Gibbons

Today was Gibbon tour day so up early, 4.30 in fact! At 4.45 we were waiting at the ferry and a few minutes later, at the park center waiting for our guide, Thai.

The tour is sold as a unique eco experience, seeing gibbons (possibly) in the wild, in pristine forest and hearing the forest animals awake. The reality was a little different. We left the park HQ and headed up a track behind one of the buildings, with barely a word or intro. In fact, no intro …

15 minutes or so later we stopped in the gloom where we could hear noises, something in the trees, made more interesting by the fact it had rained overnight, so as the langurs and gibbons swung through the trees, they caused the braches to drop their water, creating an interesting noise as “the rain” spread behind the animals.

Anyway, the tour lasted around an hour and a half, we saw two gibbons, which aren’t that common and a bunch of Langurs who were very entertaining. But, all of this happens virtually in the tree canopy, high above, as apes never come to the ground. So you can see what they do, but not really what they look like. Which is fine, as you’re here to see them in the wild.

The unfortunate part of this, is that the tour cost 4 800 000 dong (around $260) for a 1.5 hour walk around a relatively short rack for the camp center, with a guide who probably didn’t say more than 30 words, and for much of it, the radio from a local construction echoing through the forest. So much for the forest ambience …

We were back by 6.15am and the next part of the tour wasn’t until 8am to the Dao Tien gibbon rescue center … so we decided to head back to our accommodation for breakfast. The guide seemed surprised that were heading back, advising we’d have to pay the 120 000 to get back again for the tour at 8. No such thing as a day pass. No problem, the choice was hanging around for 2 hours, or breakfast …

Breakfast, 2 great coffees, then back across the ferry for the next stage, included in the fee, the Dao Tien centre for rescuing primates, specifically gibbons. Comically almost, we arrived at the advised time of 8am, only to be told it was 8.30, so wander around we did. Back the center at 8.30, met by a lovely Scottish lady, Sylvia.

Immediately the tone was different, firstly, she spoke English but the attitude was different, she was clearly passionate. A short boat ride up the river to the island, and 2 hours later and non-stop information, a super informative tour was over. It was amazing.

The centre specializes in the recue and rehabilitation of southern Vietnamese endangered primates, specifically those taken from the wild for use in the pet trade or entertainment. They take the gibbons through a three phase program; quarantine, paired in cages, and then semi-free, before being released into the wild if they are ready, where they monitor them. There are around 30 on the island and they get 3 – 4 new ones each year, release any that are ready in the wet season, June/July. It[s thought that there are around 25 000 gibbon in the wild, but as Sylvia says, if it moves in Vietnam, it’s hunted. So they are under threat.
As you can imagine, it’s a time consuming and expensive processes, run under by an organisation called EAST. As the tour was finishing the gibbons started their calls, which in the wild would only be at day break, but in captivity happens periodically all day. Essentially, the stronger the call, the stronger the family unit, so it’s vitally important, and in the center they appear to get lots of practice! It was absolutely stunning.

Without question, this was the highlight of the day, made so much better by Sylvia and her interpretation, and answering our many questions. Goes to show, you can have a great attraction, but without great people and that interpretation, the experience could be significantly degraded.

Back to the lodge, and literally sitting on the deck all afternoon, reading, playing cards, relaxing. Watching the river, listening to the many jungle noises, including as we now knew, the call of the gibbons.

Lovely staff here at the lodge, and very accommodating. While the food is not overly exciting, they are happy to accommodate requests, such as a yummy fruit platter for lunch. Devine!