10 of the greatest places on the planet to see primates

Meeting great apes in the wild is a powerful experience, as Michael Vaughan’s story shows. We are apes ourselves, of course, so a close encounter with gorillas, chimpanzees or orang-utans can feel like holding up a mirror. With more than 500 species of primate worldwide, there are also many other ways to enjoy the antics of these fascinating animals. Here are 10 of the best.

Uganda

Mountain gorillas and more

The silverback rolls over on to his massive belly and fixes you with that deep-set gaze. Behind him, two boisterous youngsters tumble past. Meeting a mountain gorilla family in the depths of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest feels strangely intimate, as though you’ve blundered into a family sitting room – but an hour in their company is one you’ll never forget. Uganda’s forests are also home to other primates, including chimpanzees in nearby Kibale National Park. If you crave open space, there are lions and elephants down on the plains.

Travel Local (0117 325 7898; travellocal.com) offers a 10-day Western Uganda tour, including gorilla and chimp tracking with rangers, plus game drives in the savannah parks. From £3,710pp, incl accommodation, some meals and a local guide. Excludes international flights. 

Tanzania

Check out the chimps

Chimpanzees make for a higher-octane tracking experience than gorillas. The apes are constantly on the move, and their shrieking and hooting turns the forest into an altogether more alarming place. Once you’re among the troop, their unsettling blend of tenderness and histrionics leaves little doubt that this sophisticated primate is our closest relative. Tanzania’s scenic Mahale Mountains National Park, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, protects more than 1,000 chimps and offers close encounters with a habituated troop. Nearby, the remote Katavi National Park also offers one of Africa’s most exclusive big game experiences.

Expert Africa (020 3405 6666; expertafrica.com) offers an 11-day Chimpanzee Safari, combing Mahale Mountains and Katavi. From £6,556pp (two sharing), incl return flights from London, full-board accommodation, park fees, private guides, all transfers. 

Panama

Catching up with monkeys of canopy and canal

How better to appreciate monkeys than by joining them in the treetops? The Canopy Tower in Panama’s Soberanía National Park is a converted radar station offering 360-degree views of the forest canopy. Fruiting trees lure white-faced capuchin monkeys and diminutive Geoffroy’s tamarins to feast at eye level, while mantled howler monkeys wake you at dawn and night monkeys peer from forest tree holes. On nearby Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal you may also meet rare spider monkeys, plus sloths, toucans and more.

Sunvil (020 8758 4774; sunvil.co.uk) offers a 12-night trip to Panama, taking in the Canopy Tower and Barro Colorado, plus Panama City, the cloud forest village of Boquete and the islands of Bocas del Toro. From £2,899pp (two sharing) incl flights from London, B&B, some meals, private transfers, all activities. 

Ecuador

Monkeys of the Amazon

South American monkeys differ from their Old-World cousins in their flatter noses and prehensile tail. Nowhere will you see a greater variety than in Yasuni National Park, deep in Amazonian Ecuador. From the Napo Wildlife Centre, expert naturalists lead excursions by dugout canoe and on foot into the flooded forest to seek out the likes of woolly, spider, howler and saki monkeys. Canopy-level towers also allow viewing of squirrel monkeys and golden-mantled tamarins. Other wildlife includes giant river otters and three-toed sloths, plus birds.

NatureTrek (01962 733051; naturetrek.co.uk) offers Ecuador’s Amazonian Mammals, a 10-day tour based at Napo Wildlife Centre, with excursions led by expert naturalists and local guides. From £3,195pp, incl flights, accommodation, guiding, activities and most meals; departs Nov 19 2019.

Swahili coast

Beach monkeys

Crash! Just as your starter arrives, a commotion announces a troop of blue monkeys crossing the roof. Later, you watch black-and-white colobus monkeys in the forest and vervet monkeys on the lawns. And midway through your starlit dinner, a bushbaby clambers across the beach bar on its nightly forage. The gorgeous resort of Ras Kutani, on Tanzania’s Swahili coast, offers lively proof that your safari needn’t stop when you hit the beach. And on nearby Zanzibar, why not combine your snorkelling and market shopping with tracking down the island’s red colobus monkeys?

The Africa Specialists (01525 840149; theafricaspecialists.com) offers an eight-day itinerary, with four nights at Ras Kutani (full-board) and four at Zanzibar White Sands (half-board). From £2,250pp, incl flights and transfers. 

Madagascar

Lemurs galore

An eerie wailing drifts through Andasibe’s misty forests as indris proclaim their territories; tails wave like football scarves as ring-tailed lemurs scamper through Isalo’s dusty bush; beady faces peer down from a Ranomafana thicket as golden bamboo lemurs check you out. Nothing more embodies Madagascar’s uniqueness than its lemurs. Isolated by evolution, these primitive primates have diversified into more than 100 species. A specialist tour, taking in the island’s key habitats, will encounter plenty, plus giraffe-necked weevils, leaf-tailed geckos and all manner of other weird and wonderful beasts.

Rainbow Tours (0203 131 5292; rainbowtours.co.uk) offers “Classic Madagascar Overland”, a 15-day tour that takes in several top parks and reserves, encountering a variety of lemurs plus much other wildlife and local culture. From £4,575, incl all accommodation, flights, transfers, guiding and most meals.

Ethiopia

Join the geladas

Ethiopia’s dramatic Simien Mountains are home to the world’s most sociable primate. Geladas – also known as “bleeding heart monkeys”, from their bare, pink chests – feed almost entirely on grass. Large groups, forming complex communities up to 1,000 strong, shuffle around the slopes. Venture high into their rugged citadel and you may also encounter other wildlife, including walia ibex, bearded vultures and the rare simian wolf. Down in the lowlands, ancient wonders such as the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela add a cultural dimension to your trip.

Steppes Travel (01285 601050; steppestravel.com) offers a 10-day itinerary to Ethiopia, including three nights in the Simien Mountains, plus the sites of Lalibela, Axum and Gondar. From £3,595pp, incl international and internal flights, transfers, English-speaking guide, activities and all meals.

Sri Lanka

Primates and family fun

Children love monkeys and on Sri Lanka they come with the territory. Wander the rocks and ruins of Sigiriya or Polonnaruwa and you’ll find grey langurs clambering over ancient temples. Visit the tea plantations and you may spy endemic purple-faced leaf monkeys in the hill forests. Explore national parks such as Wilpattu, and it may be the alarm bark of a langur or macaque that alerts you to a leopard. And for real holiday magic, a torchlit night walk with your guide beneath trees twinkling with fireflies may reveal a slender loris: a diminutive primate that claims first prize in cuteness.

Stubborn Mule (01728 752751; stubbornmuletravel.com) offers a 15-day Sri Lanka Christmas and Easter itinerary that includes national parks, tea estates, temples, village tours and beaches. From £10,700 for a family of four, incl accommodation, flights, transport, many meals and guides.

Sabah, Malaysia

Orang-utans and more

The orang-utan is Asia’s primate A-lister and Sabah, on Malaysian Borneo, offers excellent opportunities to observe this endangered ape up close – both at Sepilok rehabilitation centre and in its wild forests. Borneo’s primate riches do not end with the “old man of the woods”: boat trips along the Kinabatangan river will also encounter outlandish proboscis monkeys and elegant silvery langurs, while on the remote Deramakot Reserve you may spy Bornean gibbons and, after dark, bug-eyed tarsiers. Other rarities, including clouded leopard, makes this perhaps south-east Asia’s richest wildlife experience.

Wildlife Worldwide (01962 302086; wildlifeworldwide.com) offers a 12-night Borneo’s Rare Mammals tour, visiting Sepilok, Kinabatangan and Deramakot. From £3,195pp sharing, incl flights, accommodation, excursions, guiding and transfers. Group size of six.

Central African Republic

Lowland gorillas

Lowland gorillas are more numerous than their mountain gorilla cousins but harder to see, being largely confined to Africa’s most inaccessible forests. In Dzanga-Sangha reserve in the Central African Republic, adventurous travellers can track a habituated troop through the dense greenery. A tree-line hide here also allows you to observe the apes visiting Dzanga Bai, a swampy clearing where mineral salts draw forest elephants, giant forest hogs and other shy wildlife. Mangabey monkeys and chimps are among other primates often seen, and with an opportunity to meet the local Ba’Aka tribe, this is a genuine African adventure.

Natural World Safaris (01273 691642; naturalworldsafaris.com) offers a seven-night Dzanga-Sangha Gorilla Tracking Safari. From £5,945 per person sharing (or £6,445 solo traveller), incl charter flights, all meals, permits and activities. International flights from £845. Ten departures per year.