Monkeyland — Attraction in Higüey

I've been before, so I booked again as I enjoyed it. Booked online before we traveled and got a 10% discount. Probably could've gotten cheaper in DR, but it's ok.

We booked for Wednesday AM, but my kid and I weren't feeling well, so we rebooked for the next day with no issues. We were picked up on Thursday AM at 7:50 exactly. Except we got picked up in a shuttle van and not the safari truck as before and stated on the website description 😔 which I wasn't happy about as I like the safari truck open ride. And I wanted my child to experience it as well (she was under two yrs her first time). I know we stop at the gas station, so I was hoping we'd switch there onto the safari truck, but nope, just picked up people.

On the way (before the gas station), there was a car accident, and we were so delayed that the driver (Jose) turned around and took the back roads around the accident. It was a nice drive up the mountain, through a village. Jose was very personable (however, he pushed too much for folks to 'give good reviews on XYZ'). He claimed not to speak English that well. He spoke better than newcomers living in my home city!

We arrived, and we were rushed into the already in progress information session on cacao, coffee, and coconut, which we tasted some cacao, coffee. We MISSED the Dominican House due to the accident and the grounds, which again I wanted my daughter to experience. (I wish we did go on Wednesday now).

They changed the Monkey part from last time, there wasn't much opportunity to take your own photos as before 🤬 as they have a camera man who does 'group by group' many times for you TO PURCHASE and when you are waiting for the groups, you are just watching them with the monkeys as that's when they put the treats in the bowls of the monkeys (when the STAFF take the pictures, not like other times when you had food in your bowl while they took pics elsewhere) the monkeys go to those who have food. I kept asking for treats for my daughter's bowl. He'd put one piece of sunflower 🙄 I didn't get as many of my own pictures as my previous visits. We didn't get to walk around as before. It seemed VERY RUSHED and more of a money making situation then allowing people to enjoy the monkeys and take their own pictures, I'm not saying I didn't get my own pictures, but not that many as the past.

Lastly, you go to the souvenir shop, and there's people from different buses then yours, the guide (Jose) disappeared, no clue where to get the bus, a bunch of us were lost for 20mins, no one had answers.

I'm posting pics, not showing my daughters full face for her security as you can see there's NO PICTURES of the breathing views bc the STAFF only took those pictures, when before you could take your own pictures. I wasn't getting robbed by paying for...

I and my family visited DR and had a wonderful vacation in general. We bought an excursion to Monkeyland. Pickup and drop off were on time and the ride up and back were great experiences in themselves as you see the local towns and roads first hand.

Arrived at Runners and the welcome brief was given to Monkeyland. “Do not pet the monkeys, do not grab the monkeys, do not bring in any medication in your pockets” were the three specific warnings given by the guides amongst other generalities.

After entering the beautiful monkey enclosure, the squirrel monkeys know it is feeding time. I was occupied taking photos of my children who had a wonderful time, but one hand was in my pocket while taking photos. One monkey climbed onto me and was checking my pockets. In the post analysis, he was able to very gently check my empty pocket easily but couldn’t check the pocket that had my hand in it. I didn’t know that this was something they did as we were not told the monkeys would do this.

The monkey evidently thought I had food in my pocket and he couldn’t pull my hand out so he bit my hand. As soon as I pulled my hand out & he saw I had no food, he moved on. At no time did I grab or reach out to touch him. I watched passively as instructed.

His bite pierced my skin and I bled. Following our very fun time with the monkeys, we left the enclosure, I was able to wash the bite with soap and water and we had an awesome tour of the coco and coffee plantation. We took the bus back to the resort and I was able to research monkey bites.

To err on the side of caution, I required, within 72 hours, a series of Human Rabies Immune Globulin (HRIG) shots around the site of the bite (about 10 needles in my hand and one in my arm) and the rabies vaccine (4 in total). I was bitten on the Saturday, we flew home on the Sunday and the hospital gave me all the very pleasant shots in my hand the Monday morning.

I want to be clear that we had a wonderful time at Monkeyland aside from the bite. My family had a riot with the monkeys and they are incredibly cute, but you need to know to keep your hands out of your pockets, and if you are bit, you have 72 hours to receive the HRIG for it to have maximum efficacy. The hospital doesn’t mess around with rabies as it kills 100%. My family and I had a lot of fun, but know that a monkey bite could be very serious and keep your hands out of...

The actual monkey experience is great, and is very kid-friendly as well. The wait to get there though, is a bit much.

It starts with a long ride from the resorts, picking up passengers from several places. Our guide, Gregory, was funny, knowledgeable, and speaks German, French, and English in addition to Spanish. He made the (1.5 hour+) trip much more interesting and fun. You get to see small towns along the way and learn about the area, comparable to any decent tour.

You don't go straight to the monkeys, though. You go to see how chocolate and coffee are made. This part, while a little interesting, felt like a long sales pitch. You do get to see inside some local houses, and you do get to learn the whole process of making cocoa and coffee from the plants, but be prepared for a lot of steep walking. The views from the hills are very nice, so definitely bring a camera. When you watch the process, though, it's a long sales pitch to buy packages of cacao, coffee, vanilla, and mamajuana, and you feel a bit like a captive audience at a time share presentation.

Monkeyland was nice, though. A huge plus is they weren't overly pushy about buying their pictures, and they allow you to take your own. They are very good at guiding the monkeys to you and getting them to climb on you. This part is super fun, and it wasn't as short as I kinda expected it to be; the amount of time you spend with the monkeys feels fairly appropriate.

The experience ends, of course, with a gift shop and lots of opportunities to buy souvenirs, pictures they take, snacks, etc. we were ready to get back to the resort by this point, and the wait to get back on the bus was a bit longer than it needed to be.

The whole process took from about 7:05 to I think about 1:30 or 2:00. This could have been cut by 2-3 hours with fewer passenger pickups, less waiting around, and less of a sales pitch. I can easily imagine a scenario where they could have encouraged groups from 2-3 resorts to go on certain days and simplified the logistics of the pickup and drop-off process. So less time is...