Apeldoorn

One fall day, we took our monkeys to the monkey preserve in Apeldoorn.  We are always looking for interesting things to see within the Netherlands, and this is one that has been recommended to us again and again.  It was quite an experience.  First off, there are no cages in site.  The monkeys are free to roam as they please.  Some of the larger species, of course are surrounded by water and set further back from the paths, but still, this is monkey mania.

You can buy food for the monkeys.  These suckers are smart.  They come right up to you and check out anything that looks close to food.  In fact, you are not allowed to bring outside food into the park, and each person is given a monkey proof bag to keep their things in.  These monkeys will walk right up to you, open your backpack, and start taking your stuff out and searching for snacks if everything is not tucked away safely in the monkey proof bag.  Pretty crazy!

This little guy came right up to Ava and snatched the toy she was playing with.  Once she started crying and throwing a fit, he threw the toy back to her.  Haha!

Kaydree perfecting her ostrich walk

There were quite a few bridges and nets to climb across.

They also had a petting zoo area.

This was my favorite part we watched the feeding time of some of the larger apes.  It was amazing to see how smart they are!  The workers would call their name, toss them some fruit, and they'd catch it with perfect accuracy no matter how far it was thrown, just completely un-phased.  The babies were so playful too, it was really cool to see them all interact.  Of course, we have seen many animal shows in the past, but this was different.  This felt a little more like we were observing them in their natural habitat, rather than watching them perform tricks and such.

Ellie Bellie Michellie

Kaydree Kaydree Bo Baydree

My girlies and me!
By the way - don't you hate when people caption photos of themselves 'so and so and I'  I'm no English major, but I don't like bad grammar.  I'm sure I make the occasional mistake on here, so maybe I shouldn't be pointing this out.  But, if the picture were just of yourself would you be writing 'here's this picture of I'?  No I don't think so.  End rant.

And, one last shot of our monkeys.  Another fun day with the fam.