The thorny kingdom of samangos

“The detailed study of any animal presents
 its own peculiar problems, and the blue monkey (Syke's/samangos...)
is certainly no exception. The main difficulty
 lies in seeing the animals at all. 

 In parts of the forest where the canopy is 
thin enough for monkeys to be clearly visible,

 the undergrowth below is so thick that it can be

 penetrated only by cutting; the human 
observer can progress only at about 100 yards 
an hour, which is a lot slower

than a startled monkey. Conversely, in places where

 the canopy is sufficiently dense to suppress the undergrowth,

it is so thick that one cannot see anything in it anyway.

 There are intermediates between these two extremes,

but conditions of observation are seldom

better than indifferent.” Alrich-Blake, 1970

I have already described (i.e complained about) how the home range of the samangos is; but some pictures are much more explanatory than a million of words so...here are some details of the vegetation in which I pass several hours a day tangled, while the juveniles look at me biting their tails with curiosity. I'm getting a master in thorns and hooks removal, though... 

 

 ...and, not in few occasions, the vegetation around me is just like this...

To make it best, just imagine it at night!! Yeah, I had a extremely funny evening yesterday trying to come back after following the monkeys all day, with my shitty headtorch and the flashlight of my mobile. If sometimes the vegetation looks like a maze during the day, at night it simply looks like unpenetrable walls. To make things more interesting, just add  some enormous slippery rocks that avoid you to pass and the idea that a leopard could be watching you wondering how tasty you are...or maybe an angry snake from the ground (yeah, they can be active at night!!)...and all this without nobody knowing where you are...everything is by adrenaline...