Day 82: Monkeyland and Back to Keurboomstrand for a Sunset Dinner
Standard morning program here at The Old Rectory: slow morning, breakfast buffet and school before 11am.
We had a couple errands to take care of: we dropped a bunch of laundry at the wash and fold and Margaret hit Clicks to refill face wash, sun block, conditioner, razors, etc. while I took the kids for a quick bite at a little juice and veggie hole in the wall down the street.
Next stop: Monkeyland!
I keep wanting to call it Monkeytown…
Won’t you take me to
Funkytown
Anyway, Monkeyland is a primate sanctuary where 500+ former pets, zoo animals and lab monkeys get a safe second chance in a cage-less forest romping ground. We joined a group of about 12 people with a guide and strolled past several species of monkeys and lemurs.
There were even a few big turtles grubbing on the big fruit piles laid out for the monkeys.
I was admittedly a bit anxious the whole time — just didn’t trust these little guys not to jump up and bite Willa, James… or me! We were warned that vervet monkeys are very smart and have some klepto tendencies and sure enough, one snuck up behind Margaret and made a grab/lunge for her phone. He didn’t succeed.
We walked over this cool / scary bridge and held up the whole group because we didn’t want to pass a male howler monkey snoozing with his family.
After Monkeyland we stopped at a little market / restaurant / playground we had seen from the highway. The kids romped for a bit, we played some soccer and then road bikes in the parking lot.
The goal was to end the day (again) back at the beach by Enricos and then grab some dinner up on the deck. We can see why it’s such a popular spot — good food, vibe and views.
We drove back along the coast, showered the sand off the kids, caught a couple more chapters of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and went to bed.
A random thought:
I love this hotel. We’ve stayed in some good ones on this trip but The Old Rectory has managed to get us to maybe our most relaxed state of the whole trip thus far. It’s very clean, we feel totally safe, food is good (see James and his beloved breakfast pictured) and the two-room layout is perfect (kids are close and comfortable but we still have our grownup space). It’s small, only 30 – 40% full and the staff is super attentive and friendly so we feel like we’re the only ones here. Two other factors: 1) I think I appreciate this place even more after the Africamps glamping Tent experience. That was memorable and fun, but it was still kinda camping — bunch of bugs around your bed, restless sleep on windy nights, etc. That makes this place feel even more comfortable. 2) Having our own car makes an easy / convenient place feel that much easier to manage. There are about 5 cars in the parking lot. We know our way around town (thanks Google Maps). We come and go as we like. It’s just been a very relaxing experience so far.
