There are nine children in my family, and we traveled frequently. Besides a bus, a conversion van was just about the only vehicle that could fit all of us. My parents had a beat up, old, brown dodge, with the words "Miracle Van" stenciled on the side. That van was a miracle, it had made it through several cross-country trips, and safely carried all us precious occupants. On vacation in Canada, we got to add 'monkey attack' to the list of things the Miracle Van had survived.
My parents decided to take us through the African Lion Safari in Ontario. The Safari was impressive. The animals meandered around their natural environment, and we were explorers caged in our car. We followed a dirt road through the park. There were big metal fences and gates that separated the predators from the prey, while still allowing safari traffic to flow through. There was a sign outside the monkey area that told us to close all of our windows to keep the monkeys from climbing in. It also warned that the monkeys would remove any loose objects from our cars. There was a road around the monkey area for motorist that were worried about their vehicles.
My parents drove in without hesitation. The monkeys swarmed the van when we parked to watch them. The van had an old ventilation system that sat over a two-foot round hole in the roof. It was a basic plastic cap with slot vents. The monkey’s made quick work of the vent, they tore it off and immediately began to climb through the hole to invade the van. My mom screamed, my dad laughed, my little sister cried, and my older brother started to beat them back out with a roll of paper towels. One of them reached in and tried to grab my game-boy.
The monkeys evacuated the van after about a minute of screaming, crying, and towel beating. My parents hightailed it out of the monkey area. We left the them in road dust, fighting over the captured vent.
Monkeys in the Miracle Van
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