Monkey business in Bournemouth

Awaking at 9.30 I jumped out of bed all bright eyed and bushy tailed and like a little kid at Christmas I was dumbstruck with excitement. This wasn’t a typical lazy Sunday spent doing my washing. I was instead about to go visit one of Bournemouth’s top attractions, Monkey World. A half an hour train journey from Bournemouth to Wool train station landed me practically on the doorstep of this brilliant monkey rescue centre.

A centre designed to host monkeys that have ‘suffered abuse or neglect and rehabilitate them into natural living groups.’  Essentially this enclosure has transformed into a huge monkey play area and not just for the animals. The 65-acre complex is home to a staggering 150 primates, which animal lovers can admire and observe.

The sun was high in the sky and armed with a map of the park I was itching to get started. As I ran over to the window to view the first monkey of the day I started to compare myself to the little kids who ran excitedly behind me in awe at what might have been their very first monkey sighting ever. I then wondered when exactly I had become somewhat captivated by these creatures. I recalled one of my first visits to the zoo and remembered the first place I wanted to go was to see the monkeys. I think it’s their human like mannerisms and playful characteristics that draws me to them. The first memory I have of a monkey was one weeing on the crowd, it jeered loudly and ran around its playground before sticking its genitals through the fence and urinating on the crowd that had formed. It was utterly hilarious. Thankfully these monkeys were a bit better behaved although still seemed to thrive off the unlimited amount of attention. As I peered through the glass they would play fight, bang on the window and run around performing. The park was filled with monkeys who were fighting for centre stage.

After a tiring roam around the park I was ready for a quiet sit down in the sunshine. That was until I saw the monstrous play area created not for the monkey but for us! (Well 10 year olds) but I thought it was time to recapture my youth. The swings were amazing they were huge domes, which even allowed you to lie down. It wasn’t just me that was amazed by this playground; parents (especially the dads) were dragging their kids around the monkey style obstacles. It was like monkey world had released a little immaturity in everyone.