Beppu: Monkey Mountain

 I planned a stop at Monkey Mountain, a few miles from our hotel, because I thought the kids would like it and it looked interesting. Once they found out you could not hold or pet the monkeys, Callie lost interest.  I still made her go.  And I definitely thought it was worth the stop, and the $20 to get us all in.

We got there about an hour before it closed, and that was plenty of time.  It was smaller than I expected, but the sheer number of monkeys so close to you was pretty impressive.  And then, when they shook grain out for them, it was like locusts descending!

It was pretty cool and we tried to see how close we could get to take photos before the monkeys became cranky at us.

Check out this big guy!  The monkeys pretty much ignored the people unless they got too close. 

The monkeys were literally everywhere! 

This guy is checking Callie out. 

The little ones were SO cute! 

So tempting to try to pet the cuddly-looking babies. 

Even Dan went in for a photo. 

 Joshua was a little more leery.

 Yep, we were up from the ocean. (Well, and across a 6 lane highway!)   Delaney wanted a picture with this guy.

We tried a fun pose, but I didn't get it centered.

Ah, much better! 

Feeding time!  This does not capture the chaos and insane number of monkeys coming in to gobble it up.

The monkeys do have their own playground! 

Me and the feeding frenzy! 

See, they did have fun! 

Marian was coaxed into posing with these two, who were busy grooming. 

This big guy was awesome, and it was so funny to see Callie sidling up behind him. 

Me and my new friend! 

Heh heh heh... Marian was coming in for a photo and the money snarled at her and scared her. 

 This was the awesome sign they have there; the rules and the natural consequences.

And Rylee insisted on one last picture on the way out.