Monkeying around!

A little less than half an hour into our hike up Tianzi mountain which happens to be one of the beautiful scenic areas in my extended backyard, I came upon something a little too wild and rare to make me just continue on. I stopped with a sudden "oh my god" and made Rick stand perfectly still fearing that his towering stature might jolt the little creature into a spring board attack. I was imagining armies of monkeys swinging down from the trees and popping out from the hillside to defend their territory from these odd looking creatures.

The little monkey just stared at us and Rick was able to get some great photos and videos while I had a little moment of panic that I shared with a fellow monkey friend who decided to follow me down the path and take a monkey squat at my feet. We continued on and to our surprise on our way back down we came across what seemed to be a national convention of monkeys. I was nervous at this point and got a little squeaky trying to express to Rick that we really needed to get out of here quickly and quietly, as they really had us beat in shear numbers. At this point I had lost him because Rick was like a little kid at the zoo who stands in front of the don't fee the animals sign and still manages to find that piece of popcorn in his pocket to throw to the monkeys. So he bent down to have a national geographic moment with the monkeys as I proceeded on down the path trying not to make eye contact with the barrage of little Buddhas holding court.

Suddenly I hear a screeching and hissing sound come from behind and turn around to see a 6'2'' man running down the hill with camera in hand trying to escape a pack of ten or more raging monkeys. Teeth were barred, they were ready to go down with a scrappy fight and tackle the intruding giant hairless, poll like monkey who simply got to close to a precious baby and mother. Rick's risk taking, adventurer photography actually did pay off and we now have a great picture of momma and baby monkey to prove it. However, in the future I would like to proceed with relaxing hikes in nature without flashing images of rabbies shots and helicopter rescues to Hong Kong hospitals due to severe monkey afflictions.