Meet The Lemurs!

On this sunny Sunday, Lars and I went on an adventure. 

The Underground to Victoria and then the Southeastern out to a place with a funny name that we cannot pronounce- Meopham. 

We arrive in a cute little town where half the station is an Indian Restaurant. The only other shops consist of an express supermarket and a post office. We get out some cash and wait for the bus, promised to be there in 8 minutes. 11 minutes later, we check again. The next bus will be in 2 and a half hours. Thank you Sundays...

No need to fret, the friendly Uber Driver saved the day. 

We pulled in down a long forested driveway. To our right, a Christmas Tree Nursery, to our left, The Hemsley Conservation Centre.

The centre was filled with animals that we have never seen before. We are greeted by a possum like animal before we step into the reptile room. Frogs, lizards, tortoises, and something that I say was a snake but Lars disagrees. Eager to leave that room, we come across a sign that read 'free roaming monkeys'. I don't think that I registered what that meant because I stepped inside and got the fright of my life when a Marmoset was sitting right above my head. That, along with the giant, fluorescent tarantula, made me walk out swiftly. With some gentle reassurance from Lars, I stepped back inside. The tiny monkeys ran and jumped around us, looking like balls of fluff with a tail. We meet a Mexican crocodile who was having a stand off with the gecko on the wall. Then, in the room with the animal we were most curious about, came the strangest noise. Think of a cross between a donkey and the noise that children make when they are in a playground. I had heard a story about someone who went to a country with porcupines and bumped into one when camping. Their only translation was 'baby pig with swords on its back'. Well they were spot on. Porcupines are such an unusual animal. They are larger than I had imagined and they move quite quickly whilst waddling from side to side.

We were visiting the kinkajou when our friendly animal expert came to get us for the main event. We are taken to the Lemur enclosure with a bowl of vegetables and a small bowl of sweet potato (kumara). As soon as we came in with the food, they sure did move it, move it! I took turns of feeding them small chopped up veges, they loved the kumara. Some times they would eat out of my hand, sometimes they would pick it up out of my hand, if I was taking too long, they leant in my shoulder, moved my hand closer and then took the food off me. Their hands were so gentle and they were so sweet. All I wanted to do was look at them. Hey had little fangs which made them look like German Shepard Dogs, but their bodies are like monkeys. They had so much personality and I have fallen in love with them. We found out that instead of having the same last name as their family members, what shows that they are family is the amount of rings that they have on their tail.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our new friends. But not before we have tea and cake. Being the country side, the tea room was the cutest little place you have ever seen, serving us tea from a royal pot with Henry the VIII on it. 

With no bus in sight and only 6kms to walk, we set off. It felt nice to breath in fresh air and see the cottages that were named Rose Hill or Sweetlea. As the sun set at 4.30, we got front row seats to the most magnificent sunset. It was a painting by Monet. Pink, purple, orange, yellow set against the brightest blue. The clouds twisting in between, making their own patterns. But after that, it was dark and we were in the country side. 

So we moved as fast as we could curious as to whether we would meet a Badger or not. The houses were all decked out with lights and trees. The town smelt like fish and chips and a warm fire place. 

Now we are off home, ready to finish this perfect day with a Hot Chocolate, hoping that my hands will defrost.

Thank you Lars for my surprise! 

Lemur? or Lem-me?

MEO FAM

Cheeky Monkey

Lemurs Love Kumara

They also like to move it, move it!

And I like tea...

The sky exploded.