Charlie is a long time resident of Nigeria Bethel and has literally been there since the beginning of the branch in Igieduma. Over 20 years. He is a red-capped mangabey monkey. He is much bigger than Darragh whom you met in the last post. He stands maybe 2 or 2 and a half feet high at the shoulder when he stands on all fours. Like any other monkey I've met, he loves bananas. For awhile on Saturdays and Sundays you could see him every week in the mango grove across from our room. He barks like a dog to let all the residents know that he is outside and would appreciate bananas. Charlie is a banana connoisseur. He prefers his bananas to be perfect. Too ripe and he throws it away. Too green and he throws it away. Prior to eating he will smell it to make sure you aren't pawning off your bad bananas:
All the bananas we gave him were up to par. Phew! I totally get where he is coming from, I am super picky about my bananas too. Probably even more so! He is relatively tame, but not like a pet. Charlie still has some respect for the distance that should be there between people and animals. He will take a banana out of your hand but will not touch you. My kind of monkey.
Charlie is very dignified. I googled pictures of other red-capped mangabey monkeys but he is the best groomed and cleanest monkey I have seen, on the internet or in life. His coat is so glossy and full. He is not a common monkey and because of the bush-meat trade there are no monkeys like him around that area any more. If you ever come to Nigeria Bethel we hope he will still be around for you to see.
As a side point, we are back home now. We had a wonderful trip in the U.K. on our way and got to see our family before we came back to our home. It's nice to be in our cute apartment once more and settle back into life! I'm planning a couple more posts on Nigeria, now that I've got my computer with me again. Thanks for keeping up with our adventures!
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