....and then there were the monkeys....

There is a resort...in the middle of nowhere, that was beautiful (I use that word, a lot, to describe the parts of Africa because it is ALL beautiful and no other word describes it).  There is dirt, mountains, sugar cane growing and then there is a gated area, where you can't have glass bottles or food.  You pay your fee and enter this garden of Eden.  Betty told us to hold onto our bags of bananas, tightly, because the monkeys would grab the bags and run.  Uhm, okay.  The only monkeys I have ever seen have been in a zoo and the shock and awe of seeing baboons, on the side of the road, was enough of a thrill.

Little did I know.

We got out of the van and were armed with a bag of bananas.  We were instructed to break them in half and be prepared.  Uhm, okay.  Then, there was Betty.  I wish I could've gotten a picture of her sitting on the sidewalk with her twig.  I asked her why she was sitting there, with a twig and she simply stated that she didn't like the monkeys and the twig was to fend them off.  Okay, again :)  I couldn't imagine what we were going to be around, but if she had a twig, it couldn't be too bad.

Then she said "they are coming".  I looked up and oh.my.goodness.  There were monkeys everywhere!  Giant ones, bitty ones and medium ones.  There was one GIANT male monkey and Betty asked me (while the monkey was sitting behind her) if I knew the difference between a boy and a girl monkey.  Well, having been married for a while and having 3 sons, I told her that the boys had testicles and the girls didn't.  She laughed and said "yes, they do have testicles and they are blue."  I turned to see the GIANT monkey and his balls are totally blue.  Like they were dipped in kool-aid.  We laughed and laughed.  Then she shooed the monkey away with her twig.  

We had the most fun.  The monkeys loved to eat and were thrilled that a bunch of people were there to feed them.  We got some great videos and some great memories of Betty and her twig.  

Also, Betty and I talked about how I could help with Hope Arising and how I could make a difference in the lives of these children.  Hopefully, my big mouth will help raise awareness and money for these families.

Look closely and you can see this is a boy :)