Dear Alison, Jeremy, Mike, Toby and ALL staff at ‘Monkey World’,
After being a supporter of ‘MW’ for several years now, but having irritating disabilities thinking I would never be able to visit, I finally managed it last week. It’s difficult to find words, because the entire experience was ‘magical’ and being able to ‘meet’ so many of your rescued primates, recognisable from watching ‘Pick’ every Sunday afternoon, was beyond delight. We hadn’t been in the park more than 15 minutes when who should I spot walking in our direction but Jeremy. I’ve met many so-called ‘celebrities’ in my life working for the ‘Music Business’, BBC and Royal Shakespeare Company, but after asking Jeremy if I could shake his hand and thank him for the wonderful work you all do at ‘Monkey World’ I dissolved into a gibbering wreck with emotion at meeting the man who was so close to Charlie and my first adopted lady, Sally – there have since been several additions to that list and of course Jeremy has a close bond with all the animals – more than the ‘6 degrees of separation’ thing I think, and of course just Jeremy being Jeremy! Another highlight was ‘meeting’ Oshine; I couldn’t believe the amount of weight she has lost and was telling her what a clever girl she was and how beautiful she is when she started clapping and blowing me kisses – bless her! Paul, the ‘Agile Gibbon’ sang himself into my heart – he is going to be added to my adoptees today. I took so many photos and will always treasure them. I’m attaching a couple, one of Oshine up high with Bulu (I think), one of Paul, a couple of Peanut sitting high up in an oak tree as far from Pung-Yo as possible – that was on Wednesday, on Tuesday they seemed ‘all loved up’, so maybe they had had a ‘tiff’ and one of Paulo! That extra hour in the park before the general public are allowed in, hearing the gibbons singing felt like walking into another world – as I live in central London it couldn’t have been more different from where I live and was a ‘breath of fresh air’ in more ways than the obvious.
THANK YOU again for the wonderful work you continue to do, I hope to make another visit before the end of the year; your mobility scooters are a God-send!
With love and many happy memories,
