Vietnam has a population of over 92 million people, and over the last few years alone has become a popular holiday destination for around 12 million tourists. There are many activities for tourists to take part in across the whole of Vietnam, making it one of the most popular South-East Asian destinations to visit as of 2018. It can take up to 30 hours to get from Northern Vietnam to destinations in the South.
Vietnam once had a reputation for hosting an abundance of wildlife. Sadly in recent years, due to an increase in hunting for the illegal wildlife trade and the loss of habitat for human development and agricultural lands, means that these habitats have become very few and far between. It is home to 25 species of primate, 9 of which are endangered and another 7 of which are critically endangered. This means that currently over 85% of Vietnams primate population is under threat.
For this reason I have always wanted to visit Vietnam, knowing I could potentially get the chance (maybe the last chance) to witness some of the worlds most endangered primate species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. Although I had often heard that due to their hunting/poaching, they would be incredibly difficult to find.
This trip was planned to cover a 2 week period and would once again be myself and Nick. We had aimed to fly in to Ho Chi Minh to spend a week, then fly north to Hanoi. These plans changed half way through the week and we added a pit stop to visit Son-Tra in the central highlands. Unfortunately we did not have time to cruise the entire country from top to bottom in such a short space of time.
Our first stop after landing in Ho Chi Minh was Cat Tien National Park. Once again, whilst here our plans changed and we spent an extra 2 nights at our accommodation in Cat Tien in order to see as much of what the park had to offer. Cat Tien is famous for its golden-cheeked gibbons and we made sure we were out early enough every morning in order too see them. In order to do this we woke at 4:30, and walked down towards a known area in which they were often seen brachiating. We sat in complete darkness waiting for the sun to start to rise, and as soon as the light started to peer through the trees, the gibbons start to sing. They did this for no more than 25 minutes each morning, a small window that gave us the opportunity to locate them.
During the day-time the gibbons would stop singing and start to forage, they were then almost impossible to see. We then started to look for other wildlife, during the day this can be quite difficult due to the soaring temperature, which hit an off-putting 42 degrees. We had hoped to go at the start of the rainy season, this increases the chances of seeing many amphibian and reptile species, although it had rained the week before we arrived, whilst we were in Vietnam we had no rain what so ever. The first few nights however were reasonably productive still.
We visited the famous Crocodile Lake, home to around 200 re-introduced Siamese Crocodiles which are classed as critically endangered. The entrance to Crocodile lake is a 9km rigorous bike ride through the jungle from the main park headquarters, then another 5km walk. On the way to the lake there is great potential for spotting the elusive black-shanked doc. You have to keep your ears and eyes open at all times as they rarely make much noise and the slightest bit of human activity sends them rushing in the opposite direction.
After a successful few days at Cat Tien, we then hopped on an internal flight to Da-Nang and made our way to the Son Tra mountain, famous for its outstanding views. Son Tra is home to 170 Red-shanked Douc Langurs, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful primates I have ever seen due to its fantastic facial markings.
Whilst we spent a day or two exploring Son Tra, we took the opportunity of being in the centre of Vietnam to also visit Bach Ma National Park. Bach Ma is a french-era hill station that stretches to the Laos border. It is home to around 132 species of mammal, including the rare Saola. Here we were lucky enough to see the Red-shanked Douc's again as well as an amazing (almost) sighting of some white-cheeked gibbons. We could hear a mum and baby within the bushes chattering away only 10 meters from us, although with such dense foliage didn't get a sighting. Bach Ma also hosts wonderful views of the expansive forest.
After a stunning few days in Central Vietnam we flew to Hanoi, northern Vietnam. Here we made our way to Cat Ba island and spent our last week enjoying the stunning scenery of Halong bay and the lesser explored Lan Ha bay. The live-aboard was interesting and a bit more touristy than our normal adventures but none the less, the food and the views were great. We had intended to visit Cat Ba in order to see the Critically Endangered Cat Ba Langur, of which less than 60 individuals remain, making it one of the most endangered primates in the world. Unfortunately they are notoriously difficult to see and as of earlier in the year, they had banned all purpose tours looking for the species.
After 3 days around Halong bay, we then moved in land towards Van Long and Cuc Phong to visit Ninh Binh, home to the Critically Endangered Delacours Langur. Ninh Binh had one of the most spectacular landscapes I have ever had the pleasure to witness, it was truly stunning. We then went on to visit the EPRC (Endangered Primate Rescue Centre) and Save Vietnam's wildlife to see some of the incredible In-situ conservation work being carried out.