Monkeys in Kuala Lumpur

It was another hot, steamy and sunny afternoon in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, as we were making our way out of the Lake Gardens district about two miles from the Petronas Towers.

The Lake Gardens are a large urban park with wooded areas, rolling hills, lakes and several attractions immediately southwest of KL’s center city.

After a visit of several hours — including touring the butterfly park (with the oddly appropriate-sounding Malaysian name of Taman Rama Rama), the orchid garden and the hibiscus garden — we were walking alongside Jalan Perdana with the bird park in a wooded area to our left and the Memorial Tun Abdul Razak across the street to our right.

As I was looking off into the bird park, my wife suddenly called out that the sidewalk ahead of us was blocked by monkeys. We had been married almost 20 years and that was the first time I had ever heard her say that. Sure enough, there was a group of a dozen or so monkeys apparently in the process of leaving the trees to our left and crossing the road toward the nearby memorial. The group was a mix of males and females of all ages.

We were uncertain how to react.

The monkeys made no aggressive moves, so we slowly approached them and began taking photos. The younger monkeys continued to climb and play in the trees just a few feet above the ground. Two older female monkeys cradled infant monkeys in their arms as they cautiously crept across the sidewalk and into the street, carefully looking both ways before crossing. They kept a wary eye upon us as we approached within two to three feet but otherwise ignored our actions.

As we watched and photographed the monkeys, the Muslim call to prayer could be heard emanating from loudspeakers at the nearby National Mosque (Masjid Negara). So there we were, sweating profusely in the February heat and humidity and listening to the Muslim call to prayer, with monkeys crossing the sidewalk in front of us. It was clearly one of those “We’re not in Kansas (or, in our case, Charlotte) anymore” moments that make travel so interesting.

STEPHEN O. ADDISON, Jr.

Charlotte, NC