The haven that I refer to is the Monkey Forest located in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. Monkeys are let loose in the forest, living freely. Since the Forest is a tourist point of interest, the monkeys are so used to people. They are not aggressive and they will not attack us.
Before entering the Monkey Forest, we are warned not to bring food with us so that the monkey don’t approach us. There are banana stalls inside the forest where we can buy food so that the monkeys can approach us for a photo opportunity (or our selfie moments). We have to be aware of any dangling things that may attract the monkeys – one monkey came right straight to me and took a hand sanitizer dangling from my bag.
There are rangers on duty all around the forest to assist visitors. These rangers will warn us from time to time on how to behave around the monkeys. Some of the most uttered warnings are:
1. “Don’t make eye contact.” as the monkeys will see it as confrontational and assault you for just making direct eye contacts.
2. “Don’t play with the babies.” as obviously the mother will come after you to protect her babies.
The bottomline is you don’t need to fear the monkeys at the Monkey Forest if you follow their forewarnings. The Forest is quite a pleasant place to visit.
Here are some photographs from my visits to the Monkey Forest:
Lensaku 