Visiting Herkie (now named “Aaron”)

Last week, Aaron and I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting our son on Monkey Island. We became the tour guides and translators for a small group of 6 volunteers visiting from Tennessee. I had mentioned to one woman that we had left our son at Monkey Island, but I failed to clarify that I was referring to a monkey. Apparently I had confused her for a while on that one.

After making a few classic tourist stops, like the Boras, we made the journey in speed boat to Monkey Island. As usual, Luis, the Spider Monkey, greeted us on the boat and escorted us everywhere we went (I’m writing very politely). Within moments of arriving, Herkie appeared and jumped onto Aaron’s shoulders. We were so excited to see him and he even recognized us! We fed him fruit and loved him and squeezed him.

He has gotten thicker since being there. He looks very happy and healthy. It also seems that he is a very popular monkey amongst the staff and visitors. We were informed that he frequently sneaks indoors at night and sleeps in a hammock. He also likes to have his neck and belly rubbed. On top of that, he has a monkey fiancé, Ariana, but we did not see her (FYI: his type is monogamous). The family living there told us they intertwine their tails together when sleeping. He has found his life partner! The other two monkeys of his type on the island, Tarzan and Jane, were frolicking in the trees, too shy to say hi. I imagine that “Aaron”, Ariana, Tarzan and Jane go on double dates together, singing in the tree tops.

We are happy to see Herkie-Aaron doing well at his university, learning to be a more independent monkey and making a family. We hope to visit him several more times before we leave—and maybe one of those times we’ll discover we are grandparents.