The assault was so quick and astonishing, with unbelief you could only watch and let it happen!

 

We had to stop to eat:

Our daughter had planned to stop at Tshokwane tea gardens, in the Kruger National Park. 

Getting out our car there we walked into the tearoom, where our daughter ordered a gas bottle with a stir-fry disk perched on a tall pipe. She had intended to fry eggs on it for us. 

Choosing a table:

After she acquired it, we search for a garden table under the trees. Where she told me to watch it so stir-fry thingy wouldn’t be nicked (stolen), while she and my husband would go back to her car, to get our food, plates, eating utensils and table clothe. 

• Our daughter always liked bringing a table cloth with us whenever we had a picnic. It’s important to her that we eat in style and with dignity! 
• Our daughter also didn’t want to buy food or go to restaurants while on our trip. So we not only had our clothes in the car, but also all the food we may possible eat on our trip! 

At the car:

While our daughter was still at the car gathering what else we may use and eat, buns, etc., her father was already walking back towards our chosen table and me. He had a small pack of six eggs in a cardboard container in his hands. 

Not for long!

Even though I had been keeping an eye on the stir-fry braai thingy, I hadn’t thought to look up into the trees. 

As my husband stretched out his hand to put the egg carton on the table, the carton never even touched the garden table surface… 

And then there was none!  

They were all gone. The whole carton! It was so sudden… it was bewildering! 

Following the quick movement, we looked up the nearest tree… and there sat a small grey Vervet monkey… perched casually as you please, on a branchless leafless tree.  

The Vervet monkey was eating our eggs as fast as it could. It was crushing each egg one by one in its hand before popping it into its mouth. Smacking and licking its lips with utter bliss. 

You should have seen the monkey’s face. 

It was full of delightful glee. Chattering and practically laughing at us as he did so! Cheeky so-and-so! 

You could almost hear him say, “Gotcha” ꭉꭉNaa..nu, na..nu..ꭉꭉ “I’m the king of the castle, you’re the silly-billy…!” 

But… you should have seen my husband’s face!

It was a picture, if ever you saw one. 

He just stood there completely dazed in shock, for a long full minute or two, trying to work out just how that had just happened. 

My husband reaction:

His face swiveled around, looked first at the monkey, then at his empty hands, then at the empty concrete table and then back at the monkey. And then again and again, with utter disbelief in his face. 

And what about me?

I just couldn’t understand what had just happened for a moment, at first, because I hadn’t been paying proper attention. 

I had been just standing somewhat dreaming while I waited for my husband and daughter would get to the table.  

I too stood there with my mouth wide open. Looking first at the monkey and then at my husband… back and forth from one to the other.  

Just then our daughter came up.

She could see something had happened because of our blank shocked expressions on our faces. 

“What happened?” she asked. 

“That monkey” pointing up where the monkey was supposed to be! But it was swinging away into the adjoining trees, I said, “It just stole the eggs! The eggs we were supposed to eat!” 

Our daughter looked up (to her the monkey was no longer in the tree) and then at her father, trying to work out what we were all talking about?! 

Eating the leftovers:

“Oh well,” she says, “that means we don’t eat eggs!”

And with that we sat down, prepared and ate whatever we had. Can’t remember what it was we ate now though!  

Anyway… and while we ate, we told our daughter how it happened. Well according to our own version of it anyway. Our daughter burst into laughter. And we joined in, thinking how funny it was, now that it was all over.  

Can’t remember if we ever used the stir-fry braai thing we hired.  I suppose we returned it to the tearoom. But we still talk about the clean-get-away the monkey made… even up to this today. 

Here is what that type of monkey looks like:

This isn’t the photo of the same monkey, just one we saw before reaching the tea gardens.

We have a lot of them in South Africa, especially in the warmer tropical areas. They can be quite a nuisance.