Today was one of the strangest days I've ever had. Quite a bold statement but hey ho. We woke up around 8.30, packed up our bags and booked a hostel for tomorrow night. Then we checked out, left our big bags and walked into the city to catch the bus to the national park. I've been here twice before and always wanted to camp there, so this was the plan.
After an hour and a half on the bus we arrived at the entrance and asked about renting tents. The route we wanted to take to Monkey Beach was closed, but we'd read online that it was actually safe to walk, and the man advised us to speak to "The Lazy Boys" on the beach who would sort camping for us. We set off on the walk which takes around an hour. It was tough as it was now around midday and hot and sunny, but we made it to about 50m from the beach. With just a bridge to cross we reached our first monkeys.
I'm never completely sure what to do when faced with monkeys. As a standard rule I hide any food, bottles, anything shiny etc., but usually I just walk past, avoid showing my teeth and hope for the best. Sadly, this tactic did not work. The monkeys had a lot of babies with them and must have perceived us as a threat. They started growling as we approached, and then jumped out towards us. Cue a quick run backwards while screaming. The alternative route to the beach was a series of rocks in the water. Usually I am very against climbing over rocks as they are often slippery, but after our encounter this seemed to be our only option. Katie led the way, followed by mollie. Meg and I attempted the bridge a final time, but a monkey followed us back and we ended up with an even longer stretch of rocks to clamber over.
Eventually we all made it, though my trainers are now very wet, and arrived at the beach. We sat in a covered restaurant area where monkeys were coming to steal leftover food- terrifying. At this point I think we were all regretting even leaving the hostel. But we continued along, and soon found Lazy Boys. We sat there for a while- the guy who owned it was keen to emphasise that we should relax and enjoy the view. We ate some lunch (less monkeys here) and asked about camping. It sounded promising, and he then suggested we walk up to a big lighthouse near the beach.
We started the walk and before we'd even began climbing up had another scary animal encounter. Out of nowhere came the sound of an angry pack of dogs. We all immediately turned and made a strange formation simultaneously in silence and the dogs passed. We realised that they were probably owned by the Lazy Boys owner who had said he had 3 dogs, but in that moment I'd just accepted sure death. We all couldn't stop laughing at our strange automatic instinct to form a square, as if that would save us.
We then completed the walk. It was 1.1km uphill, but fortunately in the shade, and without any more animal encounters. We reached the lighthouse and climbed up, finding a young local there, and stood there cooling off and admiring the view. After half an hour or so we headed down, and spent the next hour or so sitting on chairs in front of the sea and sipping coconuts.
At about half 6 we realised we hadn't had dinner and all the places along the beach were closed. Fortunately I had some crisps in my bag but the Lazy Boys owner produced some noodles for the others, and we sat and ate. As the sun set we got into kayaks and headed out into the sea. We planned to go out far but there were SO MANY jellyfish. Every few seconds we'd pass at least one; sometimes groups of them. We hadn't swam at be beach after rumours of jellyfish and seeing them in the sea showed how wise that decision was!
After a while kayaking we headed back to dry land, brushed our teeth and then made a group trip to the toilets after seeing loads of rats (cute!!) We got into our tents and stayed up talking, but amazingly slept pretty well!
Laura x
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