Clump O' Monkeys

Victor Bodden's Monkey Farm, Isla Roatan, Honduras

My daughter loves monkeys. I can’t tell you how many times she has wished she could have a monkey for a pet. So when we went on a cruise and saw that a trip to Victor Bodden’s Monkey Farm in Isla Roatan, Honduras was an option, it was a no-brainer. We booked our trip.

 

When we arrived at the Monkey Farm, we were handed off to a teenager named Mike. He took us to a cage of baby capuchins. They were adorable with their little tiny old-man faces, all huddled together in a corner. Did we want to hold them? My daughter eagerly nodded. This was the highlight of the trip.

Mike grabbed the monkeys and handed them to my daughter – all three of them, clumped together. She oohed and awed and held them while we took pictures. Then Mike took the clump of monkeys from her arms and passed them to me.

It was a little awkward holding three scared little monkeys clumped together. And, a little repulsive, too. I could see some fleas on them, and had worried a little bit about them having lice beforehand, so it was a little nerve-wracking right off the bat. But now I couldn’t help but wonder whether these monkeys were also deformed? I mean, I couldn’t be sure which little arms and legs belonged to which individual bodies. Was this the monkey equivalent of conjoined triplets? Is that how they ended up here in a tiny backyard monkey farm in Honduras? I was a little freaked out.

Mike did try to separate them. He started to untangle one monkey from his brothers, but the monkey grabbed ahold of his brother’s face and pulled at it like a piece of taffy as he clung to his brothers. We told Mike not to worry about it, that we were fine holding them like this, and we continued to pass the clump o’ monkeys around. So now I can say I held monkeys. I don’t know that I ever need to do it again. But it was the highlight of my daughter’s trip.