‘JUNGLE ROYALTY’ - VIETNAM PRIMATE PHOTO WORKSHOP

Day 1 Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City 

We will meet for dinner in our beautiful Ho Chi Minh City hotel, to discuss the plans for the days ahead.

Days 2-5 Cat Tien National Park

After breakfast at the hotel, we will hop on our van and start the drive east to Cat Tien National Park. We will settle in comfortable rooms inside the park, which will allow us perfect access to the park's wildlife. After lunch we will begin our first shoot.

Cat Tien National park is home to a variety of species and a large, luch forest. It is also a point where beautiful yellow-cheeked gibbons gather and play among the trees. Each morning, we will start hearing the gibbons singing their elaborate and beautiful songs, communicating with other members of their extended family group. After allowing them to feel safe and comfortable in our company, we will start shooting. The location is perfect in that the trees are a perfect back drop to the gibbons, and even more importantly: the pink sunrise light is simply incredible.

The yellow-cheeked gibbon is born blond and later turns black. Males carry this colouring through their lifespan and have the distinguishing golden cheeks. Females are born blonde to blend into their mother's fur but they later turn black. Females turn back to blond at sexual maturity, keeping only a black cap on the top of their heads.

Gibbon groups vocalise loudly early in the morning. Their songs probably serve to defend resources such as territories, food trees, partners, but may also help to attract potential mates. Duetting occurs between mated pairs, the song is coordinated and contains sex-specific phrases. Their stay near the shooting location can be anything between an hour ot two and half of the day - giving us plenty of time and opportunities to shoot them swinging from tree to tree, playing and calling.

 

During the afternoons we will shoot a bit of landscape in the park's vast forest. Cat Tien is also home to the extremely shy yet beautiful black-shanked Douc, and we might meet this guy as well. We will also hold image critique sessions, which are paramount to correcting your mistakes day to day. My experience dictates that these sessions result in a much-faster improvement.

 

Days 5-9 Son Tra Peninsula

After a morning Gibbon shoot and breakfast on day 5, we will leave Southern Vietnam, and fly to our next shooting location: Son Tra Peninsula. We will settle in a beautiful, well-located hotel on the coastline of Vietnam 3rd-largest city, Da Nang, from which we will depart twice a day to encouter the world's most beautiful primate: the majestic red-shanked Douc.

The red-shanked douc is an arboreal and diurnal Old World monkey endemic to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. They are known for their bright colors and express exhibit sexual dimorphism through their body size. The species have been declared critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with the main threats being from hunting, habitat loss and pet trade. Red-shanked doucs live in multilevel societies that average 18 individuals per family group. They are folivorous and their four-chambered stomachs that allow for bacterial fermentation help them with their high-fiber diet.

 

The red-shanked douc are among the most colorful primates. Dubbed "the queen of primates" thanks to their distinctive and unique 5-color appearance, they are also both interesting and funny in their demeanor. They interact with each other, jump from tree to tree (we will learn how to shoot these jumps!), feed and overall give a spectacular display of wildlife behavior.

The red-shaked Doucs will undoubtedly be the highlight of the workshop. We will work hard to take advantage of all the opportunities possible, travel to restricted parts of the peninsula and use local scouts to find the Doucs quickly and efficiently. The expert local guides will choose our subjects considering location, weather, light and the behavior of the specific familes.

 

Days 9-11 Cat Ba Island

We will depart Danang on the morning of day 9 and fly to Vietnam's capital of Hanoi. We will then spend a few hours in the car and on a ferry to get to our final shooting destination: Cat Ba Island, where we will shoot the final species on the trip: the super-rare and critically endangered Cat Ba Langur.

The Cat Ba Langur, also known as the golden-headed langur, is a critically endangered species of langur endemic to Cát Bà Island, Vietnam. It is among the rarest primates in the world, and possibly the rarest primate in Asia, with population size estimated at less than 80 individuals. They have a rather unique hairdo and hair color, which make them look (at least in my opinion) very cool, albeit in a 50's kind of way. Their babies are a striking orange color, which make them amazing photography subjects.

 

We will spend 2 full days shooting the Cat Ba langurs. As with the other locations, we have private boat access to restricted parts of the reserve, where the langurs are traversing the almost-verticl cliffs with unparalelled agility and seemingly without fear. We will see the langurs in groups of up to 10 individuals, interacting, hugging and connecting to each other.

 

Day 11 Departure

After breakfast, we'll head to Hanoi airport for goodbyes and your flight home. We will reach the airport in the late afternoon or early evening.