Ubud, Bali ~ Monkey Forest

Oh the Monkey Forest....

I have some very up and down feelings about this place. The Ubud Monkey Forest is a very popular tourist attraction in this town. It is basically an open conservation area where hundreds of monkeys live and are cared for by staff. The kids had been talking about seeing the monkeys since we got here, so last Friday we indulged. 

I went into the whole thing a little apprehensive. I have had a couple of run ins with aggressive monkeys over the years and had a fear that something would happen to one of the kids. We spent an hour or so walking around the park with no problems.. One small monkey jumped on my shoulder because he was attracted to my earrings, but other than that they left us alone. The kids loved watching them jump and play and Hugh was so excited to see them close up.

The problems came in at the end of our visit. Henry was walking a little bit in front of us and went to pass a large monkey in the path. I am not sure if the monkey felt threatened or Henry just got too close (Henry swears it was because he was wearing his banana shirt), but the monkey attacked him. He jumped at him with an open mouth and one of his teeth scratched Henry's hand. Dave scooped him up like a bear cub and we got the hell out of there. 

After calming him down with some ice cream and hugs, we went to the pharmacy to check in on him. They assured us it would be fine and sent us on our way with antibacterial cream and a warning to come in if he had a fever over the next three days. We spent the night researching online and decided to wait it out. Monkeys are not rabies carriers and there isn't much that they can do aside from put him on a full round of antibiotics along with give him a shot. 

I am happy to report that it has been a week with no adverse side effects. Video and photos of our experience below. Don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel to get all video updates!

Henry's tiny scratch

Best Impression of a Monkey

Steph

Ubud, Bali ~ Villa Tour

We have been getting so many questions about our beautiful home in Ubud. I know many of you have seen it in our Instagram stories or in other photos on social media... but I thought I would give you an actual tour. 

But first, let me tell you a little bit about it. We managed to get this villa by posting our needs, date and budget on a Ubud Villa Rental Facebook page. The owner of the home got back to us letting us know that we could have The Jumah (that is the name of the house) at an extremely reduced rate for the entire month if we were willing do forgo the usual daily breakfast and dail back the daily cleaning to every three days. This brought the price down from over $5000 canadian a month to around $1200. It seems like a massive drop in price, and it is. But it guarantees occupancy during a time when tourism in Bali tends to be a little bit slower. Check out the video and let us know what you think!

Steph

Ubud, Bali ~ Day One

The beauty of Bali is undeniable. 

Since landing on this island, we have fallen head over heels in love. The people, the heat, the sights, the experiences. It's all so incredible and exotic. We spent the first day in Ubud settling in to our new home and surroundings. Unpacking clothes, taking our first dip in the pool and heading out to explore the town.

We knew we wanted to get the kids into a bit of a routine as soon as we could start to create a day to day life here. So one of the first things we did was go for a walk to central Ubud. It is only about a kilometer and a half into the main hub of town but we really wanted the kids to get used to commuting by foot in the heat. 

We stopped by the lotus temple to take a few photos and we were shocked by the hidden beauty behind the store fronts of the town. You see, most of Ubud's beauty is tucked down back alleyways and behind the scenes. You could come around the corner in an alley and run into a stunning, huge temple or a great hidden restaurant. 

The kids began to get hot and it was getting close to lunch, so we swung into Soma for some smoothies and food. It was a super adorable open air restaurant with great music and energy. We sat in one of their "booths" which was japanese style floor seating on a raised platform. henry said it felt like we were in a tree house. 

After lunch we walked to the supermarket for our first stock up on food. We plan on cooking as many of our kown meals as we can here to help alleviate some of the cost. To say that it was an adventure trying to decide what to gbuy would be an understatement. We managed to fill a cart and then hailed a taxi back to the villa for a nap and a lazy evening. 

There are photos of our day below and even our first Youtube video! Please head on over to the channel (Flying Five) to subscribe to get notifications when we post a new video. Look forward to hearing from all of you in the comments section! 

Steph