Before leaving for Punta Cana, our family discussed a few of the excursion options. I personally struggled with,
1. This trip is for my oldest. He should decide.
2. My youngest has a dream to own a monkey 🙊 .
3. Why are these excursions soooooooo expensive?
4. Is it safe to leave the resort?
5. Do we really need to do an excursion?
6. Which excursion should we do?
7. Let’s not do a water excursion. Sharks!!!! 🦈
8. We will miss our resort time!
9. We don’t want to be on a schedule.
But…. in the end, how can you resist a MONKEY🐒 and putting a smile on your hormonal, sweetheart daughter’s face. 😂
This excursion cost approximately $500.00. You can’t put a price on a memory or an experience; at least that’s how I justified it.
We had the option to choose to leave at 8 am or 2 pm. I didn’t take votes. I made the decision. I wanted us to get up and out early so that we could use our resort’s pools when we got back. All of the pools close at 6 pm and I assumed we’d be ready to relax and cool off.
The cutest bus 🚌 picked us up at our resort. It looked like a jungle on wheels. My oldest rode shot gun 😂. The entire 40 minute bus ride we received an in depth education from the tour guide. I absolutely loved hearing about their country, their culture, and the people who live there. my husband and I both agreed that the bus ride there and back was probably one of our most favorite parts of the entire trip. It’s humbling to see the way people in 3rd world countries live.
We arrived at monkey land. We were given strict guidelines: no sunscreen, no drinks, no food, and no bags of any kind. We were told that monkeys are super curious and will try to open your purse or get into your food. If their sweet hands touch any kind of sunscreen, lotions, or sprays they die on the spot. Each monkey costs $3,000.00. I certainly didn’t want our family to be the reason a monkey died. So, even I did not wear sunscreen. 🧐 The proof was in the pudding when one monkey tried to untie my shirt which was tied in a knot. ONE monkey LOVED Jax’s cell phone and another was super curious about my camera 📸 lens.
We placed our belongings in a pre paid locker ($5). Then off we went to experience the Dominican Republic jungle. We were also told not to try and pick them up or touch them because they’d bite you. Lilah had a very hard time obeying that rule and took her chances. 🤪 I was the very first person a monkey jumped on and it was slightly startling but also very funny/cute.
The monkeys are are soooooooo light weight, so having them constantly jump on and off of you is not uncomfortable.
The worker placed food in our hands and on top of our heads to get the monkeys to “land” on us.
We were allowed to take as many photos and video clips as we desired. There was also a professional photographer there who took loads of photos. You could buy the photo package for $45.00 or $10.00 per photo. We took plenty of excellent photos ourselves so, I just bought one family photo.
After we finished our excursion with the monkeys, we were given an additional tour to learn about
☕️ Coffee
🫘 Cocoa
🥥 Coconuts
🥥 💦 Coconut Water
🥥 💧 Coconut Oil
🥥 🧈 Coconut Butter
🥵 🍫 Hot Cocoa
And……
🧉Mama Juana.
I enjoyed the in depth education of how coffee goes from a bean on a tree to a liquid in a cup. If everyone truly knew what it takes to create one fresh cup of coffee, you’d never take one sip for granted. The same with all of the other items mentioned above.
I might discuss more of that in detail at another time, especially the cocoa butter and the Mama Juana.
We were also given a chance to buy all of the above too. I spent $140.00 on the purest honey, coffee, cocoa butter, raw sugar, cocoa, coffee beans for eating, cinnamon, and definitely Mama Juana. All of this was allowed to come back into the U.S. and duty free. I felt this money went towards a realllllly hard working community of jungle men and women.
Enjoy some of the photos.