Monkey Picnic Cafe

Sumela Monestary, Turkey

Sumela Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Theotokos located at Karadağ (Greek: Sou Melá, meaning "Black Mountain")within the Pontic Mountains, in the Maçka district of Trabzon Province in modern Turkey.

Nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) facing the Altındere valley, it is a site of great historical and cultural significance, as well as a major tourist attraction within Altındere National Park. Due to an increase in rock falls, on 22 September 2015 the monastery was closed to the public for safety reasons for the duration of one year to resolve the problem; this was later extended to three years. It reopened to tourists 25 May 2019. The monastery is one of the most important historic and touristic venues in Trabzon.

The word "Sumela" comes from the Laz language which is of the Kartvelian language group and means means "trinity" in English.

Just wanted to get that all in there. Bigger picture of the monastery here.

Elephant nose-training.

Cute baby chimp looks like an old man.

He's officially not a donkey-brained individual.

Bird crossing.

Can't improve the caption -- Ocean's 1011 on a gold heist.

Very useful bird. Really "feathering its nest." Really making a nice "nest-egg" for itself.

Saving a turtle who got caught in the hot sun-baked sand.

How fire-fighters save people threatening to jump from high places. I like a job where you get to kick people and then get called a hero.

Right in the sushi rolls, as Steve Inman would say.

Dog guiding abandoned kitten to her new home. I mean, maybe. There's a guy recording all this so who knows what's really going on.

Giraffe smiles for the camera. Whoops: That was from a digital short.

Dogs are natural-born lifesavers. This might not always be to humans' liking.

posted by Ace at 07:33 PM

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