Originally, I planned to go to Nagano to see monkeys soaking in hot springs.
But couldn’t get a group tour ticket from Tokyo. Instead, I got one for Hokkaido, so I decided to visit Hakodate to see the monkeys in hot springs.
I heard that the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden also has scenes of monkeys soaking in hot springs.
It was snowing heavily that day, so the monkeys should all be in the hot spring pool, right?!
Bought the ticket, which costs ¥300 per person.
The ticket features an image of monkeys soaking in hot springs.
As soon as I entered the botanical garden, I saw a group of monkeys playing in the snow even before reaching the main area.
Next to them was a hot spring pool that looked quite warm.
There were many monkeys here, but less than 20 were actually in the hot spring pool.
In the past, I often saw monkeys grooming each other, but here, only 1 or 2 were doing so.
Although watching monkeys soak in hot springs seems relaxing, the environment was quite smelly.
And it was freezing cold with the heavy snow.
Before long, I decided to go inside the botanical garden.
Since it’s a tropical botanical garden,
many of the plants inside are quite common in Taiwan, which spans tropical and subtropical climates.
Also, because the garden is heated, the camera lens fogged up quickly XD
It looked like there were orchids.
They even have some piranhas here!!
Unfortunately, there was no feeding show.
Cacti.
Pitaya fruit.
People from Penghu might be tired of seeing these.
I remember there were many Taiwanese plants in the tropical botanical garden, such as bananas, guavas, and aloe vera….
After viewing the plants, it started snowing heavily again as I was leaving. I thought all the monkeys would go into the hot spring.
But they didn’t, it seems it wasn’t cold enough for them….
This was my experience at Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden on 2019.02.10, watching monkeys soak in hot springs.
Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden (Official Website)
Monkey Hot Spring Time: December 1st to May 6th of the following year
Opening Hours: April to October: 09:30~18:00, November to March: 09:30~16:30
Tickets: Adults ¥300, Elementary and Middle School Students ¥100, Children under 6 (preschool) free
Address: 〒042-0932 Hakodate City, Yukawa-cho 3-1-15
How to Get There:
1. Take the Hakodate Bus from Hakodate Station to “Tropical Botanical Garden Mae,” about a 20-minute ride.
2. Take the Hakodate Teisan Bus from Hakodate Airport to “Yunokawa Onsen,” about an 8-minute ride.
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『Original Source：https://nicklee.tw/2622/hakodate-monkey-hot-spring/』
