Ubud Monkey Forest

Written by Arijana Tkalčec

Visiting Ubud Monkey Forest (Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary) while in Bali is a must. It is located in Ubud, within the village of Padangtegal, which owns it. Monkey forest is open daily and the price for an adult is 80 000 IDR ($5.6) and 60 000 IDR ($4.2) for a child. Once you get inside, you can stay as long as you want, the visit is not time limited.

Baby monkey.

Inside you can see between 700 and 900 monkeys. They are known as the Balinese long-tailed monkeys or macaques. You can even see them without coming in as they are always running around on the roads and parking lots. This is a monkey sanctuary, not a ZOO, so that's why you're able to see them all around. As the forest is huge, 12.5 hectares, monkeys are divided into 7 groups. Each group has its own territory. Sometimes they get into conflicts with each other and that can not be avoided. That usually happens during the dry season when they are crossing each others territory to get to the river. Mating season is usually through the whole year but with higher intensity from May to August. Mothers are really protective of their babies so don't ever try to touch them.

Mommy and baby monkey.

In the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, you can see three temples that are built around the middle of the 14th century and cemetery. Temples are meant only for the prayer community so, as a visitor, you can take a look only from outside. The cemetery is used temporarily while waiting for the day of the mass cremation which is held every 5 years.

Animals here are semi-free, so that's why you need to read the guidelines on how to act around them before entering. Monkeys aren't aggressive by nature and, like many other animals, they will only defend themselves if they feel scared or threatened. It's advised not to panic or run. If a monkey jumps on you and you feel uncomfortable, just keep walking away slowly and they will jump off. You shouldn't look them in the eyes as that is interpreted as a sign of aggression. Don't hide any food and watch on your valuable belongings as monkeys are known as little thieves and they will take it from you for sure. Also, don't feed them with anything that you bring. It's prohibited feeding them as they already feed them at least 3 times a day. They usually eat sweet potato (their main dish) and then banana, papaya leaf, corn, cucumber, coconut, and other local fruit. They are trying to keep them healthy so any human snacks may possibly harm them.

Monkey eating.

We had a great time while visiting the sanctuary and we suggest everyone not to miss it. You'll have a good laugh while watching monkeys as they can be really funny. The funniest thing is how they can steal your water in a minute and have no problem with opening it. Few times they almost stole something from our bags. They would come unnoticeable and can figure out the opening system on bags pretty quickly. If others didn't warn us, we would lose some stuff for sure. But they can be really cute. This is also a great opportunity to take photos with them. They usually aren't scared of people at all and will gladly pose with you. Although the staff doesn't encourage this practice as monkeys are after all wild animals and have unpredictable reactions so they want to avoid any accidents. This is on your own risk, but as far as I know, there weren't any bad experiences so far. Just make sure to take at least a few hours for this as it can be really fun and you easily lose track of time.

Monkey in the action. Don't underestimate them, they are smart.