Monkey Fight!

Yesterday we went to visit the Barbary Apes (really monkeys, but they're called "Barbary Apes....go figure) again, at Maya's request. She brought it up when we were about 3 hours drive from them, but we had plenty of day left and it was in the general direction so we figured why not! We headed to the general area, driving the small road which remained covered with about 12 inches of undriven snow. Reaching the monkey habitat, we decided to turn the car around before enjoying the monkeys and the sunset.After about 10 nerve racking minutes, with the monkeys probably laughing at us all the while, we succeed in unsticking the car from the roadside, and were ready to enjoy our outing!

We had brought tangerines and green peas to share with our animal friends....I know this is a big no-no in terms of ecology, not allowing animals to become to close to humans, ect...but it was snowing, I felt bad for the monkeys, and even if we did not share our for, the 100 people who came after us would....
in any case, we were tossing tangerine bits, much to Maya's delight (she remained in the car) and one particularly aggressive Alpha male came at me, so I growled at him to try to shoo him away...after several exchanges I was feeling VERY threatened and called to Haim, who happily pointed out that the monkey probably thought I was picking a fight...I ran away and he won! Thankfully none of this is on video...it would probably be very enjoyable for Haim to show, and embarrassing for me to see....although I am pretty sure that he does have some short videos of me grunting at the monkeys!

We said goodbye to the monkeys, and made out way down the mountain as the sun was setting. On the side of the road a man was offering horse rides, which Maya displayed an interest in, so we took a short ride through the valley, while Haim stayed back in the car and Skype'd a friend.

With frozen hands and feet, it was time to find a place to sleep for the night; we settled in a sparse room with a wood burning stove. Very simple, but great for our needs, and passed a very enjoyable night feeding the fire and making tea (on top of the stove). The evening did have some excitement when I went outside to wash my hands in the snow and returned to realize that my rings were missing (...which it took a couple of minutes to notice, as I could not feel my hands for a bit). Haim and I rushed outside, and after a couple of minutes of searching (a thankfully small area) I found my engagement ring, and then Haim spotted my wedding band. A bit TOO much excitement in my opinion, but luckily the rings were found!

Today we woke up and re-evaluated our planned trip to Israel via Italy...Haim was feeling that maybe given the current political situation, and some developments with his business, that shipping the car to Israel is not a good idea. Thus, it is better to leave it in Spain with Zvuloun and Estelle. We are now heading to Casablanca, to try and cancel our ferry ticket...which, strangely, can only be done where it was purchased, and not in Tanger, and then we will head to Tanger to head back through Spain. We are hoping to be in Israel by the end of next week!