I’ll admit to not knowing a whole lot about the Travel Channel series Mark & Olly: Living With the Machigenga — I’m more of a No Reservations girl — but I think I might be in love with it. Well, I’m at least in love with its online videos called The Adventures of Mark and his Monkey. Which, you guessed it, are about survival adventurer Mark Anstice and the baby monkey he sort of adopts.
Here are a few of the reasons this show is making my brain explode:
1. The cuteness cannot be denied. The monkey is cute, Mark is cute, everything is really cute. It’s a cutesplosion, and if you know of something more adorable than a ruggedly handsome and capable British man waxing on about his precious infant monkey child/pet, well, I’d love to hear it. (Really. I would love to. I live for this stuff.)
2. But the weirdness apparently can. How did the wee primate come to be in Mark’s care? Well, her parents died. When…Mark…ate…them. This season of the show follows Mark and his co-adventurer Oliver Steeds (who’s the one holding the monkey in the photo) as they live in a remote area of Peru, and among the Machigenga, hunting and eating monkeys is customary. "Its parents could be the ones we ate," observes Olly, but that’s the end of that line of thought, never to be brought up again. Okay!
3. The suspense is killing me. Does the monkey’s hand infection spread? Is powdered milk enough nourishment for a growing monkey? What do they do with her when they leave Peru? Do other members of the Machigenga tribe raise or care for monkeys? What kind of monkey is that? I cannot believe I have to wait a whole week for a new installment. Curses!
Anyone else loving this adorable yet weird little series?
Living with the Machigenga is amazing. Next weeks’ episode looks crazy! And you are right- the cuteness of Mark and his monkey cannot be denied.
I do love it! This baby monkey is so cute and well Mark’s looks and voice just make the small series even more interesting. The fact that this big strong man is caring for this small monkey in the gentle way he does keeps you coming back every week.
I am absolutely obsessed with Mark and Olly! I’ve watched their last two adventure shows and I can promise you, I’m never bored with what I see. Just so you know, Mark usually plays the role of the “woman” of the two and that’s probably why they gave him the task of caring for the monkey. You don’t think he’ll raise it and take care of it…just to eat it, do you???
Sorry to be so nitpicky, but please take the apostrophe out of the quote: It’s parents could be the ones we ate.”
Haven’t watched the monkey videos, but I love the show from whence they come. FYI the monkey is a woolly monkey. And just about the cutest thing I have EVER seen.
i haven’t seen much of this new series yet..
it’s probably because of the lack of Mark & Olly nudity.
i miss seeing their ‘bare bums’ struggle to fit in!
I don’t care how cute the monkey baby is, it is WRONG. It is an awful thing to take a wild monkey out of his or her habitat and raise it like a human child. Aside from the fact that monkeys become dangerous as they grow up, being this close to humans is dangerous to her. Right now the baby is in a critical socialization phase, and she is not getting the proper social input for her species if she is raised by humans. Also, because monkeys and humans are so closely related, we can share diseases across species. It she comes in contact with tuberculosis, it could be lethal. She can also carry diseases that can be dangerous to humans. If this man had any sense of empathy for this little baby, he would find an appropriate sanctuary. I am so DISGUSTED with the media perpetuating the assumption that primates, regardless of size or species, are acceptable human companions. I really do not know how many animals and people have to be hurt or killed before that lesson is driven home.
@Genny: I see you’re point about the problems that will come up with the monkey, but if they don’t, she’ll just die out on her own. So, Mark taking care of her is the better option. Besides, it’s adorable.
Well Genny, this was a special circumstance. While it is true that raising a wild animal could result in a lot of undesired complications, the monkey’s condition was a direct result of human behavior. She had to be taken care of, otherwise she would surely die.
Can’t wait to see more of cute ‘lil Gianna.
I just went to the website for Mark and Olly, and they have the best and worst, and on Mark’s #10 was leaving Gianna and betraying her, what does that mean? If he loved her I don’t think that he would leave her with the Machagenga who eat monkey as their main protein, if they are starving would they eat her? This is just very upsetting to see this poor monkey loose her mother and now have to loose Mark.
Ok I just read that Woolly Monkeys live with their mothers for four years, this little baby needs a mother, what is Mark thinking keeping this poor monkey, he needs to find her a sancuary that has other Woolly Monkeys to teach her how to be a monkey. If he leaves her with the Machigenga he’s crazy.
its not wrong because its an orphan monkey who was gonna die if mark didnt take care of it so dont rant mr. or mrs.Genny Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 07:06 PM EST and it happens to be that the woolly monkey is endangered so dont whine about it