The Jungle Place, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

     I reserved one day of my trip to the IPS (International Primatological Society) Congress in Cancun, Mexico, to visit The Jungle Place in nearby Playa Del Carmen...about an hour's drive.  Although it was closed to the public in August, Heidi graciously welcomed a fellow spider monkey rehabilitator and the experience was invaluable.  
    While their self-imposed "limit" was reached years ago, Heidi and her husband have continued to welcome each and every spider monkey rescued from the illegal pet trade.  They currently have a population of 26, which includes two juveniles conceived and born (both times during a full moon!) at the sanctuary.  
    As the number of monkeys has increased the number of cages has too, but because they're linked by skybridges (that can be closed if necessary),  the monkeys travel through what has grown into a  compound.  It's a brilliant design.  [The only thing that didn't work was building the cages around the large trees inside them, which have been stripped bare of all leaves.]

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Short, sloping skybridge between two cages.

Long, horizontal skybridge between two cages.

     With the exception of one older, aggressive male, Heidi still occasionally spends time in the cages with the monkeys...but for the most part she's "hands off."  She was particularly determined not to be a surrogate grandmother, and the female who produced two offspring has successfully raised them herself.
     The Jungle Place is a magical place.  And a safe haven for primates rapidly losing their habitat to civilization.