain Morgan pose at the mouth of the river.  You can just see by my right foot the tie down bolt and ring from the first bridge that was built over the river mouth in 1969.  The bridge was rebuilt in 1999 or so into what you see above.

After leaving Tsitsikamma Nat'l Park we spent the night in Plettenburg Bay.

The next day which was Dec. 22, we traveled to Monkeyland!  This is also a private game reserve North East of Plettenburg Bay that houses primates that were in zoos or kept as exotic pets.  In some cases the zoo closed, or got rid of the exhibit, in others the private owners decided that the monkeys or lemurs were too much trouble to try and keep.  This means that they can't be released back into the wild as they are acclimated to humans and may not know how to find food in the wild.  Another difficulty would be troop acceptance.  All primates are highly social animals and if these formerly tame primates were released into a wild population there is a strong possibility that they would be rejected by troops and either be killed or starve.

This was quite possibly the best day of the trip for my wife and me.  We both studied anthropology in college, I minored in it, and in addition she really likes animals anyway.  Having seen all of these disparate primate species in this one place I can't help but wonder how someone could not believe that we (Homo sapiens) are related to them; even the lemurs, which are more distantly related to us than monkeys and apes, exhibited appearance and behavior that was in some ways very human.

	This is the sign that greets visitors at the entrance to the reserve.  We were also greeted by rangers that tell you the rules as you enter the enclosure.  The most interesting were: "Keep your mouth closed when looking up" (the primates will use the bathroom from up in the trees...), "The primates will run off with your camera or cell phone if you're not careful", and "No we won't replace it if they do."
These two at right are a male (black) and female (brown) Black Lemur (Eulemur macaco) named Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt.  The sexual dichromatism is typical of Brown (or true) Lemurs.  True Lemurs are members of the Genus Eulemur.
	Here we have a Black and White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata).  This was actually the most common Lemur in the reserve; I think we saw about 5 or 6 individuals and I'm sure there were more than that.  Unlike the simian primates, most Lemurs live in female dominated societies and the females tend to be larger than the males.  These Lemurs also had a very loud vocalization to let each other know where they were in the forest; there were a couple of times when we heard it echoing across the reserve.
Next we have Tarzan, an elderly male Black Headed Spider Monkey (Ateles fusciceps) he and Jane were pet's that were donated to the reserve.  Jane is in a retirement enclosure where she is quite comfortable.  Spider Monkeys (genus Ateles) are all South American monkeys and have prehensile tails which African monkeys do not have.  Another interesting difference between African and South American monkeys is that African monkeys carry their young across their bellies, where South American monkeys carry them on their backs.
		This is Jane in the retirement enclosure. She seemed to be quite content and did have company.  There were a couple of juvinile Squirrel Monkeys who had been pets and were not used to life outside a cage with her.
The following are several pictures of Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella).  These are a common species of South American monkey and are highly intelligent.  They have been trained to play tricks such as the music grinder, dance for hand outs, and so on.  As South American Monkeys, like the Spider Monkey above, they have prehensile tails and carry their young on their backs.
Below are Common Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri sciureus).  They are also native to South America and beside the Caupchin Mokneys were the most common primates in the reserve.  They were quite entertaining to watch as they moved around.  The pair in the pricture on the right were on top of the exit gate for the cafe area.  They seemed to be playing a game where they'd climb up on top of the gate, wrestle a bit, then jump into the bush in the forground like it was a pile of leaves or hay.  They must have done this at least four or five times in a row before they ran off in a different direction.
This little guy is a Cottontop Tamarin (Saguinus oedipus).  He is a very small (less than 1 lbs) South American monkey.  He is kept caged because it he were out in the regular forest he might become food for some of the larger monkeys like the Vervets below.
We fianally have our first Old World (African) monkey.  This is a Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus sp?).  Notice the difference in the tail between this species and the Squirrel and Capuchin monkies.  This tail is used only for balance and cannot grip things like the others above.
	At left is the other Old World Monkey that we saw in the reserve.  This is a Spectaled Langur Monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus).  The are typically native of SE Asia especially Sri Lanka and Southern India.  They are called Langur Monkeys because of the unusually long tail.  The Monkey in this picture had a tail that is nearly four feet long!  They are completely herbiverous and have special adaptations in their gut (including multi-chambered stomachs like cows) to help them process all the leaf material.
At right we have the only Ape (besides all the humans) in the reserve.  She is a lone White Handed Gibbon (Hylobates lar) and because of her blond hair the staff have named her Claudia Schiffer.  As an ape she has no tail, as you can see in the picture and move through the trees in that uniquely ape fasion called brachiating.  In their native range which includes Thailand, Myanmar, and SW China they are threatened mostly because of habitat destruction.

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