If you ever dreamed of playing with monkeys, then you need to make a trip to Bocas Del Toro in Panama and check out Monkey Island. Monkey Island is a private island located in mangroves, that you probably guessed, has tons of monkeys living on it.
Francine has been rescuing and inhabiting monkeys for the last 15 years on this island. She is the sweetest, most gracious lady. She is so welcoming to tourists visiting her island and lets you play, feed, and interact with all of her monkeys. There are about 50 monkeys living on the island. They are all caged because they were rescued either by locals, animal control, or Francine herself. She has dedicated her life to help heal the monkeys, and then releasing them back into the wild.
Since some of the monkeys have been living on the island for years, they are very accustom to humans. They will climb on your shoulders, sit on your head, and even pose for pictures. I’m not going to lie, it is pretty adorable.
There are only a specific number of people allowed on the island at one time, in order to give everyone an extraordinary experience. When my family went, we were in a group of 5. That way everyone got to play with the monkeys, feed them, and interact with and talk with Francine as well.
Francine also has a few huts on the island for guests to stay at during their time at Bocas Del Toro if they please. She limits it to about 4 guest houses, so people can still come and visit the island to see the monkeys.
So if you ever find yourself down in Panama, especially Bocas Del Toro (check out my post about where I stayed in Bocas Del Toro here), you must add a trip to monkey island to your itinerary. Depending on where you are staying in Bocas Del Toro it is about a 20-30 minute boat ride, and you spend around an hour-ish on the island.
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