If you ever have the opportunity to travel around central Bali then you will likely see the Balinese long-tailed macaque (called ‘kera’ by the locals). The most popular place to have an experience with these little guys is in Ubud at the Monkey Forest. However, I had read lots of accounts of monkeys hopping on people and searching your pockets for food and that’s just not an entertaining scenario for me personally.

So, after leaving the Ulun Danu temple on our way to the Menjangan, our driver surprised us with a hillside stop full of polite, playful monkeys and handfuls of peanuts to feed them with. At first I was reluctant to even get out of the car but Swi assured me they weren’t aggressive.

After a few minutes, one old guy in particular took to lightly holding my skirt and looking up at me with wide puppy-dog eyes. Of course, who do you think received a majority of my peanut stash?

I was very surprised at how gently he took the food from me – I have had human children grab things from me in a more insistent manner! We still skipped the Monkey Forest tourist trap attraction but I am glad for the few moments I had with my temporary friend.

I will have all the peanuts!